Jain community

The Jains in India are the last direct representatives of the ancient Śramaṇa tradition. They follow Jainism, the religion taught by the twenty-four propagators of faith called tirthankaras. The total Jain population is estimated to be 7+ million people worldwide.

Sangha

Jainism has a fourfold order of muni (male monastics), aryika (female monastics), Śrāvaka (layman) and sravika (laywoman). This order is known as a sangha.

Cultural influence

The Jains have the highest literacy rate in India, 94.1.% compared with the national average of 65.38%. They have the highest female literacy rate, 90.6.% compared with the national average of 54.16%.[1][2]

The Jain community, though very small in numbers, contributes a significant percent of the income tax revenue of India.[3] It is also believed that the Jains have the highest per capita income in India.[4]

The sex ratio in the 0-6 age group is the second lowest for Jains (870 females per 1000 males).

Communities

There are about 110 different Jain communities in India. They can be divided into six groups based on historical and current residence.

Central India

Western India

Northern India

Southern India

Eastern India

Overseas Jains

Virchand Gandhi made a presentation of Jainism at the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago in 1893, marking one of the earliest appearances of Jainism outside India.[6] The World Jain Congress was held in Leicester in 1988.[7]

Population

The Jain population in India according to 2011 census is 0.37% i.e. 4,451,753 (Males 2,278,097; Females 2,173,656) out of the total population of India 1,210,854,977 (males 623,270,258; females 587,584,719).[10] The tabular representation of Jain population in the major states of India as per 2011 Census data released by the government is:

S. No.StatePersons (total)Persons (rural)Persons (urban)Male (total)Male (rural)Male (urban)Female (total)Female (rural)Female (urban)
1India4,451,753904,8093,546,9442,278,097467,5771,810,5202,173,656437,2321,736,424
2Maharashtra1,400,349269,9591,130,390713,157140,476572,681687,192129,483557,709
3Rajasthan622,023166,322455,701317,61484,649232,965304,40981,673222,736
4Gujarat579,65444,118535,536294,91122,357272,554284,74321,761262,982
5Madhya Pradesh567,028109,699457,329291,93757,431234,506275,09152,268222,823
6Karnataka440,280220,362219,918225,544113,598111,946214,736106,764107,972
7Uttar Pradesh213,26730,144183,123110,99415,85295,142102,27314,29287,981
8Delhi166,231192166,03985,6059485,51180,6269880,528
9Tamil Nadu89,26510,08479,18145,6055,04440,56143,6605,04038,620

It is likely that the actual population of Jains may be significantly higher than the census numbers.

The Jain population in United States is estimated to be about 150000 to 200,000.[11][12]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "Jains steal the show with 7 Padmas", The Times of India, 9 April 2015
  2. ↑ "Literacy race: Jains take the honours", The Times of India, 7 September 2004
  3. ↑ "Jains' contribution to exchequer "astounding"", The Hindu, 20 August 2007
  4. ↑ "Indian Government", PIB
  5. ↑ Carrithers, Michael; Humphrey, Caroline, eds. (1991). The Assembly of Listeners: Jains in Society. Cambridge University Press. p. 83. ISBN 978-0-52136-505-5.
  6. ↑ J. Gordon Melton & Martin Baumann 2010, p. 1555.
  7. ↑ Dundas 2002, p. 246.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Gregory, Robert G. (1993), Quest for equality: Asian politics in East Africa, 1900-1967, New Delhi: Orient Longman Limited, p. 26, ISBN 0-863-11-208-0
  9. ↑ Mehta, Makrand (2001). "Gujarati Business Communities in East African Diaspora: Major Historical Trends". Economic and Political Weekly. 36 (20): 1738. JSTOR 4410637.
  10. ↑ Office of registrar general and census commissioner (2011), C-1 Population By Religious Community, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India
  11. ↑ Lee, Jonathan H. X. (21 December 2010), Encyclopedia of Asian American Folklore and Folklife, ABC-CLIO, pp. 487–488, ISBN 978-0-313-35066-5
  12. ↑ Wiley, Kristi L. (2004), Historical dictionary of Jainism, Scarecrow Press, p. 19, ISBN 978-0-8108-5051-4

References

  • J. Gordon Melton; Martin Baumann, eds. (2010), Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices, One: A-B (Second ed.), ABC-CLIO, ISBN 978-1-59884-204-3
  • Shah, Natubhai (2004), Jainism, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-81-208-1938-2
  • Facets of Jainology : Selected Research Papers on Jain Society, Religion and Culture/Vilas Adinath Sangave. Mumbai, Popular Prakashan, 2001
  • Dundas, Paul (2002) [1992], The Jains (Second ed.), Routledge, ISBN 0-415-26605-X
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.