Religion in Arunachal Pradesh

Twang Monastery/Source: Wikimedia

It is hard to describe the religious make up of Arunachal Pradesh. However, one can say, most of the natives of Arunachal Pradesh identify themselves with two belief systems. First their ancestral belief system, which is a form of nature worship and second, a organized religion, which they have recently discovered such as Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism and Islam. However, there are people who only identify themselves with a single religion either indigenous or organized.

In terms of organized religions, the Tibetan Buddhism is prevalent in Arunachal Pradesh and spread over the area of Tawang, Chanlang and West Kameng districts whereas the Christianity is practiced in urban centres of Papumpare, Kurung Kumey and East Kameng. Among christians, they follow roman catholicism.

According to the 2011 Population Census of India, the religous chart of Arunachal Pradesh looks like that

Religion	Percentage
Hinduism	29.04%
Islam	1.95%
Christianity	30.26%
Sikhism	0.24%
Buddhism	11.77%
Jainism	0.06%
Other Religions	26.20%
Not Specified	0.48%

District Wise Religious Make Up of Arunachal Pradesh

District	Major Religion
Papumpare	Christianity
Changlang	Buddhism
Lohit	Hinduism
West Siang	Others
Tirap	Christianity
East Siang	Others
Kurung Kumey	Christianity
West Kameng	Buddhism
Upper Subansiri	Others
Lower Subansiri	Others
East Kameng	Christianity
Lower Dibang Valley	Hinduism
Tawang	Buddhism
Upper Siang	Others
Anjaw	Hinduism
Dibang Valley	Others

Some of the indigenous religions practised in Arunachal Pradesh are Nyedar Namlo (followed by Nyishi), Rangfrah (followed by Tangsa & Nocte), Medar Melo (followed by the Apatani), Kargu Gamgi (followed by the Galo) and Donyi-Polo Dere (followed by the Adi). All these religions are grouped together under an umbrella term of Donyi-Polo.