Hinduism in West Bengal


Hinduism is the largest religious tradition in the Indian state of West Bengal with approximately 70.54% of the population identifying themselves as Hindus. The Hindus in West Bengal mostly belong to the shakta and a small community belong to Vaishnavite and Shaivite denominations. The vast majority of Hindus in West Bengal are Bengali Hindus numbering around 5.4 crore and comprising 59% of the state population, but a notable section of non-Bengali Hindus also exist, particularly among Marwaris, Biharis, Odias, Gurkhas, Punjabis, Sindhis, Gujaratis and various tribal communities such as Koch Raj bongshi, Santals, Munda and particularly Adivadis numbering around 1.03 crore comprising rest 11.5% of the state population.
Hinduism had existed in the region of Bengal before the 16th century BC and by the 3rd century, Buddhism and Jainism were popular too. Gaur, the first sovereign Hindu kingdom in Bengal with its capital in Karnasubarna in modern-day Murshidabad district, was set up by Shashanka, a Shaivaite king who ruled approximately between 600 AD and 625 AD. The modern structure of Bengali Hindu society was developed during the rule of the Sena dynasty in the 12th century AD. West Bengal has been home to several famous religious teachers, including Sri Chaitanya, Sri Ramakrishna, Rammohan Roy, Swami Vivekananda, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and Paramahansa Yogananda who helped to abolish archaic practices like sati, dowry, and caste-based discrimination or untouchability that crept into the Hindu society during the Middle Ages. But they also played an important role in the resurgence of Hindu nationalism in Bengal. This inherent Hindu identity was the chief factor in Bengali Hindu Homeland Movement which successfully resisted the plan to create a United Bengal and campaigned for the establishing a separate state of West Bengal in India on the eve of Partition of India in 1947.
The language of the Hindus in West Bengal is Bengali. A large number of Hindu religious texts like biographies of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Mangal-kavyas, Bratakathas and Panchalis as well as dharmik writings of modern Bengali philosophers and saints have been produced in Bengali for many centuries.
Devi, Shiva, Krishna, and Vishnu are the most popular and widely worshipped Hindu deities in West Bengal. Durga Puja is the biggest and most important festival of the Hindus in West Bengal, as well as the most significant festival of the state in general. Kali Puja is the second major festival of the community and it corresponds to the pan-Indian festival of Diwali. Other major festivals include Kojagari Lakshmi Puja, Dolyatra, Jagaddhatri Puja, Rathayatra, Saraswati Puja, Poila Baishakh, Vishwakarma Puja, Gajan, Poush Parban etc.

Festivals

in West Bengal observe a number of festivals, hence the Bengali proverb Baro Mase Tero Parbon.Birth Anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore which is celebrated as one of the major festivals of the state, Rathyatra and Janmashtami before the commencement of the autumnal festival season which starts with Vishwakarma Puja on the last day of Bengali month of Bhadra. The annual five-day Durga Puja is the biggest and most widely celebrated Hindu festival in West Bengal. Durga Puja is followed by Kojagari Lakshmi Puja, Kali Puja, Bhai Phonta, Jagaddhatri Puja and Kartik Puja. On 1 January Kalpataru Day is observed as an auspicious day associated with Ramakrishna Paramhansa. The winter solstice is celebrated a Paush Sankranti in mid January, followed by Netaji Jayanti or the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Saraswati Puja. The spring festival of Holi is celebrated in the form of Dolyatra. The year ends with Charak Puja and Gajan.

Temples

Temple architecture in West Bengal architecture has assumed a unique identity and evolved into the Bengali terra cotta temple architecture which is also a very common style of Hindu temples in Bangladesh. Due to lack of suitable stone in the alluvial Gangetic delta, the temple makers had to resort to other materials instead of stone. This gave rise to using terra cotta as a medium for temple construction. Terra-cotta exteriors with rich carvings are a unique feature of Bengali temples. The town of Vishnupur in West Bengal is renowned for this type of architecture.
Usually a part of the intended total motif was carved by hand on one side of a brick and then baked. While under construction, these carved bricks were arranged to make up the entire motif.
The Bengali style of temple is not luxurious. Rather, most are modeled on simple thatched-roof earthen huts used as dwellings by commoners. This can be attributed to the popularity of bhakti cults which taught people to view gods as close to themselves. Thus, various styles like do-chala, jor-bangla, char-chala, and aat-chala sprang up. However, there is also a popular style of building known as Navaratna or Pancharatna in Bengal which is more luxurious than the Chala buildings. A typical example of Navaratna style is the Dakshineswar Kali Temple. The Shiva temples of rural Bengal has significantly impacted on the architectural style of Kalighat Temple, one of the oldest Hindu temples of India. The famous Birla Temple of Kolkata, built in 1996, has a unique blend of temple architecture of Odisha with Rajasthani temple arts. The Mahakal Temple in Darjeeling is a unique and important Hindu temple since 1782.

