Religions of Assam

A Brief History of Various Religions of Assam:

Assam was once upon a time the original home of Tantricism in India. The Shakti temples like the Kamakhya in Guwahati and Kechaikhati in Sadiya are proof to this. While worship of Shiva largely prevailed in the early period, the Mother Goddess cult gained ground subsequently.

In fact, at one time, Assam came to be identified with Tantrik Shaktism, especially centring around the Kamakhya Temple. Even today, Lord Shiva and the Mother Goddess are worshipped in various forms at a folk level in large segments of the Assamese society, both tribal and non-tribal.

Vaishnavism, another form of Hinduism, also had made a fairly early entry into Assam, but in the beginning, it was nothing more than a cult. It was Mahapurursh Simanta Sankardeva who gave a new definition to this cult through his neo-Vaishnavite movement, and this left untouched practically no aspect of Assamese society.

This movement was so strong that it has pervaded the entire range of Assamese life and culture, cutting across religious and sectarian belief and practices. Sankardev's neo-Vaishnavite bhakti movement was the harbinger of a renaissance with many-sided ramifications - spiritual, social, humanistic, artistic, and literary.

The entry of Islam as a religion to Assam came through neighbouring Bengal which already had Muslim rulers a few decades after the Mughal Dynasty was established in India, and Islam today is an important religion here. Islamic shrines of the state include Poa-Mecca of Hajo and the Ajan Pir Dargah near Sivsagar, among others.

Buddhism, on the other hand, first came down from Bhutan in the north, and then from Myanmar in the east. In fact, the Hayagriva Madhava Temple of Hajo is a place of worship for both Hindu and Buddhists alike.

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The Population of Assam by Religion ( 2011 Census):

Religion	Numbers	Percentage
Hindus	1,91,80,759	61.06
Muslims	1,06,79,345	34.22
Christians	11,65,867	3.63
Sikhs	20,672	0.06
Buddhists	54,993	0.17
Jains	25,949	0.08
Other Religions	27,118	0.62
Religions not stated	50,873	0.16
Total	3,12,05,576	100.00