According to its constitution India is a secular state. In practice, it is one of the most religious countries in the world. India is the birthplace of four world religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. Islam, Zoroastrianism and Christianity have also had tremendous impact on the nation's history.

India today retains its traditional spiritual life, but many religious practices have changed. Pop bhajans (religious songs) blare out on loudspeakers from New-Age temples, where prayer prices are neatly marked up, as in a supermarket. Instant nirvana (salvation) is promised via special phone lines. The Hindu epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana are serialised on television.

India has always exported its religions. Buddhism, which began in northern India in the sixth century BC, now has over 500 million followers all over the world. In the 1960s it was fashionable for Westerners to follow Indian gurus (spiritual teachers) and some of them founded groups in America and Europe.

“In the English-speaking World”