Europe: Hinduism in

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Hinduism and Tribal Religions

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Indian Religions ((EIR))

Synonyms

Hinduism in diaspora; Hindus in Europe; Indian culture in Europe; Indian religions in Europe

Definition

In this entry, the term “Hinduism in Europe” will be used to refer to various aspects of Hinduism(s) in a European setting. The entry adopts a polythetic understanding of Hinduism and makes/has a broad point of departure, taking Hinduism as a religious, cultural, and ethnic category into account as well as Hindu practices, tropes, world views, and life views which have become part of the European cultural landscape.

Hinduism in Europe

Hinduism is the third-largest religion in the world (there are around one billion Hindus). The religion is concentrated primarily in South Asia, but the Hindu diaspora – not least in Europe – has been growing since the beginning of the nineteenth century and particularly within the last 50 years. The number of Hindus in diaspora today is estimated to be around eight million, at least 1.3 million of whom live in Europe [48]. This makes the...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Andrade NJ (2018) The journey of Christianity to India in late antiquity – networks and the movement of culture. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  2. App U (2014) Schopenhauer’s compass. An introduction to Schopenhauer’s philosophy and its origins. University Media, Wil

    Google Scholar 

  3. Appadurai A (1996) Modernity at large. Cultural dimensions of globalization. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis

    Google Scholar 

  4. Borup J, Fibiger MQ (eds) (2017) Eastspirit: transnational spirituality and religious circulation in East and West. Brill, Leiden

    Google Scholar 

  5. Brown D, Leledaki A (2010) Eastern movement forms as body-self transforming cultural practices in the West: towards a sociological perspective. Cult Sociol 4(1):123–154

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Bruce S (2017) Secular beats spiritual: the westernization of the easternization of the West. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  7. Burghart R (ed) (1987) Hinduism in Great Britain. The perpetuation of religion in an alien cultural milieu. Tavistock Publications, London/New York

    Google Scholar 

  8. Campbell C (2007) The easternization of the West: a thematic account of cultural change in the modern era. Paradigm Publishers, Boulder

    Google Scholar 

  9. Cole R, Dwayer G (2007) The Hare Krishna movement: forty years of chant and change. I. B. Tauris, London

    Google Scholar 

  10. Csordas TJ (ed) (2009) Transnational transcendence – essays on religion and globalization. University of California Press, Berkeley

    Google Scholar 

  11. De Michelis E (2004) A history of modern yoga: Patanjali and western esotericism. Continuum, New York

    Google Scholar 

  12. Farrer DS, Whalen-Bridge J (eds) (2011) Martial arts as embodied knowledge. Asian traditions in a transnational world. State University of New York Press, Albany

    Google Scholar 

  13. Fibiger MQ (2015) ‘Weasternization’ of the West: Kumbh Mela as a pilgrimage place for spiritual seekers from the West. Bull Study Relig Equinox On-line 44(2):15–21

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Fibiger MQ (2007) Hinduisme i Danmark: Demografiske overvejelser om Hinduer og Hinduinspirerede Strømninger. In: Jacobsen B, Warburg M (eds) Tørre Tal om Troen. Forlaget Univers, Højbjerg, pp 185–197

    Google Scholar 

  15. Fibiger MQ (2013) Denmark. In: Jacobsen K, Basu H, Malinar A, Narayanan V (eds) Brill’s encyclopedia of Hinduism, vol 5. Brill, Leiden/Boston, pp 217–221

    Google Scholar 

  16. Fibiger MQ (2017) Karma. Aarhus Universitetsforlag, Aarhus

    Google Scholar 

  17. Fibiger MQ (2018, forthcoming) Floating Hindu tropes in European culture and languages. In: Jacobsen K, Sardella F (eds) Handbook on Hinduism in Europe. Brill, Leiden/Boston

    Google Scholar 

  18. Fields GP (2001) Religious therapeutics – body and health in yoga, Ayurveda, and tantra. State University of New York Press, Albany

    Google Scholar 

  19. Gunn TJ (2003) The complexity of religion and the definition of ‘religion’ in internal law. Harv Hum Rights J 16:189–215

    Google Scholar 

  20. Hanna HK (2016) Transnational movements. In: Hatcher BA (ed) Hinduism in the modern world. Routledge, New York, pp 48–64

