Religion in Andhra Pradesh#Islam

Venkateswara Temple at Tirupati is the world's second-richest temple{{citation needed|date=June 2025}} and is visited by millions of devotees throughout the year. Andhra Pradesh is home to Shankaracharya of Pushpagiri Peetham. Other Hindu saints include Sadasiva Brahmendra, Bhaktha Kannappa, Yogi Vemana, Sathya Sai Baba, and Pothuluru Veerabrahmendra.{{cite web|title=Sri Potuluri Veera Brahmendra Swami|url=http://www.mihira.com/wisdommasters/veerabrahmam.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120050546/http://www.mihira.com/wisdommasters/veerabrahmam.htm|archive-date=20 November 2008|access-date=29 November 2008|publisher=Mihira.com}}

Village deities or grama devata of village are also widely worshiped among the people of the villages. They are found in almost all villages throughout India, and more common in Andhra Pradesh along with Tamil Nadu. They are known as Kula deivam (guardian deity) and Local Village Gods. They are associated to a main deity who is generally ascribed as Kuladeivam by various communities and castes as part of the tracing their generation through centuries.{{Cite web|date=2007-09-15|title=India: Tamil Nadu: Village gardian gods (kaval, Munisvar)|url=http://www.cbmphoto.co.uk/India/gardian.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070915100919/http://www.cbmphoto.co.uk/India/gardian.html|archive-date=2007-09-15|access-date=2019-11-25}}{{Cite web|date=2013-04-11|title=Tamilnadu {{!}} Therukoothu Art|url=http://tamilnadu.com/arts/therukoothu.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130411213929/http://tamilnadu.com/arts/therukoothu.html|archive-date=2013-04-11|access-date=2019-11-25|website=archive.is}}

File:Sri Kala Hasti.jpg|Srikalahasti Temple

File:Tirumala 090615.jpg|Venkateswara Temple, Tirumala

File:Kanakadurga Temple gopuram.jpg|Kanaka Durga Temple, Vijayawada

{{Main|Andhra Muslims}}

Andhra Muslims have different traditions and culture both from the rest of the Muslim world and the wider culture of the area they live in. Andhra Muslims speak a distinct dialect of Urdu, referred to as Dakhini,{{cite web|title=Language in India|url=http://www.languageinindia.com/april2003/urduinap.html|access-date=2012-07-16|publisher=Language in India}} however, most Andhra Muslims are fluent in Telugu as well. Most of the Andhra Muslims are Sunni, and follow the Hanafi school of Islamic Jurisprudence. There is also a minor Shia population in various districts.

Contrary to general impression that Islam started with Muslim invasions and forcible conversions, Islam in southern India grew gradually through traders and itinerant Sufis starting from 643 AD in Kerala. Proselytization was carried out by individual Sufi saints and major shrines may be found in Kadapa and Penukonda.{{Cite journal |title=Understanding the Backward Classes of Muslim Society |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25741998 |last=Krishnan |first=P S |date=2010-08-21 |issue=34 |volume=45 |pages=46–56 |jstor=25741998}}

According to the Census of 2001, Andhra Pradesh has a population of approximately 7 million Muslims who form around a little under 9% of the State's population.{{cite web|title=Census GIS HouseHold|url=http://www.censusindiamaps.net/page/Religion_WhizMap1/housemap.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100706213221/http://www.censusindiamaps.net/page/Religion_WhizMap1/housemap.htm|archive-date=2010-07-06|access-date=2012-07-16|publisher=Censusindiamaps.net}} Out of this around a million and a half live in Hyderabad. Therefore, an approximate figure for Andhra Muslims in Andhra region would be somewhere around 6 million. The sex ratio is around 960 females per 1000 males, higher than the national average of 933. The literacy rate stands at 68%, again higher than the national average of 64%.

