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. 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 higher literacy rate, 94.1.% compared with the national average of 65.38%. They have the higher female literacy rate, 90.6.% compared with the national average of 54.16%.[1][2] It is also believed that the Jains have the highest per capita income in India.[3] Jain community though very small in numbers, contributes a significant percent of Income tax revenue of India.[4]

Communities

There are about 110 different Jain communities in India and overseas. 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.[5] The World Jain Congress was held in Leicester in 1988.[6]

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).[9] The tabular representation of Jain population in India as per 2011 Census data released by government in major states 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.

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

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. ↑ "Indian Government", PIB
  4. ↑ "Jains' contribution to exchequer "astounding"", The Hindu, 20 August 2007
  5. ↑ J. Gordon Melton & Martin Baumann 2010, p. 1555.
  6. ↑ Dundas 2002, p. 246.
  7. 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
  8. ↑ Mehta, Makrand (2001). "Gujarati Business Communities in East African Diaspora: Major Historical Trends". Economic and Political Weekly. 36 (20): 1738. JSTOR 4410637.
  9. ↑ Office of registrar general and census commissioner (2011), C-1 Population By Religious Community, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India

References

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