Part I - Hinduism in diaspora

Summary

In the last century and a half, and even earlier, millions of south Asians have emigrated to various parts of the world and have made their home in foreign lands, among various cultural and religious groups. While some went to these places due to colonial transfer of labour, others (mostly in the last few decades) went of their own volition in search of better education and careers, mostly in western countries such as North America and Europe. The result of these emigrations of south Asians is the presence of Hinduism in these countries. Hinduism is a flourishing religion today in most Western societies, and is actively practised and studied by Western students as well as south Asians living in these countries. As Hinduism began to take root in these foreign lands, it has adopted new ways of expressing itself in the new environments. To offer some examples of these attempts, we have included two chapters from North America and two from Trinidad. They represent two different traditions of contemporary Hindu expressions. We have also included a chapter on Norway to represent the spread of Hinduism in Europe.

In Chapter 1, Jeffery Long offers an insight into the ability of Hinduism to adapt itself to a new environment as well as into how a localized form of Hinduism, which he identifies as indigenous Hinduism. Here he brings a new connotation to the word indigenous.