Jain communities

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The Jains in India are the last direct representatives of the ancient Shramana tradition. People who practice Jainism, an ancient religion of the Indian subcontinent, are collectively referred to as Jains.

Sangha[edit]

Jainism has a fourfold order of muni (male monastics), aryika (female monastics), Śrāvaka (layman) and sravika (laywoman). This order is known as a sangha.[citation needed]. Many Jains are in general caste.

Cultural influence[edit]

The Jain 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]

As per national survey NFHS-4 conducted in 2018 Jains were declared wealthiest of any community with 70% of their population living in top quintiles of wealth.[3] The sex ratio in the 0-6 age group is the second lowest for Jain (870 females per 1,000 males).

Communities[edit]

Jains are found in almost every part of India. There are about 100 different Jain communities in India. They can be divided into five groups based on historical and current residence:

Central India[edit]

Western India[edit]

Northern India[edit]

Southern India[edit]

Eastern India[edit]

Diaspora[edit]

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.[4] The World Jain Congress was held in Leicester in 1988.[5]

Population[edit]

The Jain population in India according to 2011 census is 0.54% 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).[8] The tabular representation of Jain population in the major states of India as per 2011 Census data released by the government is:

S. No. State Persons (total) Persons (rural) Persons (urban) Male (total) Male (rural) Male (urban) Female (total) Female (rural) Female (urban)
1 India 4,451,753 904,809 3,546,944 2,278,097 467,577 1,810,520 2,173,656 437,232 1,736,424
2 Maharashtra 1,400,349 269,959 1,130,390 713,157 140,476 572,681 687,192 129,483 557,709
3 Rajasthan 622,023 166,322 455,701 317,614 84,649 232,965 304,409 81,673 222,736
4 Gujarat 579,654 44,118 535,536 294,911 22,357 272,554 284,743 21,761 262,982
5 Madhya Pradesh 567,028 109,699 457,329 291,937 57,431 234,506 275,091 52,268 222,823
6 Karnataka 440,280 220,362 219,918 225,544 113,598 111,946 214,736 106,764 107,972
7 Uttar Pradesh 213,267 30,144 183,123 110,994 15,852 95,142 102,273 14,292 87,981
8 Delhi 166,231 192 166,039 85,605 94 85,511 80,626 98 80,528
9 Tamil Nadu 89,265 10,084 79,181 45,605 5,044 40,561 43,660 5,040 38,620

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

The Jain population in United States is estimated to be about 150,000 to 200,000.[9][10]

In Japan, there are more than 5,000 families who have converted to Jainism and is growing faster there.[11]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

  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. ^ "Delhi and Punjab richest states, Jain wealthiest community: National survey". 13 January 2018.
  4. ^ J. Gordon Melton & Martin Baumann 2010, p. 1555.
  5. ^ Dundas 2002, p. 246.
  6. ^ a b 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
  7. ^ Mehta, Makrand (2001). "Gujarati Business Communities in East African Diaspora: Major Historical Trends". Economic and Political Weekly. 36 (20): 1738–1747. JSTOR 4410637.
  8. ^ Office of registrar general and census commissioner (2011), C-1 Population By Religious Community, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India
  9. ^ 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
  10. ^ Wiley, Kristi L. (2004), Historical dictionary of Jainism, Scarecrow Press, p. 19, ISBN 978-0-8108-5051-4
  11. ^ "Thousands of Japanese making a smooth transition from Zen to Jain". Hindustan Times. 23 February 2020.

Sources[edit]

External links[edit]