Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

is a minority religion in Sweden practised by 0.6% of the population or 65.000 people out of a population of 10.5 million. Hinduism is practised mainly by persons of Indian origin and non-resident Indians together. A majority of them are

Tamils The Tamil people, also known as Tamilar ( ta, தமிழர், Tamiḻar, translit-std=ISO, in the singular or ta, தமிழர்கள், Tamiḻarkaḷ, translit-std=ISO, label=none, in the plural), or simply Tamils (), are a Drav ...

Punjabis The Punjabis ( Punjabi: ; ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ; romanised as Panjābīs), are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group associated with the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of eastern Pakistan and northwestern India. The ...

Bengalis Bengalis (singular Bengali bn, বাঙ্গালী/বাঙালি ), also rendered as Bangalee or the Bengali people, are an Indo-Aryan peoples, Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the ...

Gujaratis The Gujarati people or Gujaratis, are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who reside in or can trace their ancestry or heritage to the present-day western Indian state of Gujarat. They primarily speak Gujarati, an Indo-Aryan language. While G ...

, Telugu's and

Kannadiga The Kannada people or Kannadigaru IAST">nowiki/>IAST:_Kannadadavaru_or_Kannadigas_(English_term).html" ;"title="IAST.html" ;"title="nowiki/>IAST">nowiki/>IAST: Kannadadavaru or Kannadigas (English term)">IAST.html" ;"title="nowiki/>IAST">nowik ...

History

Some Indian students who went to Sweden in the 1950s settled down there. Another stream of Indians came from

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

in the 1970s. Some Indians sought and obtained political asylum after 1984. The Indian community is culturally very active. Different associations hold cultural functions and observe national days. There were also Tamil Hindu refugees from Sri Lanka and Hindu refugees from Bangladesh. After Sweden’s immigration policy reform in 2008, India has become a leading country of labor supply, mostly of computer specialists. Tamilism Om

Demographics

In 2005, there were between 7,000 to 10,000

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

s. Of the 10,000 Hindus, 2,000 were of Tamil origin and 1,500 were of Bengali origin. Hinduism is growing rapidly in Sweden due to labour migration of Indian IT and other engineers. According to official Swedish government statistics, the number of inhabitants born in India was approximately 48000 persons in 2021. If one adds second generation and Indians who have been naturalised ie taken Swedish citizenship, the total number of Indian origin persons should be around 70.000 persons. Of these, approximately 80% or 56.000 persons could be assumed to be Hindu, which if added with Hindus from other countries such as Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and others would take the total to around 65-70.000 Hindus in Sweden in 2022.

Hindu Organisations in Sweden

Hindu Forum Sweden (HFS) is the major Hindu association in Sweden. HFS is an umbrella organization of Hindu Forum Europe (HFE). In 2018, this organization also celebrates Hindu festival Diwali with Hindus of Sweden, Swedish politicians and representatives of inter-religious groups. Other associations: *Bengali Hindu Association *Hindu Mandir Stockholm (Stockholm Hindu Temple)
Hindu Union
Jönköping
Stockholm Kannada Koota
*The

International Swaminarayan Satsang Organisation Acharya Shree Tejendraprasadji Maharaj (who was then Acharya of the Swaminarayan Sampraday (Ahmedabad Gadi)) founded International Swaminarayan Satsang Organization (I.S.S.O.) (Devanagari: अंतरराष्ट्रीय स्वामी� ...

has a temple in

Mariestad Mariestad () is a locality and the seat of Mariestad Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 16,611 inhabitants in 2019. Until 1997 it was the capital of the former Skaraborg County and an episcopal see in the Church of Sweden betw ...

International Society for Krishna Consciousness in Sweden

International Society for Krishna Consciousness The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), known Colloquialism, colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement or Hare Krishnas, is a Gaudiya Vaishnavism, Gaudiya Vaishnava Hinduism, Hindu religious organization. ISKCON was found ...

, the Krishna movement or Hare Krishna has its roots in the

religion. The Krishna movement in Sweden functions from few places in Sweden. Korsnäs gård 2014d

* Korsnäs Gård, in

Botkyrka Botkyrka Municipality ( ) is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden, not far from the capital Stockholm. Its seat is located in the town of Tumba. In 1971 ''Grödinge'' was merged with Botkyrka and in 1974 ''Salem'' was add ...

municipal in the

Stockholm county Stockholm County ( sv, Stockholms län, link=no ) is a county or '' län'' (in Swedish) on the Baltic Sea coast of Sweden. It borders Uppsala County and Södermanland County. It also borders Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. The city of Stockholm ...

, is an establishment on the countryside with a Hare Krishna temple. Korsnäs has as its main function to work with the publishing company BBT (

Bhaktivedanta Book Trust The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), known colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement or Hare Krishnas, is a Gaudiya Vaishnava Hindu religious organization. ISKCON was founded in 1966 in New York City by A. C. Bhaktive ...

) who translates the Hare Krishna books to various languages for the entire world. The original books in English was translated by

Srila Prabhupada Abhay Charanaravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami (; 1 September 1896 – 14 November 1977) was an Indian Gaudiya Vaishnava guru who founded ISKCON, commonly known as the "Hare Krishna movement". Members of ISKCON view Bhaktivedanta Swami as a repr ...

who started the movement. Srila Prabhupada visited Sweden in 1973. * The Hare Krishna center in Stockholm runs a restaurant, a shop and a small temple. * The Almviks gård in the south of Stockholm County is also a country side establishment with a temple. Originally this was an agricultural cooperative but has later changed into a village project combining agriculture with families living there but working elsewhere.

Notes

External links