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| Total population | |
|---|---|
c.64.4 million (2011 Census) (70.5% of West Bengal's population)  | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Majority in alldistricts exceptMurshidabad,Uttar Dinajpur andMalda. | |
| Languages | |
| Majority:Bengali Minority:Nepali andHindi | |
| Religion | |
| Hinduism and others |
Hinduism is the largestreligious tradition in theIndian state ofWest Bengal with approximately 70.54% of the population identifying themselves asHindus (as of 2011).[1] The Hindus in West Bengal mostly belong to theShakta (theKalikula tradition), minority toVaishnavite and a small community belong toShaivite and otherdenominations.[2] The vast majority of Hindus in West Bengal areBengali Hindus numbering around 55 million and comprising 60.2% of the state population of 91.35 million (2011)[3][4] but a notable section of non-Bengali Hindus also exist, particularly amongMarwaris,Biharis,Odias,Gurkhas,Sindhis,Gujaratis and various tribal communities such asKoch,Santals,Munda,Mech people and particularlyAdivadis numbering around 9.4 million comprising rest 10.3% of the state population.[4][5][6]
Hinduism had existed in the region ofBengal before the 16th century BC and by the 3rd century,Buddhism andJainism were popular too.[7]Gaur, the first sovereign Hindu kingdom in Bengal with its capital inKarnasubarna in modern-dayMurshidabad district, was set up byShashanka, aShaivaite king who ruled approximately between 600 AD and 625 AD. The modern structure of Bengali Hindu society was developed during the rule of theSena dynasty in the 12th century AD. West Bengal has been home to several famous religious teachers, includingSri Chaitanya,Sri Ramakrishna,Rammohan Roy andSwami Vivekananda.
The language of the Hindus in West Bengal isBengali. A large number of Hindu religious texts like biographies ofChaitanya Mahaprabhu, Mangal-kavyas, Bratakathas andPanchalis as well as dharmik writings of modern Bengali philosophers and saints have been produced in Bengali for many centuries.
Majority of Bengali Hindus followShaktism (theKalikula tradition), minority—Vaishnavism (Gaudiya Vaishnavism,Vaishnava-Sahajiya,Bauls). Shaktas belong to the uppercastes as well as lowest castes and tribes, while the lower middle castes are Vaishnavas.[2]
The maindevis of the Kalikula tradition areKali,Chandi which is another form of Durga,Durga, as well as regional goddesses such asManasa(also known as Bishhori), the snake goddesses,Shashthi, the protectress of children,Shitala, the smallpox goddess, andUmā (the Bengali name forParvati).[2]
Jagadhatri,Lakshmi andSaraswati,Shiva,Ganesha,Vishwakarma,Krishna,Rama,Jagannath andVishnu are the other popular and widely worshippedHindu 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 includeKojagari Lakshmi Puja,Dolyatra,Jagaddhatri Puja,Rathayatra,Saraswati Puja,Poila Baishakh,Vishwakarma Puja,Gajan,Poush Parban etc.
Bengali Hindus inWest Bengal observe a number of festivals, hence the Bengali proverbBaro Mase Tero Parbon (Bengali:বারো মাসে তেরো পার্বণ,lit. 'twelve months thirteen festivities'). Birth Anniversary ofRabindranath Tagore which is celebrated as one of the major festivals of the state,Rathyatra andJanmashtami before the commencement of the autumnal festival season which starts withVishwakarma Puja on the last day of Bengali month ofBhadra which is around the middle of September in the English calendar. The annual five-dayDurga Puja is the biggest and most widely celebrated Hindu festival in West Bengal. Durga Puja is followed byKojagari Lakshmi Puja,Kali Puja,Bhai Phonta,Jagaddhatri Puja andKartik Puja. On 1 JanuaryKalpataru Day is observed as an auspicious day associated with Ramakrishna Paramhansa. The winter solstice is celebrated aPaush Sankranti in mid January, followed byNetaji Jayanti or the birth anniversary ofNetaji Subhas Chandra Bose andSaraswati Puja. The spring festival of Holi is celebrated in the form ofDolyatra. The year ends withCharak Puja andGajan.
Temple architecture in West Bengal architecture has assumed a unique identity and evolved into theBengali terra cotta temple architecture which is also a very common style of Hindu temples in Bangladesh. Due to lack of suitable stone in the alluvialGangetic delta, the temple makers had to resort to other materials instead of stone. This gave rise to usingterra cotta as a medium for temple construction. Terra-cotta exteriors with rich carvings are a unique feature of Bengali temples. The town ofVishnupur 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 ofbhakti sects which taught people to view gods as close to themselves. Thus, various styles likedo-chala,Jor-bangla Style,char-chala, andaat-chala sprang up. However, there is also a popular style of building known asNavaratna (nine-towered) or Pancharatna (five-towered) in Bengal which is more luxurious than the Chala buildings. A typical example of Navaratna style is theDakshineswar Kali Temple. The Shiva temples of rural Bengal has significantly impacted on the architectural style ofKalighat Temple, one of the oldest Hindu temples of India. The famousBirla Temple of Kolkata, built in 1996, has a unique blend of temple architecture of Odisha with Rajasthani temple arts. TheMahakal Temple in Darjeeling is a unique and important Hindu temple since 1782.