    Google Scholar 

  21. Idinopulos TA, Wilson BC (eds) (1998) What is religion, origins, definitions and explanations. Brill, Leiden/Boston/Köln

    Google Scholar 

  22. Jacobsen K (2008) South Asian religions on display – religious processions in South Asia and in the diaspora. Routledge, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  23. Jain AR (2015) Selling yoga: from counterculture to pop culture. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  24. Johnson WJ (2010) Oxford Dictionary of Hinduism. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  25. Juergensmeyer M (2006) Thinking globally about religion. In: Juergensmeyer M (ed) The Oxford handbook of global religions. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 3–12

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  26. Lee RLM (2003) The re-enchantment of the self: western spirituality, Asian materialism. J Contemp Relig 18(3):351–367

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Michaels A (2004) Hinduism: past and present. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  28. Nederveen Pieterse J (2006) Oriental globalization. Theory Cult Soc 23:411–413

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Newcombe S (2012) Global hybrids? Eastern traditions of health and wellness in the West. In: Nair-Venugopal S (ed) The gaze of the West and framings of the East. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, pp 202–217

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  30. Rocher L, Rocher R (2007) The making of western indology: Henry Thomas Colebrooke and the East India Company. Routledge, London

    Google Scholar 

  31. Saler B (2000) Conceptualizing religion. Immanent anthropologists, transcendent natives and unborn categories. Berghahn Books, New York/Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  32. Singleton M (2010) Yoga body: the origins of modern posture practice. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Book  Google Scholar 

  33. Singleton M, Goldberg E (eds) (2014) Gurus of modern yoga. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  34. Smith BK (1987) Exorcising the transcendent: strategies for defining Hinduism and religion. Hist Relig 27(1):32–55

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Strauss S (2005) Positioning yoga – balancing acts across cultures. Berg, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  36. Urban HB (2003) Tantra. Sex, secrecy, politics, and power in the study of religion. University of California Press, Berkeley

    Book  Google Scholar 

  37. Versluis A (2014) American gurus. From transcendentalism to New Age religion. Oxford University Press, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  38. Warrier M (2016) Modernised Ayurveda in India and the West. In: Jacobsen KA (ed) Routledge handbook of contemporary India. Routledge, Abingdon

    Google Scholar 

  39. Williamson L (2010) Transcendent in America: Hindu-inspired meditation movements as new religion. New York University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  40. Williamson L (2016) Modern yoga and tantra. In: Hatcher BA (ed) Hinduism in the modern world. Routledge, New York/London, pp 180–195

    Google Scholar 

  41. http://www.cgimunich.com/pages.php?id=42. Accessed 7 Aug 2018

  42. https://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmXoypizjW3WknFiJnKLwHCnL72vedxjQkDDP1mXWo6uco/wiki/Hinduism_by_country.html. Accessed 20 May 2018

  43. http://www.pewforum.org/2012/03/08/religious-migration-hindu-migrants/. Accessed 15 Aug 2018

  44. https://www.remid.de/info_zahlen_grafik/. Accessed 15 June 2018

  45. http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/religious-studies/?p=409. Accessed 10 Aug 2018

  46. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism_in_the_Netherlands. Accessed 12 Aug 2018

  47. https://www.beatlesbible.com/people/maharishi-mahesh-yogi/. Accessed 12 Aug 2018

  48. Hindu population totals in 2010 by country (2012) Pew Research, Washington, DC. https://www.bc.edu/content/dam/files/centers/jesinst/pdf/Grim-globalReligion-full.pdf. Accessed 20 May 2018

  49. Table: religious composition (%) by country (2012) Global religious composition. Pew Research Center. https://www.bc.edu/content/dam/files/centers/jesinst/pdf/Grim-globalReligion-full.pdf. Accessed 20 May 2018

  50. Religious composition by country (2012) Pew Research Center, Washington, DC. https://www.bc.edu/content/dam/files/centers/jesinst/pdf/Grim-globalReligion-full.pdf. Accessed 20 May 2018

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marianne Qvortrup Fibiger .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature B.V.

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Fibiger, M.Q. (2019). Europe: Hinduism in. In: Jain, P., Sherma, R., Khanna, M. (eds) Hinduism and Tribal Religions. Encyclopedia of Indian Religions. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1036-5_22-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1036-5_22-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-024-1036-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-024-1036-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Religion and PhilosophyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Humanities

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Navigation