{{Main|Telugu Christians}}

File:Narsapurlutheranchurchbelltower.png are still used in rural congregations for tolling the death knell]]

According to the Census of India, there are over a million Christians in Andhra Pradesh, constituting 1.51% of the state's population,{{cite web|title=Census Reference Tables, C-Series Population by religious communities|url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_data_finder/C_Series/Population_by_religious_communities.htm|work=Censusindia.gov.in}} although a decrease from the 1971 census figure which was 2%, as a result of low birth rates and emigration. However this has long been considered a significant underestimate as the majority of Christians, who almost exclusively converted from Dalit communities such as Malas and Madigas, record their religious identity as "Hindu" on government forms to avail reservation benefits restricted to Hindu, Sikh, and Buddhist Dalits.{{Cite book |editor-first1=Rowena |editor-last1=Robinson |editor-first2=Joseph Marianus|editor-last2=Kujur|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/731252725 |title=Margins of Faith: Dalit and Tribal Christianity in India |date=2010 |publisher=Sage Publishing |isbn=978-81-321-0467-4 |oclc=731252725}} Most Telugu Christians are Protestant, belonging to major Indian Protestant denominations such as the predominant Anglican Church of South India, Pentecostals such as Assemblies of God in India, India Pentecostal Church of God, The Pentecostal Mission, the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Samavesam of Telugu Baptist Churches Bible Mission the Salvation Army and several others. There also is a significant number of Catholics and Evangelicals.{{cite web |url=http://medakcathedral.org/about-us/about-medak-diocese |url-status=unfit |title=About Medak Diocese |language=en |access-date=22 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707040147/http://medakcathedral.org/about-us/about-medak-diocese |archive-date=7 July 2011}} The first Protestant missionaries in Andhra Pradesh were Cran and Des Granges who were sent out by the London Missionary Society. They set up their station at Visakhapatnam in 1805 AD.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d4gsAAAAYAAJ&q=history+of+christianity+mission+kurnool&pg=PA89|title=History of Christianity in India: With Its Prospects : a Sketch Compiled ...|date=9 September 2008}}{{cite web|title=National Minority Status For Jain Community In India|url=http://www.theindiapost.com/articles/national-minority-status-for-jain-community-in-india/|work=Theindiapost.com}}{{cite web|title=Census of India : Salient Features|url=http://www.servinghistory.com/topics/Census_of_India::sub::Salient_Features|work=Servinghistory.com}}{{cite web|title=Census of India, Religious composition by gender|url=http://finder.geocommons.com/overlays/5030.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20110525054601/http://finder.geocommons.com/overlays/5030.html|archive-date=2011-05-25|work=Finder.geocommons.com|publisher=GeoCommons}}

The mother tongue of Telugu Christians is Telugu, the most widely spoken Dravidian language in India. However, with mission schools being the first to teach using English as the primary medium, English is widely used among Telugu Christian communities for both religious and secular purposes. Most major churches offer religious services in both Telugu and English. Some churches such as St. John's Church, Secunderabad and St. George's Church, Hyderabad offer services exclusively in English. English is also the preferred lingua franca of urban Christian youth.

The music of Telugu Christians consists mostly of hymns. The Andhra Kraistava Keerthanalu (Andhra Christian Hymnal) is the single most important collection of hymns used in Telugu Christian congregations. It includes translations of English Hymns and original hymns written in Telugu by famous hymnists such as Purushottam Chaudhary, John Bethala and the likes.{{cite web|title=Keerthanalu English|url=http://www.uecf.net/Keerthanalu_English.pdf|work=uecf.net}} Most of these Telugu Christian songs are set to the ragaas used in the Indian classical music.

Buddhism spread to Andhra Pradesh early in its history. The Krishna river valley was "a site of extraordinary Buddhist activity for almost a thousand years."Davidson, Ronald. Tibetan Renaissance. Columbia 2005, p. 29. The ancient Buddhist sites in the lower Krishna valley, including Amaravati, Nagarjunakonda and Jaggayyapeta "can be traced to at least the third century BCE, if not earlier."Padma, Sree. Barber, Anthony W. Buddhism in the Krishna River Valley of Andhra. SUNY Press 2008, p. 2.

The region played a central role in the development of Mahayana Buddhism, along with the Magadha-area in northeastern India.Padma, Sree. Barber, Anthony W. Buddhism in the Krishna River Valley of Andhra. SUNY Press 2008, p. 1Peter Harvey (2013), An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices, Cambridge University Press, p.108 A. K. Warder holds that "the Mahāyāna originated in the south of India and almost certainly in the Andhra country."Warder, A. K. Indian Buddhism. 2000. p. 313 According to Xing, "Several scholars have suggested that the Prajnaparamita probably developed among the Mahasamghikas in Southern India probably in the Andhra country, on the Krishna River."Guang Xing. The Concept of the Buddha: Its Evolution from Early Buddhism to the Trikaya Theory. 2004. pp. 65–66 The Prajñāpāramitā Sutras belong to the earliest Mahayana Sutras.Williams, Paul. Buddhist Thought. Routledge, 2000, p. 131.Williams, Paul. Mahayana Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations 2nd edition. Routledge, 2009, p. 47.

File:Rock-cut Lord --Buddha-- Statue at Bojjanakonda near Anakapalle of Visakhapatnam dist in AP.jpg|Rock-cut Buddha statue at Bojjannakonda near Anakapalle, Visakhapatnam

File:Entrance of Rock-cut temple.JPG|Entrance to the chaitya hall at Guntupalli Buddhist Monument near Eluru

The Sikhs comprise Banjara and Satnami. The process of blending the religion into southern India for the Sikligars began at the time of 10th Sikh Guru Gobind Singh, who came to the Deccan and died in 1708 at Nanded (Maharashtra).

It all came by the Sikligars as they came to southern India as expert arms-making camp followers of the tenth Guru. Sikligar is a compound of the Persian words {{transliteration|fa|saiqal}} and {{transliteration|fa|gar}} meaning a polisher of metal.{{Cite web|date=October 18, 2011|title=Away from Punjab – the south Indian Sikhs|url=https://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/away-from-punjab-the-south-indian-sikhs_737141.html|website=Zee News}} The traditional occupation of the Sikligars is crafting kitchen implements.

The Jaina tradition is that Mahavira himself had come to the north-eastern borders of Andhra Pradesh and preached the religion. There is a tradition (that Samprati, the grandson of Asoka (aśoka), sent Jaina monks to Andhra in the capacity as his ambassadors, after instructing the people how to treat them. The Hāthīgumphā inscription of Kharavela (kharavēla), written in Mauryan year 165 (2nd century B.C.), says that the idol of the Jina

Kundakunda[ acharya (c. 1st century A.D.) is one of the greatest savants of South Indian Jainism. According to tradition, he belonged to the hill-tracts of Anantapur. According to another tradition, Simha-nandi, a Jaina monk, who lived in Pēr-ūr in Andhra Pradesh, helped two Ikṣvāku princes, Dāḍiga and Mādhava, to carve a kingdom of their own, which later came to be known as the Ganga (gaṅga) kingdom.

{{Main|Demographics of Andhra Pradesh}}

class="wikitable" ! rowspan="2" |Religion ! colspan="2" |1991 ! colspan="2" |2001 ! colspan="2" |2011
pop !% !pop !% !pop !%
Hinduism |36,686,303 |90.77 |41,205,703 |91.12 |45,059,944 |90.89
Islam |2,767,839 |6.85 |3,133,643 |6.93 |3,620,846 |7.30
Christianity |936,970 |2.32 |797,544 |1.76 |684,586 |1.38
Jainism |17,070 |0.04 |21,887 |0.05 |27,159 |0.05
Sikhism |3,867 |0.01 |7,177 |0.02 |9,904 |0.02
Buddhism |769 |0.00 |2,409 |0.01 |4,139 |0.01
Others |964 |0.00 |1,686 |0.00 |4,572 |0.01
Not stated |5152 |0.01 |52,687 |0.12 |165,953 |0.33
Total ! colspan="2" |40,418,934 ! colspan="2" |45,222,736 ! colspan="2" |49,577103

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• Buddhapad Hoard
• List of festivals in Andhra Pradesh

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