India’s faith goes digital: AI, personalisation reshape religious practices, says Kantar report

Mumbai: India’s faith is getting a digital, personalised makeover, research firm Kantar said in its 2026 India in Search report, with data showing a sharp rise in tech-led and individualised religious practices.

Searches for Mahabharat AI jumped 400% and Gita GPT rose 83%. Even queries for “female pandit for wedding” doubled and Navratri gifts surged 267%. New formats such as “bhajan clubbing” are also gaining traction as Indians increasingly blend tradition with technology and personal choice.

“Search behaviour continues to be one of the most honest signals of how India thinks, feels, aspires and adapts. Spirituality has become a big search area and so has beyond spirituality,” said Soumya Mohanty, managing director and chief client and solutions officer, South Asia, Kantar.


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This shift marks a broader transition in how religion is practised in India— from being collective and institution-led to becoming more individualised, on-demand and digitally mediated experiences.

According to the report, faith is no longer confined to temples, fixed rituals or community participation, but is being reshaped by the same forces driving wider consumer behaviour: convenience, personalisation and access.

Search data suggests that consumers are increasingly seeking flexibility in how they engage with faith, whether through AI-generated religious content, customised rituals or curated festive experiences.

“In terms of AI, the Indian consumer is very mature. India is always trying to educate itself, so we are quite ahead in terms of that,” she said, also adding that while AI proficiency may be strong, large language model (LLM) usage is still early-stage.

With AI adoption surging across categories, religious content is becoming more interactive, searchable and tailored. From asking chatbots for interpretations of scriptures to accessing devotional content on demand, consumers are engaging with faith in ways that mirror their interaction with entertainment or education platforms.

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At the same time, the report highlights that this is not a rejection of tradition, but a repackaging of it. Practices are being retained, but formats are evolving to fit into increasingly fragmented lifestyles.

“The consumer landscape has become a lot more fragmented. It shows that we are maturing into a multi-segmented market,” said Mohanty.

She added that searches across the board show duality, signalling a diverse Indian consumer.

“There is a lot of polarity in searches. People are searching for bhajan clubbing while also searching for secularism,” she said.

This is part of a larger shift in Indian consumer behaviour, where individuals are asserting greater control over how they express identity, belief and belonging and prioritise in-person connections over digital ones.

The report also highlights an uptick in the experience economy with consumers logging off from screens and seeking physical, social and sensory experiences that offer real-world connections. Search for the term “coffee rave party” surged 540%, while “escape room near me” was up 49% and “live music” jumped 124%.

“This points to a desire to show up rather than just scroll,” said Mohanty.

These search trends signal a shift from impulse to intent-based living, as per Kantar, with searches more oriented to research-first, personalised and controlled consumption across categories, even as daily activities become increasingly frictionless through technology-driven convenience.

These trends are also consistent through tier 2 and 3 towns, according to Mohanty, and that brands that emerge in the “sweet spot of intent and conversion” will be the ones to win consumers.

“A lot of the searches are beyond the metros, so these trends are across board. There are many Indias within India, and every brand has an opportunity to play in some slice of it.”