Historical Vedic religion from c. 500 BCE, declined in India over the 5th to 12th centuries in favor of Puranic Hinduism and Islam. Historical Vedic religion The historical Vedic religion (also known as Vedism, Brahmanism, Vedic Brahmanism, and ancient Hinduism) refers to the religious ideas and practices among Indo-Aryan-speaking peoples of ancient India after about 1500 BCE. These ideas and practices are found in the Vedic texts, and they were one of the major influences that shaped contemporary Hinduism. According to the "Encyclopædia Britannica", in the Hindu tradition and particularly in India, the Vedic religion is considered to be a part of Hinduism.
Religion in Germany religious groups, the Roman Catholic Church and the mainline Protestant Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) use a three-level hierarchy of "churches", "free churches" and : Every Protestant (church whose canonical jurisdiction extends over one or several states, or ) and Catholic episcopacy has a ( delegate) from whom information about religious movements may be obtained. Notes Further reading Religion in Germany Christianity is the largest religion in Germany, comprising an estimated 57% of the country's population in 2017. The second largest religion in Germany is Islam, with around 4 million adherents in 2016 (5% of the population). Smaller religious groups