Source: New India Press
Wire Service: Reuters
NEW DELHI: Indians have become more religious in the last five years, partly thanks to the stress of urban living, and 93 percent believe in God, according to a survey released on Thursday.
The survey, by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) for the Hindustan Times and CNN-IBN television channel, found that religiosity had risen fastest in India’s booming towns and cities.
“Sociologists tell us that the stress of urban living pushes people to search for anchors in their lives,” said Sanjay Kumar and Yogendra Yadav of the CSDS. “Since they cannot go back to their villages, they recreate a community through religion.”
More than half of the 7,670 respondents said they prayed every day and nearly two thirds said they visited a place of worship regularly.
Half or nearly half said they believed in ghosts, sun signs and numerology. Nearly a quarter said they visited palmists often or occasionally.
India is home to around 1.1 billion people, most of them Hindus but also including more than 140 million Muslims as well as millions of Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains.