Hinduism in Nepal

Nepalese Hindus
Nēpālī hindūhāru
नेपाली हिन्दुहरु
(top) A Nepali Temple priest, (below) a Nepali Hindu devotee holding an offering.
Total population
23,677,744 (2021 Census)[1]
(81.30% of the country's population)Decrease
Founder
Rulers of Gopala Dynasty
Regions with significant populations
All over Nepal
Religions
Hinduism
Scriptures
Bhagavad Gita and Vedas
Languages
Sanskrit (Sacred)
Nepali, Newar, Magar, Bhojpuri, Maithili, Awadhi and other signed languages.

Hinduism is the main and largest dharma of Nepal.[2] In 2006, the country declared itself a secular country through democracy, after the abolition of its monarchy.[3][4] According to the 2021 census, the Hindu population in Nepal is estimated to be around 23,677,744 which accounts for at least 81.19%[5] of the country's population, the highest percentage of Hindus of any country in the world.[6] Vikram Samvat, one of the two official calendars used in Nepal, is a solar Hindu calendar essentially the same to that widespread in North India as a dharmic calendar, and is based on Hindu units of time.[7]

Among the ethnic groups in Nepal, those most influenced by Hinduism are the Tharu, Magar, Hill Dalits, Bahun, Chhetri, Madheshi, Newari and Thakuri people.[8][5] Meanwhile, among the major ethnic groups Sherpa, Rai, Limbu, Gurung and Tamang have lowest percentage of followers of Hinduism within the group.[5]

  1. ^ National Statistics Office (2021). National Population and Housing Census 2021, Caste/Ethnicity and Religion Report. Government of Nepal (Report).
  2. ^ Meneses, Eloise (2019-07-23). "Religiously Engaged Ethnography: Reflections of a Christian Anthropologist Studying Hindus in India and Nepal". Ethnos. 86 (3): 477–491. doi:10.1080/00141844.2019.1641126. ISSN 0014-1844. S2CID 199858627.
  3. ^ "Nepal Adopts New Constitution, Becomes a Secular State: 5 Facts". NDTV.com. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
  4. ^ "Nepal to stay secular, proposal for a Hindu nation rejected - Times of India". The Times of India. PTI. Sep 14, 2015. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
  5. ^ a b c Nepali Census data 2011 (2014). "Nepali Census data 2011 Go to page 56 to see Buddhist and Kirat percentages" (PDF). Population Monograph.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ Timilsina, Rajendra Raj (2015-12-07). "Sandhyopaasan:The Hindu Ritual as a Foundation of Vedic Education". Dhaulagiri Journal of Sociology and Anthropology. 9: 53–88. doi:10.3126/dsaj.v9i0.14022. ISSN 1994-2672.
  7. ^ Shanmuganathan, Thilagavathi (2014-09-01). "A pragmatic analysis of Lord Shiva's dance". International Journal of the Sociology of Language (229): 95–115. doi:10.1515/ijsl-2014-0019. ISSN 1613-3668. S2CID 170652980.
  8. ^ "Nepal – RELIGION". countrystudies.us. Retrieved 2021-02-11.

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