Hinduism in Africa: Difference between revisions
mNo edit summary |
Shantosh5000 (talk | contribs) No edit summary |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
[[Image:EASS Temple Nairobi.jpg|200px|thumb|Right|[[Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Nairobi (EASS)|Swaminarayan temple]]]] |
|||
The history of '''Hinduism in Africa''' is very short when comparing it to the histories of [[Jews and Judaism in Africa|Judaism]], [[Christianity in Africa|Christianity]] and [[Islam in Africa|Islam]] in the same continent. However, the presence of its practitioners in Africa dates back to pre-colonial times.{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}} Currently [[Mauritius]] is the only African country where Hinduism is the dominant religion, where 52% of the population are followers. |
The history of '''Hinduism in Africa''' is very short when comparing it to the histories of [[Jews and Judaism in Africa|Judaism]], [[Christianity in Africa|Christianity]] and [[Islam in Africa|Islam]] in the same continent. However, the presence of its practitioners in Africa dates back to pre-colonial times.{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}} Currently [[Mauritius]] is the only African country where Hinduism is the dominant religion, where 52% of the population are followers. |
||
Revision as of 05:51, 25 July 2010
The history of Hinduism in Africa is very short when comparing it to the histories of Judaism, Christianity and Islam in the same continent. However, the presence of its practitioners in Africa dates back to pre-colonial times.[citation needed] Currently Mauritius is the only African country where Hinduism is the dominant religion, where 52% of the population are followers.
Hinduism took root in Africa through the spread of the British Empire, which colonized huge swaths of land throughout Asia and Africa, including almost the entirety of the Indian subcontinent and most of the southern half of the African continent, with added portions of land in north Africa (such as the modern states of Egypt and Sudan). Many Indians left their homeland to seek their fortunes as soldiers, civil servicemen, and indentured servants throughout the British Empire, settling mainly in the British colonies of Southern and Eastern Africa. Their descendants eventually gained middle-class status in these countries, a position which has changed little in post-colonial Africa.
Hinduism is not usually propagated to the same lengths or through the same means as Christianity and Islam. It has mostly been confined to practise by the Indo-African communities of these countries. However, in post-colonial sub-Saharan Africa, a small-scale movement for Hinduism and its propagation outside the Indo-African community has occurred, spearheaded by such individuals as Swami Ghanananda, the first Hindu swami of Ghana. Today, Lagos, Nigeria, which did not receive an original influx of Indian migrants as did countries such as South Africa and Uganda, is home to over 25,000 Hindus, mostly local converts and more recent, post-independence Indian immigrants. This was primarily the work of International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) missionaries. While Hinduism has been cited as possessing many parallels to African spirituality[citation needed], it has received opposition from the entrenched Christian elites and Muslim minorities of these countries. The Swaminarayan faith has a sizable following in Africa. Several temples belonging to the faith have been built in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia.[1]
Africa in Hindu mythology
Although there is little historical evidence of Vedic and Hindu culture in geographical Africa, Ethiopia and Somalia ( The Horn of Africa) are mentioned in some Hindu texts, notably the Ramayana. It is believed that some regions of modern day Ethiopia and Somalia were part of Lord Rama's kingdom and were also included in the kingdoms of his sons Lava and Kusha.
The Nile River also finds mention as the "Neel" (Blue) in the Ramayana, and is believed to be the root word for the Nile.
