Religion is based on a belief system about ultimate powers and involves personal practices and group rituals stemming from shared convictions. The main native Indian religions are Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, with Hinduism accounting for 80% of India's population. The two main philosophical streams of thought in ancient India were the shramana religions like Buddhism and Jainism, and the Vedic religion, which modern Hinduism continues today.

1. QUESTION: What is RELIGION?
ANSWER: A RELIGION is based on a belief
system about the ultimate powers. It conducts
prayers, rituals, or other practices. The term
‘religion’ refers to both the personal practices
related to communal faith and to group rituals and
communication stemming from shared conviction.
QUESTION: What are the native Indian religions?
ANSWER: Native Indian religions are Hinduism,
Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. Hinduism
accounts for 80% of the population of India.
QUESTION: Which are the 2 philosophical stream
thoughts of India?
ANSWER: Ancient India has 2 philosophical
streams of thoughts, the shramana religions and the
Vedic religion, parallel traditions that have existed
side by side for thousands of years. Both Buddhism
and Jainism are continuation of shramana
traditions, where as modern Hinduism is
continuation of Vedic tradition. About 2% of
Indians belong to Christianity, Judaism and
Zoroastrianism has an ancient history of India and
each has several thousands of Indian followers. The
second religion is Islam.