Dishes on display at a food stall at a vegetarian food festival in Bengaluru.
Dishes on display at a food stall at a vegetarian nutrient festival in Bengaluru. (Manjunath Kiran/AFP via Getty Images)

All of India'southward most widely practiced religions have dietary laws and traditions. For example, Hindu texts oftentimes praise vegetarianism, and Hindus may as well avoid eating beefiness because cows are traditionally viewed as sacred. Muslim teachings, meanwhile, prohibit pork.

The vast bulk of Indian adults (81%) follow some restrictions on meat in their diet, including refraining from eating certain meats, not eating meat on certain days, or both. Still, virtually Indians do not abstain from meat altogether – only 39% of Indian adults depict themselves as "vegetarian," co-ordinate to a new Pew Research Center survey. (While in that location are many ways to define "vegetarian" in India, the survey left the definition upward to the respondent.)

A bar chart showing majorities in all of India's religious groups follow at least some restrictions on meat in their diet

Pew Inquiry Center conducted this analysis to improve empathise how dietary laws and traditions in India are tied to religious identities, beliefs and attitudes. It is based on the 2021 study "Religion in India: Tolerance and Segregation," the Heart's most comprehensive, in-depth exploration of Indian public stance to engagement. For this report, we completed 29,999 face-to-face interviews in 17 languages with adults ages 18 and older living in 26 Indian states and three spousal relationship territories. The sample included interviews with 22,975 Hindus, iii,336 Muslims, 1,782 Sikhs, 1,011 Christians, 719 Buddhists and 109 Jains. An additional 67 respondents vest to other religions or are religiously unaffiliated. Interviews for this nationally representative survey were conducted from November. 17, 2019, to March 23, 2020.

Respondents were selected using a probability-based sample design that would allow for robust analysis of all major religious groups in Republic of india, also as all major regional zones. Six groups were targeted for oversampling as function of the survey blueprint: Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and those living in the Northeast region. Data was weighted to account for the different probabilities of option amid respondents and to align with demographic benchmarks for the Indian developed population from the 2011 census.

Here are the questions used for this report, along with responses, and its methodology.

Among India'due south six largest religious groups, some are much more likely than others to abstain from meat. For example, the vast majority of Jains say they are vegetarian (92%), compared with just 8% of Muslims and x% of Christians. Hindus fall in betwixt (44%).

Even so, even among groups with low rates of vegetarianism, many Indians restrict their meat consumption. For example, roughly ii-thirds of Muslims (67%) and Christians (66%) avoid meat in some way, such as refraining from eating certain meats, not eating meat on certain days, or both. Amongst Hindus, in addition to the 44% who are vegetarian, another 39% follow some other restriction on meat consumption.

Many Jains avert not only meat but also root vegetables to avert destroying the unabridged establish, which is seen as a form of violence in Jain theology. Nigh two-thirds of Jains (67%) say they abstain from eating root vegetables such as garlic and onions (staples in many Indian cuisines). Fifty-fifty amid Hindus and Sikhs, roughly i-in-five say they do not eat root vegetables (21% and eighteen%, respectively). Hindu vegetarians are almost evenly divided between those who eat root vegetables and those who exercise non.

Fasting is another common dietary practice in India. Nearly three-quarters of Indians overall (77%) fast, including about eight-in-10 or more amidst Muslims (85%), Jains (84%) and Hindus (79%). Smaller majorities of Christians and Buddhists fast (64% and 61%, respectively), while Sikhs are the least likely to fast (28%).

Religious groups in India fast to marker different occasions. Muslims, for example, fast during the month of Ramadan each yr, while other Indians fast on sure days of the week and to mark important life events. Hindus, especially in the South, may fast before every Skanda Sashti – a day devoted to Skanda, the god of war.

In add-on to request about personal dietary habits, the survey asked whether respondents would ever consume food in the home of someone – or at a function hosted by people – whose organized religion has different rules well-nigh food than their own. Overall, Indians are evenly separate on these questions, but there are wide variations past group.

A bar chart showing Muslim, Christian, Buddhist vegetarians most flexible about where they eat

Roughly a quarter of Jains say they would eat in a habitation (24%) or at a function (27%) where the host'southward religious rules most nutrient differ from their own, while slightly fewer than half of Bharat'due south Hindus and Sikhs say the same. In contrast, half dozen-in-x or more Buddhists, Muslims and Christians would be willing to eat at a place with unlike rules about food.

There is a similar pattern when asking vegetarians about eating in dissimilar situations. Vegetarian Jains are the least likely to say they would always consume food in a restaurant that serves both non-vegetarian and vegetarian nutrient or in the home of a friend who is not vegetarian. In contrast, Buddhists, Muslims and Christians are the most likely to say this. Hindu and Sikh vegetarians, meanwhile, fall somewhere in the middle, with three-in-ten or more than saying they would ever eat food in these non-vegetarian settings.

Not only do religious dietary traditions impact Indians' solar day-t0-solar day lives, but they also influence concepts of religious identity and belonging.

A bar chart showing many Indians view dietary restrictions as essential to religious identity

In fact, Indian adults are generally more than likely to say that following dietary restrictions is a requirement for religious identity than to say that belief in God and prayer are essential. For instance, 72% of Hindus say someone cannot be Hindu if they eat beef, only fewer express the aforementioned sentiment near someone who does non believe in God (49%) or never prays (48%).

Amidst Muslims, Sikhs and Jains, fifty-fifty greater shares say that post-obit dietary rules is essential to religious identity: 77% of Muslims say a person cannot be Muslim if they consume pork, compared with smaller shares who say this almost a person who does not believe in God (60%) or never prays (67%). More than 8-in-10 Sikhs (82%) and Jains (85%) say that a person cannot be truly a member of their religion if they consume beef. Buddhists are divide on the issue, with about one-half expressing that someone cannot be a Buddhist if they consume beef. (Christians were non asked about eating meat and Christian identity.)

Note: Here are the questions used for this study, along with responses, and its methodology.

Manolo Corichi is a research banana focusing on religion research at Pew Inquiry Middle.