Hindus constituted 78.45% of West Bengal's population way back in 1951. As per the 2011 census, 70.54% of the state's population is Hindu. There is sharp decline of 7.91% Hindu population in 6 decades.[8][9]
| # | District | Total population | Hindu population | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North 24 Parganas | 10,009,781 | 7,352,769 | 73.46% |
| 2 | Barddhaman | 7,717,563 | 6,008,472 | 77.85% |
| 3 | South 24 Parganas | 8,161,961 | 5,155,545 | 63.17% |
| 4 | Paschim Medinipur | 5,913,457 | 5,056,953 | 85.52% |
| 5 | Hooghly | 5,519,145 | 4,574,569 | 82.89% |
| 6 | Purba Medinipur | 5,095,875 | 4,343,972 | 85.24% |
| 7 | Nadia | 5,167,600 | 3,728,482 | 72.15% |
| 8 | Howrah | 4,850,029 | 3,535,844 | 72.90% |
| 9 | Kolkata | 4,496,694 | 3,440,290 | 76.51% |
| 10 | Jalpaiguri | 3,872,846 | 3,156,781 | 81.51% |
| 11 | Bankura | 3,596,674 | 3,033,581 | 84.34% |
| 12 | Purulia | 2,930,115 | 2,373,120 | 80.99% |
| 13 | Murshidabad | 7,103,807 | 2,359,061 | 33.21% |
| 14 | Birbhum | 3,502,404 | 2,181,515 | 62.29% |
| 15 | Cooch Behar | 2,819,086 | 2,087,766 | 74.06% |
| 16 | Maldah | 3,988,845 | 1,914,352 | 47.99% |
| 17 | Uttar Dinajpur | 3,007,134 | 1,482,943 | 49.31% |
| 18 | Darjeeling | 1,846,823 | 1,366,681 | 74.00% |
| 19 | Dakshin Dinajpur | 1,676,276 | 1,232,850 | 73.55% |
| West Bengal (Total) | 91,276,115 | 64,385,546 | 70.54% |
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1901 | 10,786,582 | — |
| 1911 | 11,231,845 | +4.1% |
| 1921 | 10,783,197 | −4.0% |
| 1931 | 11,855,510 | +9.9% |
| 1941 | 14,102,633 | +19.0% |
| 1951 | 20,698,627 | +46.8% |
| 1961 | 27,521,688 | +33.0% |
| 1971 | 34,607,685 | +25.7% |
| 1981 | 42,007,159 | +21.4% |
| 1991 | 50,850,000 | +21.1% |
| 2001 | 58,104,835 | +14.3% |
| 2011 | 64,385,546 | +10.8% |
| Source:[11] | ||
Percentage of Hindus in West Bengal by decades[11]
| Year | Percent | Decrease |
|---|---|---|
| 1901 | 70.8% | - |
| 1911 | 69.6% | -1.2% |
| 1921 | 68.5% | -1.1% |
| 1931 | 69.9% | +1.4% |
| 1941 | 67% | -2.9% |
| 1947 | 79.2% | +12.2% |
| 1951 | 78.7% | -0.5% |
| 1961 | 78.8% | +0.1% |
| 1971 | 78.1% | -0.7% |
| 1981 | 76.9% | -1.2% |
| 1991 | 74.7% | -2.2% |
| 2001 | 72.5% | -2.2% |
| 2011 | 70.5% | -2% |
After thepartition of Bengal, a large section of upper and middle classBengali Hindus, numbering 2,519,557, fromEast Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh) migrated across the border. They settled primarily inKolkata and other district headquarter towns. These were especially in across the state but particularly inNadia,South 24 Parganas,North 24 Parganas,Howrah,West Dinajpur andJalpaiguri etc.
In 1971, duringBangladesh liberation war againstPakistan, a large group of refugees numbering an estimated 7,235,916 have arrived from Bangladesh to India's West Bengal, Out of which nearly 80% of them are Bengali Hindus and afterIndependence of Bangladesh, nearly 1,521,912 people belonging to Bengali Hindu refugees have decided to stay back in India particularly in West Bengal.[12]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 70.5% in 2011 Census. However, at 1947 just after thepartition of Bengal, Hindus have formed nearly 79.2% of West Bengal population.
Economic participation, work roles and distribution across professions for Bengali Hindus is similar to the wider population in the rural areas, where agriculture and related activities remain the primary occupation. In the urban areas, the largest segment of the Hindu population is engaged mostly as services professionals across sectors.
Historically, since the advent ofCompany rule in India, the upper-caste, landed Bengali Hindu gentry increasingly partnered with theEast India Company to trade and supply goods such as silk, tea and jute toEurope. Subsequently, these families amassed massive wealth, increased their land holdings (Zamindaris) further. As the ruling elite ofKolkata, they established hugepalaces and made the city a magnet for wealth. Businessmen likeDwarkanath Tagore andRaja Nabakrishna Deb are now recognized as some of India's earliest business tycoons in the modern era.
This continued to the 20th century when luminaries likePrafulla Chandra Ray establishedBengal Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals,Rajendra Nath Mookerjee formed engineering firmMartin Burn and Surendra Mohan Bose created the Duckback brand during theSwadeshi movement, among many others.[13]
In India, afterindependence, large number of Bengali Hindus, both from West Bengal have also settled in the rest of India and abroad. The middle and upper middle class populations (who historically had levels of educational attainment) are now well entrenched in numerous professional fields like law, medicine, academics, engineering, journalism, liberal arts, corporates, banking, tax, etc. On the other hand, most of the rural and semi-rural population are now engaged in contractual agriculture, notably inPunjab andHaryana, construction inKerala andKarnataka, logistics, manufacturing and small-scale businesses across the country.
Average literacy levels of Bengali Hindus remain higher than other communities in West Bengal. However, the opposite is true for the minority Hindu population inBangladesh.
Noted West Bengali Hindu industrialists include:
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