: Hinduism 79.8%, Islam 14.2%, Christianity 2.3%, Sikhism 1.7%, Buddhism 0.7%, Jainism 0.4%, others 0.65%
Some Christians in India claim the apostolic traditions of St. Thomas and St. Bartholomew, who they say preached the Gospel to their ancestors in two distinct parts of present day India in the second half of the first century.
According to a tradition, St. Thomas preached Gospel on the Malabar coast in 52 AD. Another tradition claims St Bartholomew came to the Mumbai region on the Konkan coast.
Although the exact origin of Indian Christians may be disputed, scholars agree on the Christian presence in India since the second century. The Nestorians and the Manicheans also were present in southern India in the early centuries. There were also pre-Portuguese missions to India from Rome of John de Montecorvino in the 13th century and John de Marignoli in the 14th century.