Hinduism in Maharashtra
Hindus form 80% of the population. Almost all districts are hindu majority. Hindus celebrate all their festivals with culture and tradition. In every village of Maharashtra, at least a temple can be found. Gudhipadawa is a festival of Marathi Hindus . This festival is celebrated on Marathi New Year. Gudhi is sign of victory ( Ramayana's war in Lanka).
![](../I/m/Gudhi_Padwa_Gudhi.jpg)
Tradition
![](../I/m/Palkhi_2008.jpg)
Varakari is a major tradition followed by Marathi Hindus. Varakaris are Vaishnav devotees. Vththal is a deity worshipped mostly in Varakari tradition. Many temples are built in Maharashtra by some Varakari organizations and also by northern and southern organizations such as Svaminarayana, ISCKON, etc. So, a mixed culture is found in Maharashtra. The main Deity worshipped I Maharashtra is Viththal(a form of Krishna). But, people not know that Viththal and Krishna are same because Krishna is worshipped as Shrikrushna (Kri>Kru:ऋ).
Deities
![](../I/m/Vitthala.jpg)
Maharashtrian Hindus worship many deities that are considered incarnations or manifestations of Vishnu.They also worship Shiv, Parvati, and Ganesh.
- Viththal/Vithoba or Pandurangâ a form of Krishna.
- Krishna or Shrikrushna.
- Parashuram.
- Ram
- Maruti.
- Mahadev (Shiva)
- Malhar or Khandoba, an avatar of Shiva.
- Ganapati.
- Dattatreya as Datta or Datt and his avatars
Demographics
![](../I/m/Hindu_majority_districts_of_Maharashtra.png)
The following data is taken from 2001 Census of India.
Hindus by district in Maharashtra
District |
Total Population |
Population Under 6 Years |
Hindu Population |
Hindu Population Under 6 Years |
HINDUS % |
Hindus Under6 % |
Birth Rate ('95 to '01) |
H Birth Rate |
Nandurbar | 1,311,709 | 230,213 | 1,198,481 | 212,040 | 91.37% | 92.11% | 29.25 | 29.49 |
Dhule | 1,707,947 | 255,231 | 1,522,895 | 224,249 | 89.17% | 87.86% | 24.91 | 24.54 |
Jalgaon | 3,682,690 | 525,668 | 3,049,368 | 418,615 | 82.80% | 79.63% | 23.79 | 22.88 |
Buldana | 2,232,480 | 340,294 | 1,622,192 | 235,708 | 72.66% | 69.27% | 25.40 | 24.22 |
Akola | 1,630,239 | 235,835 | 1,024,080 | 137,396 | 62.82% | 58.26% | 24.11 | 22.36 |
Washim | 1,020,216 | 160,486 | 746,841 | 115,450 | 73.20% | 71.94% | 26.22 | 25.76 |
Amravati | 2,607,160 | 357,834 | 1,883,148 | 253,784 | 72.23% | 70.92% | 22.88 | 22.46 |
Wardha | 1,236,736 | 155,612 | 1,006,235 | 127,993 | 81.36% | 82.25% | 20.97 | 21.20 |
Nagpur | 4,067,637 | 525,850 | 3,090,588 | 400,720 | 75.98% | 76.20% | 21.55 | 21.61 |
Bhandara | 1,136,146 | 154,051 | 953,507 | 131,228 | 83.92% | 85.18% | 22.60 | 22.94 |
Gondiya | 1,200,707 | 171,191 | 1,041,802 | 149,839 | 86.77% | 87.53% | 23.76 | 23.97 |
Gadchiroli | 970,294 | 154,744 | 818,640 | 130,989 | 84.37% | 84.65% | 26.58 | 26.67 |
Chandrapur | 2,071,101 | 279,490 | 1,680,113 | 229,457 | 81.12% | 82.10% | 22.49 | 22.76 |
Yavatmal | 2,458,271 | 369,402 | 1,999,368 | 299,748 | 81.33% | 81.14% | 25.04 | 24.99 |
Nanded | 2,876,259 | 477,303 | 2,162,185 | 351,079 | 75.17% | 73.55% | 27.66 | 27.06 |
Hingoli | 987,160 | 167,098 | 728,893 | 120,975 | 73.84% | 72.40% | 28.21 | 27.66 |
Parbhani | 1,527,715 | 252,435 | 1,121,246 | 178,715 | 73.39% | 70.80% | 27.54 | 26.56 |
Jalna | 1,612,980 | 261,386 | 1,255,041 | 197,917 | 77.81% | 75.72% | 27.01 | 26.28 |
Aurangabad | 2,897,013 | 467,934 | 2,030,181 | 315,200 | 70.08% | 67.36% | 26.92 | 25.88 |
Nashik | 4,993,796 | 789,398 | 4,306,179 | 671,368 | 86.23% | 85.05% | 26.35 | 25.98 |
Thane | 8,131,849 | 1,144,896 | 6,506,337 | 915,147 | 80.01% | 79.93% | 23.47 | 23.44 |
Mumbai (Suburban) | 8,640,419 | 1,024,700 | 5,953,475 | 673,128 | 68.90% | 65.69% | 19.77 | 18.84 |
Mumbai | 3,338,031 | 339,723 | 2,119,750 | 202,848 | 63.50% | 59.71% | 16.96 | 15.95 |
Raigarh | 2,207,929 | 314,767 | 1,916,707 | 272,125 | 86.81% | 86.45% | 23.76 | 23.66 |
Pune | 7,232,555 | 968,851 | 6,197,349 | 827,755 | 85.69% | 85.44% | 22.33 | 22.26 |
Ahmadnagar | 4,040,642 | 589,706 | 3,664,259 | 532,286 | 90.69% | 90.26% | 24.32 | 24.21 |
Bid | 2,161,250 | 335,283 | 1,827,298 | 278,027 | 84.55% | 82.92% | 25.86 | 25.36 |
Latur | 2,080,285 | 326,777 | 1,700,679 | 259,782 | 81.75% | 79.50% | 26.18 | 25.46 |
Osmanabad | 1,486,586 | 223,183 | 1,297,858 | 191,666 | 87.30% | 85.88% | 25.02 | 24.61 |
Solapur | 3,849,543 | 569,609 | 3,386,955 | 499,218 | 87.98% | 87.64% | 24.66 | 24.57 |
Satara | 2,808,994 | 368,531 | 2,533,359 | 331,945 | 90.19% | 90.07% | 21.87 | 21.84 |
Ratnagiri | 1,696,777 | 236,601 | 1,391,137 | 194,670 | 81.99% | 82.28% | 23.24 | 23.32 |
Sindhudurg | 868,825 | 105,518 | 802,498 | 96,988 | 92.37% | 91.92% | 20.24 | 20.14 |
Kolhapur | 3,523,162 | 449,883 | 3,077,263 | 393,459 | 87.34% | 87.46% | 21.28 | 21.31 |
Sangli | 2,583,524 | 341,643 | 2,243,478 | 297,962 | 86.84% | 87.21% | 22.04 | 22.14 |
Hindus are in majority in all districts and subdistricts of Maharashtra. The data taken from 2001 census of india. Almost all districts in Maharashtra are Hindu majority
Percentage of Hinduism |
Number of districts |
90%-100% |
4 |
80%-90% |
23 |
70%-80% |
9 |
60%-70% |
4 |
50%-60% |
0 |
References
- "C-1 Population By Religious Community - Maharahstra". Census. Retrieved 29 December 2019.