Religion Zubeen Garg

Zubeen Garg was one of the great figures of music from Northeast India, with a very special place in the hearts of the Assamese public. Born on November 18, 1972, in Tura, in the state of Meghalaya, to Mohini Mohon Borthakur and Ily Borthakur, he established himself over the decades as a distinctive singer and composer, capable of performing Vaishnavite Hindu devotional songs, Muslim zikirs, and Christian gospels with the same intensity.

He died in September 2025, leaving behind a body of work that extended far beyond cultural and religious boundaries. It is precisely in the realm of religion that his personal journey appears most distinctive: born into a Brahmin family, he chose to reject any denominational label and define himself above all as a free human being.

A Brahmin heritage publicly rejected

Zubeen Garg was born into an Assamese Brahmin family. This background was part of his birth heritage, but he never presented it as a personal spiritual identity. In July 2019, he himself explained that he was Brahmin by birth, while specifying that he had cut off his lagun, the traditional sacred thread worn by men from upper Hindu castes, for a film, and that he had never put it back on afterward. The gesture was not trivial: it concretely expressed the distance he had taken from the religious practices inherited from his family.

His public stance remained consistent and clear. Zubeen Garg described himself as an atheist and openly rejected organized religion. One phrase, often reported by the media, sums up his thinking well: “I have no caste, no religion, no god; I am human.” In his eyes, the sacred was not found in religious institutions or texts, but rather in music, nature, and the bonds between human beings.

A humanist atheism tinged with Buddhist affinities

Although he primarily identified with atheism, some of Zubeen Garg’s statements also hinted at philosophical affinities with Buddhism. Indian media reported that he sometimes described himself as Buddhist. However, this position seems to be understood more as an intellectual and philosophical sensibility than as a formal religious practice. There is in fact no confirmation that he belonged to a Buddhist institution or regularly observed Buddhist practices.

On the question of the soul, his answer was direct. In an interview cited by blogger Bikash K. Bhattacharya, when asked whether he believed in the existence of a soul, he replied: “There is no such thing as a soul, only the body. There is the heart and the brain.” Yet this materialist view of existence coexisted with a strong sensitivity to the spiritual dimension of music and to harmony between communities. In an Assam marked by religious tensions between Hindus and Muslims, his music became a symbol of coexistence. And even after his death, this unity was evident: Hindus and Muslims stood side by side in mourning, while members of the Muslim community organized prayers (dua) at his home.