Logo

Purohits


Overview

Purohits

Introduction

Purohits are priests who lead worship services, officiate at festivals, and perform ceremonies and rituals in Hindu temples and in the homes of devotees. They are also known as temple priests and family priests; female priests are called purohitas. There were an estimated 1,600 purohits in India during the mid-2010s, according to the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute in Pune, India. They also work throughout Asia (especially in India) as well as in Western countries such as the United States, Canada, ...

Quick Facts


More

Median Salary

$31,630

More

Employment Prospects

Fair

More

Minimum Education Level

Some Postsecondary Training


More

Experience

Three to five years of experience as an assistant purohita


More

Skills

Foreign Language
img


More

Personality Traits

Hands On
img

Earnings

The U.S. Department of Labor does not collect salary information for purohits, but it does report that religious workers-not otherwise classified earned salaries that ranged from $20,740 to $65,630 in May 2019, with median earnings of $31,630.

In India, annual salaries for archakas (male priests) are quite low—the equivalent of $540 to $900 (in U.S. currency), according to New Delhi Tele...

Work Environment

“In a Hindu temple there is often a multiplicity of simultaneous proceedings and ceremonies,” according to Hinduism Today. “In one corner, an extended family, or clan, with its hundreds of tightly knit members, may be joyously celebrating a wedding. At another shrine a lady might be crying in front of the Deity, saddened by some misfortune and in need of solace. Elsewhere in the crowde...

Outlook

In North America, Hindus are expected to number 5.9 million by 2050, up from 2.3 million in 2010, according to the Pew Research Center. Although their numbers are rising, the fact that Hindus will account for just 1.3 percent of the region's population in 2050 puts the employment outlook into perspective. Another consideration is the relatively small number of Hindu temples in the U.S. (200 or ...