Population

After partition of Bengal, a large section of upper and middle class Bengali Hindus, numbering 25,19,557, from East Pakistan during have migrated to neighbouring Kolkata and various towns and rural areas of West Bengal particularly in Nadia, South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas, Howrah, West Dinajpur and Jalpaiguri etc. Not only Bengali Hindu refugees alone from East Pakistan are accommodated but the West Bengal government also gave shelter and small acres of land to the Punjabi Hindus and Sikhs refugees who have fled from West Punjab during the wave of partition. Estimates show that Punjabi Hindus and Sikh population in the state capital have reached to 50 thousands in late 1984 alone. Most of the Punjabi Hindu and Sikh refugees from West Punjab are well integrated into west bengali culture and settled specially in the state capital localites of Bhawanipur district in the south central part where there are Atleast two gurudwaras and as well as in north of Kolkata not far from airport. The Future generation of those Punjabi Hindus and Sikhs refugees whose forefathers make West Bengal as their home in the awake of partition are now numerically stands at 412,228 comprising 0.45% of the state population as of 2011 census report surveyed by state government. But Again In 1971 during Bangladesh liberation war against Pakistan, a large group of refugees numbering around 10 million have arrived from Bangladesh to India's West Bengal and North East India, Out of which nearly 80% of them are Bengali Hindus and after Independence of Bangladesh, nearly 15,21,913 people belonging to Bengali Hindu refugees have decided to stay back in India particularly in West Bengal.
The Hindu population in Western part of Bengal i.e West Bengal during first census of 1951 was around 19,462,706 and in 2011 census it had increased to 64,385,546. But the percentage of Hindu population in the state decreased from 78.45% in 1951 to 70.54% in 2011. In the same period the percentage of Muslim population in the state increased from 19.85% in 1951 to 27.01% in 2011 due to having higher birth rate in comparison to majority.

Population by district

#DistrictTotal populationHindu population%
1North 24 Parganas10,009,7817,352,76973.46%
2Barddhaman7,717,5636,008,47277.85%
3South 24 Parganas8,161,9615,155,54563.17%
4Paschim Medinipur5,913,4575,056,95385.52%
5Hooghly5,519,1454,574,56982.89%
6Purba Medinipur5,095,8754,343,97285.24%
7Nadia5,167,6003,728,48272.15%
8Howrah4,850,0293,535,84472.90%
9Kolkata4,496,6943,440,29076.51%
10Jalpaiguri3,872,8463,156,78181.51%
11Bankura3,596,6743,033,58184.34%
12Puruliya2,930,1152,373,12080.99%
13Murshidabad7,103,8073,359,06133.21%
14Birbhum3,502,4042,181,51562.29%
15Cooch Behar2,819,0862,087,76674.06%
16Maldah3,988,8451,914,35247.99%
17Uttar Dinajpur3,007,1341,482,94349.31%
18Darjeeling1,846,8231,366,68174.00%
19Dakshin Dinajpur1,676,2761,232,85073.55%
West Bengal 91,276,11564,385,54670.54%

Economies and Business

The Bengali Hindus of West Bengal have their mainstay in trade and business. This ethnic minority has been home to major industrialists worldwide. Large number of West Bengali Hindus have settled outside India. However, the largest section of urban middle and upper-middle class Hindus are employed in the service sector and numerous professional fields like law, medicine, academics, engineering, journalism, liberal arts, corporate job, banking etc. On the other hand, most of the rural and semi-rural people are engaged in agriculture, cottage industry and small-scale businesses.
The literacy level of Bengali Hindus in Bengal and other parts of the world is very high. The higher literacy level combined with economic prosperity and flexible outlook have given Bengali Hindus in West Bengal a clear edge over other communities, especially Muslims.
Noted West Bengali Hindu industrialists include: