Editing Sikkim (section)

=== Religion ===
{{See also|Hinduism in Sikkim}}
[[File:Buddha in Sikkim.jpg|thumb|Buddha in Sikkim Culture]]
{{Pie chart
|caption=Religion in Sikkim (2011)<ref name="census2001">{{cite web|title=Census of India – Religious Composition|publisher=Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs|url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/C-01.html|access-date=27 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150913045700/http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/C-01.html|archive-date=13 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>
|left1=Religion
|right1=Percent
|float=right
|bars=
|label1=[[Hinduism]]|color1=darkorange|value1=57.76
|label2=[[Buddhism]]|color2=gold|value2=27.39
|label3=[[Christianity]]|color3=blue|value3=9.91
|label4=[[Islam]]|color4=green|value4=1.62
|label5=[[Sikhism]]|color5=darkkhaki|value5=0.31
|label6=[[Jainism]]|color6=brown|value6=0.05
|label7=Other faith like [[Kirat Mundhum]], [[Bon]], [[Mun (religion)|Mun]]|color7=chartreuse|value7=2.67
|label8=No religion|color8=black|value8=0.3
}}

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin:auto;"
|- style="text-align: center;"
! Religious<br/>group
! Population <br/>% '''1991'''<ref name=census1991b>{{cite web|url=http://lsi.gov.in:8081/jspui/bitstream/123456789/5542/1/35768_1981_SDP.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiSt6DEw4T2AhUQHLkGHTLgDZQQFnoECAYQAQ&usg=AOvVaw38TK18XpRaSlx-OaUPKQjY|title=Cesus of India -Religion Composition – 1981|accessdate=10 February 2022}}</ref>
! Population <br/>% '''2001'''<ref name="census2001tru">{{cite web |title=Census of India – Religious Composition – 2001 |url=https://censusindia.gov.in/census_data_2001/census_data_finder/c_series/population_by_religious_communities.htm |url-status=dead |access-date=27 August 2015 |publisher=Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs}}</ref>
! Population <br/>% '''2011'''<ref name="census2001"/>
|-
! style="background:DarkOrange;"| Hinduism
| 68.36% || 60.93% || 57.76%
|-
! style="background:Gold;"| Buddhism
| 27.15% || 28.11% || 27.39%
|-
! style="background:DodgerBlue;"| Christianity
| 3.29% || 6.67% || 9.91%
|-
! style="background:Green; color:white;"| Islam
| 0.94% || 1.42% || 1.62%
|-
! style="background:darkKhaki; color:white;"| Sikhism
| 0.09% || 0.21% || 0.31%
|-
! style="background:brown; color:white;"| Jainism
| 0.001% || 0.03% || 0.05%
|-
! style="background:Chartreuse;"| Other religions
| 0.04% || 2.38% || 2.67%
|-
! style="background:Black; color:white;"| No religion
| – || – || 0.3%
|}

According to the 2011 census, 57.8% follow [[Hinduism]], making it the state's majority religion. [[Buddhism]] is followed by 27.4% of the population, while [[Christianity]] is followed by 9.9%.<ref name="census2011">{{cite web|url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/C-01/DDW11C-01%20MDDS.XLS |title=C-1 Population By Religious Community – Sikkim| website=Census India |access-date=16 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150927174518/http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/C-01/DDW11C-01%20MDDS.XLS|archive-date=27 September 2015}}</ref> Between 2001 and 2011, Christianity was the fastest growing religion in the state, going from 6.67% to 9.91% of the population.<ref name="census2011" /> It was thus the fourth state with the highest Christian growth in the period, behind only [[Arunachal Pradesh]], [[Manipur]] and [[Meghalaya]].<ref name="census2001tru" /><ref name="PEWRC">{{cite web |title=Sikkim |date=21 September 2021 |url=https://www.pewforum.org/2021/09/21/religious-demography-of-indian-states-and-territories/ |publisher=Pew Research Center|accessdate=15 February 2022}}</ref> As of 2014, the [[Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Sikkim]] is the largest Christian denomination in Sikkim.<ref>[http://www.irfa.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=49:points-of-ministry&Itemid=41 "Points of Ministry"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140729220837/http://www.irfa.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=49:points-of-ministry&Itemid=41|date=29 July 2014}}. IRFA.org.au. 2014. Retrieved 18 December 2014.</ref> Hinduism, on the other hand, declined from 60.93% to 57.76% of the population in the same period.<ref name="census2001tru" /><ref name="census2011" /> Sikkim was the fourth state with the biggest decline in the percentage of Hindus, behind only [[Arunachal Pradesh]], [[Manipur]] and [[Assam]].<ref name="PEWRC" /> [[Vajrayana|Vajrayana Buddhism]], which accounts for 27.3% of the population, is Sikkim's second-largest, yet most prominent religion. Prior to Sikkim's becoming a part of the Indian Union, Vajrayana Buddhism was the state religion under the Chogyal. Sikkim has 75 [[Buddhist monasteries]], the oldest dating back to the 1700s.{{sfn|Bareh|2001|p=9}} The public and visual aesthetics of Sikkim are executed in shades of Vajrayana Buddhism and Buddhism plays a significant role in public life, even among Sikkim's majority Nepali Hindu population. Other religious minorities include [[Muslim]]s of Tibet,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Atwill |first=David G. |date=1 August 2016 |title=Boundaries of Belonging: Sino-Indian Relations and the 1960 Tibetan Muslim Incident |url=https://read.dukeupress.edu/journal-of-asian-studies/article-abstract/75/3/595/327118/Boundaries-of-Belonging-Sino-Indian-Relations-and?redirectedFrom=fulltext |journal=Journal of Asian Studies |volume=75 |issue=3 |pages=595–620 |doi=10.1017/S0021911816000553 |issn=0021-9118}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |date=1 February 1998 |title=World Pumps February 1998 issue advertiser's index and information request form |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0262176299802983 |journal=World Pumps |volume=1998 |issue=377 |pages=I |doi=10.1016/S0262-1762(99)80298-3 |issn=0262-1762}}</ref> Bihari ethnicity and [[Jain]]s, who each account for roughly 1% of the population.<ref>{{Cite book | title =People of India: Sikkim | last = Singh | first = Kumar Suresh | year = 1992 | publisher = Anthropological Survey of India | isbn = 978-81-7046-120-3 | page = 39 }}</ref> The traditional religions of the [[Indigenous peoples of Sikkim|native Sikkimese]] account for much of the remainder of the population.

Although tensions between the Lepchas and the Nepalese escalated during the merger of Sikkim with India in the 1970s, there has never been any major degree of communal religious violence, unlike in other Indian states.<ref>{{Cite book | title = State government and politics: Sikkim | last = Nirmalananda Sengupta | year = 1985 | publisher = Stosius/Advent Books | isbn = 978-0-86590-694-5 | page = 140 }}</ref><ref>[http://censusindia.gov.in/Census_And_You/religion.aspx "Census and You – Religion"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180315004939/http://censusindia.gov.in/Census_And_You/religion.aspx |date=15 March 2018 }}. Census India. Retrieved 20 October 2012.</ref> The traditional religion of the Lepcha people is [[Mun (religion)|Mun]], an animist practice which coexists with Buddhism and Christianity.<ref name="Plaisier">{{Cite book |title=Languages of the Greater Himalayan Region. A Grammar of Lepcha |volume=5 |first=Heleen |last=Plaisier |publisher=Brill |year=2007 |isbn=978-90-04-15525-1 |pages=4, 15 (photo) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DpCXEc_9RWcC&pg=PA15 |access-date=15 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160516011005/https://books.google.com/books?id=DpCXEc_9RWcC&pg=PA15 |archive-date=16 May 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" style="font-size:88%; line-height:130%;" heights="130">
Legship_shiva_temple.jpg|[[Kirateshwar Mahadev Temple]] in [[Legship]] is dedicated to the [[Hindu]] god [[Shiva]].
Rumtek Monastery - Inside Close View.jpg|Rumtek Monastery
Enchey_Monastery_Prayer_Hall_(Dukhang).jpg|Enchey Monastery
Viswavinayak.jpg|Vishwa Vinayak Temple at [[Rhenock]]
</gallery>