Why More Indians Are Rejecting Religion—And Why That’s a Good Thing
Riya Kumari | Mar 11, 2025, 23:35 IST
( Image credit : Times Life Bureau )
For centuries, religion has been the unshakable foundation of Indian life—like chai, cricket, and unsolicited career advice from your uncle who still thinks engineering is the only viable profession. But times are changing. A new generation—armed with Google, self-help books, and the audacity to think for themselves—is realizing that maybe, just maybe, they don’t need an ancient rulebook (or an overzealous WhatsApp group) dictating how they live.
For centuries, religion in India has been more than just belief—it has been identity, culture, and sometimes, the very foundation of a person’s existence. It told you who you were, what you could do, and even how much of the divine you had access to. But something is changing. More and more Indians are quietly stepping away from the traditions they were born into. Not because they hate God. Not because they are angry at the world. But because something within them is whispering, this no longer makes sense. And that? That’s not rebellion. That’s awakening.
1. When Belief Becomes a Cage Instead of a Path
Religion, in its purest form, was meant to elevate people—to bring them closer to truth, to each other, to something greater than themselves. But over time, much of it became about rules, power, and fear. Ask yourself: How much of our religious practice today is truly about seeking wisdom, and how much of it is about obeying without question?
How much of it expands the mind, and how much of it binds it? This is the question that many Indians are now daring to ask. And once a person begins to ask why, they are no longer easy to control.
2. Beyond the Rituals, Towards Something Real
The problem has never been with spirituality itself—it has been with what humans have turned it into. When a temple visit is more about social validation than inner transformation, when faith is measured by how loudly we perform it rather than how deeply we live it, when questioning is punished instead of encouraged—something essential has been lost.
And so, many are leaving. Not to escape faith, but to find it in a form that is unpolluted by hierarchy, politics, and empty rituals. This is why we see a rise in meditation, yoga, and spiritual inquiry that exists outside traditional religion. People are no longer satisfied with simply believing—they want to experience. They don’t want borrowed truths; they want their own.
3. The Freedom to Seek, Not Just to Follow
This shift is not about rejecting the past—it’s about evolving beyond its limitations. True wisdom does not come from simply inheriting belief. It comes from having the freedom to explore, to doubt, to learn, and to arrive at a place of understanding that is truly one’s own.
For too long, religion has dictated who we should be. Now, people are beginning to ask, who am I, really? And that is a question no priest, no book, and no inherited tradition can answer for you. It is something only you can discover.
4. Not the End of Faith, But the Beginning of Something Deeper
So no, this isn’t the death of religion in India. It’s the shedding of what no longer serves. It is a return to something purer—seeking truth, not just tradition. It is about replacing blind faith with conscious awareness. And if that means fewer temples filled with people who don’t know why they are there, and more minds willing to embark on a journey of genuine discovery—then perhaps, we haven’t lost anything at all. Perhaps, we have finally begun to find something real.
1. When Belief Becomes a Cage Instead of a Path
Religion
( Image credit : Times Life Bureau )
Religion, in its purest form, was meant to elevate people—to bring them closer to truth, to each other, to something greater than themselves. But over time, much of it became about rules, power, and fear. Ask yourself: How much of our religious practice today is truly about seeking wisdom, and how much of it is about obeying without question?
How much of it expands the mind, and how much of it binds it? This is the question that many Indians are now daring to ask. And once a person begins to ask why, they are no longer easy to control.
2. Beyond the Rituals, Towards Something Real
Pray
( Image credit : Times Life Bureau )
The problem has never been with spirituality itself—it has been with what humans have turned it into. When a temple visit is more about social validation than inner transformation, when faith is measured by how loudly we perform it rather than how deeply we live it, when questioning is punished instead of encouraged—something essential has been lost.
And so, many are leaving. Not to escape faith, but to find it in a form that is unpolluted by hierarchy, politics, and empty rituals. This is why we see a rise in meditation, yoga, and spiritual inquiry that exists outside traditional religion. People are no longer satisfied with simply believing—they want to experience. They don’t want borrowed truths; they want their own.
3. The Freedom to Seek, Not Just to Follow
Prayer
( Image credit : Pexels )
This shift is not about rejecting the past—it’s about evolving beyond its limitations. True wisdom does not come from simply inheriting belief. It comes from having the freedom to explore, to doubt, to learn, and to arrive at a place of understanding that is truly one’s own.
For too long, religion has dictated who we should be. Now, people are beginning to ask, who am I, really? And that is a question no priest, no book, and no inherited tradition can answer for you. It is something only you can discover.
4. Not the End of Faith, But the Beginning of Something Deeper
Religions
( Image credit : Times Life Bureau )
So no, this isn’t the death of religion in India. It’s the shedding of what no longer serves. It is a return to something purer—seeking truth, not just tradition. It is about replacing blind faith with conscious awareness. And if that means fewer temples filled with people who don’t know why they are there, and more minds willing to embark on a journey of genuine discovery—then perhaps, we haven’t lost anything at all. Perhaps, we have finally begun to find something real.