Hinduism is a minority religion in the
Netherlands
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, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
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, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, representing about 1.0% of the Dutch population in 2019.
After the United Kingdom and Italy, the third largest Hindu community of Europe lives in the Netherlands. There are between 150,000 – 200,000 Hindus currently living in the Netherlands, the vast majority of who migrated from
Suriname
Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...
– a former Dutch colony in South America.
There are also sizable populations of Hindu immigrants from
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
,
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
and
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
, as well as a smaller number of Western adherents of
Hinduism-oriented new religious movements.
History
The presence of a significant number of Hindus in the Netherlands is a relatively modern development; in 1960, it is estimated there were only ten Indian families in the country,
[Report of the High Level Committee on the Indian Diaspora, p. 141] who between them presumably comprised the bulk of the Hindu population. In 1971, the ''Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek'' (CBS) recorded around 3,000 adherents.
[CBS StatLine] In the 1970s, however, the number sharply increased. This was due to the immigration of the
Indo-Surinamese
Indo-Surinamese, Indian-Surinamese or Hindustani Surinamese are people of Indian origin who are nationals of Suriname with ancestry from India and the wider subcontinent. Their ancestors were Indian indentured workers brought by the Dutch and th ...
("Hindustanis"), people of Indian origin whose families had emigrated to
Suriname
Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...
as
indentured workers
Indentured servitude is a form of labor in which a person is contracted to work without salary for a specific number of years. The contract, called an "indenture", may be entered "voluntarily" for purported eventual compensation or debt repayment, ...
in the late nineteenth century. With Surinamese independence in 1975, growing concern about their future in the new country caused about a third of the Hindustani population to leave Surinam and emigrate to the Netherlands.
The Indo-Surinamese were predominantly Hindu, and as a result the Hindu population increased tenfold over the decade to 34,000 in 1980, continuing to climb to 61,000 in 1990 and 91,000 in 2000.
Demographics
![Ganesha in Amsterdam](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/Ganesha_in_Amsterdam.JPG)
The changes in Hindu population from 2010-19.
The largest group of Hindus in the Netherlands is composed of immigrants, mainly from
Suriname
Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...
but with numbers also directly from
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
and
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
.
[van de Donk ''et al.'' (2006), p. 126]
The estimated number of Hindus can vary dramatically depending on which source is used, ranging from 100,000 to comfortably over 200,000.
[van de Donk ''et al.'' (2006), p. 91] A 1997 study suggested that there were around 100,000 adherents.
A 2006 estimate by the CBS concurred with this number, breaking it down as 83,000 of Surinamese origin, 11,000 of Indian origin, 5,000 other non-Europeans, and 1,000 Europeans.
However, the Hindu Council of the Netherlands estimated around 215,000, of which 160,000 were from Surinam, 15,000 from the Indian subcontinent, and 40,000 from elsewhere.
[van de Donk ''et al.'' (2006), p. 128] This figure tallies very closely with those put out by the High Level Committee on the Indian Diaspora, who stated that the Netherlands had 200,000
people of Indian origin, and 15,000
Non-Resident Indians;
[Report of the High Level Committee on the Indian Diaspora, p. 138] it is not clear if the two figures have a common source or if they are simply conflating people of ethnic Indian background with practising Hindus.
A 2003 study gave the total
Indo-Surinamese
Indo-Surinamese, Indian-Surinamese or Hindustani Surinamese are people of Indian origin who are nationals of Suriname with ancestry from India and the wider subcontinent. Their ancestors were Indian indentured workers brought by the Dutch and th ...
population - Surinamese originally of Indian descent - as 160,000, of which 80%, or around 130,000, were Hindu.
The largest regional populations, according to the 2003 study, were in
South Holland
South Holland ( nl, Zuid-Holland ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.7 million as of October 2021 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely ...
(60,000), mostly clustered around
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...
, and
North Holland
North Holland ( nl, Noord-Holland, ) is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevoland. In November 2019, it had a ...
(31,200); between them, the two provinces accounted for over 70% of the overall population.
The same study suggested that there were around fifty
temples
A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...
and around 250 priests, of whom half were full-time workers.
[van de Donk ''et al.'' (2006), p. 130]
The percentage of Hindus by provinces in Netherland:
Hindu Denominations
![Queensday 2011 Amsterdam 13](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Queensday_2011_Amsterdam_13.jpg)
The bulk of this population, around 80%, belong to the
Sanatana dharma, whilst the remaining 20% belong to the sectarian
Arya Samaj
Arya Samaj ( hi, आर्य समाज, lit=Noble Society, ) is a monotheistic Indian Hindu reform movement that promotes values and practices based on the belief in the infallible authority of the Vedas. The samaj was founded by the sanny ...
movement.
[van de Donk ''et al.'' (2006), p. 127] There are other groups belonging to the more recent "guru movements", such as the
Hare Krishna
Hare Krishna may refer to:
* International Society for Krishna Consciousness, a group commonly known as "Hare Krishnas" or the "Hare Krishna movement"
* Hare Krishna (mantra)
The Hare Krishna mantra, also referred to reverentially as the (" ...
s or the
Transcendental Meditation
Transcendental Meditation (TM) is a form of silent mantra meditation advocated by the Transcendental Meditation movement. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi created the technique in India in the mid-1950s. Advocates of TM claim that the technique promotes a ...
movement, and finally a small number who practice a mixture of more "
new age
New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars conside ...
" or
theosophical
Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion a ...
beliefs which include elements linked to Hinduism.
Hinduism in Oversea territory of Netherlands
Sint Maarten
Hinduism is practised by 5.2% of the population of
Sint Maarten
Sint Maarten () is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean. With a population of 41,486 as of January 2019 on an area of , it encompasses the southern 44% of the divided island of Saint Martin, while the nort ...
.
Hindus are represented by the St. Maarten Hindu Organization, which holds regular satsangs (prayers) in the Sun Building every first and third Sunday of every month.
Curaçao
Hinduism is a minority religion in
Curaçao
Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...
. There is a large Hindu temple in
Willemstad
Willemstad ( , ; ; en, William I of the Netherlands, William Town, italic=yes) is the capital city of Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean Sea that forms a Countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, constituent country of the Kingdo ...
, capital of Curaçao.
Community
Although still considered a minority religion in the Netherlands, Hinduism is much better organized there, than in other western countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States.
There are five Hindu schools funded by the Hindu community in the country, which are deemed as national schools. The schools follow the same curriculum as other schools. The curriculum also includes
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
, teaching of the Hindu epics such as
Ramayana
The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...
and
Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...
, and celebrating Hindu festivals,
The Hindus have also established their own Human Rights group called ‘Agni’, in order to address the grievances of the community and to highlight the atrocities that are sometimes encountered by them.
Besides hosting their own radio program, the Hindu community also used to broadcast its own 30 minute weekly program, ‘Ohm’, on the national television.
They also have their own charity called ‘Seva Netverk’, to help people .
There are many cultural platforms and societies that try to maintain the Hindu culture in the Netherlands, such as Saraswati Art and Hindorama.
Controversy
*In 2019, there was a controversy due to the inappropriate portrayal of Lord Ganesh Beer bottle. Rajan Zed, president of Universal Society of Hinduism said that Lord Ganesh was highly revered in Hinduism and he was meant to be worshipped in temples or home shrines and not to be used in selling beer. Moreover, linking a deity with an alcoholic beverage was very disrespectful, Zed added.
Literature
Freek L. Bakker, ''Hindus in the Netherlands'', Berlin: LIT Verlag 2018.
See also
*
Hindu denominations
Hindu denominations, ''sampradayas'', traditions, movements, and sects are traditions and sub-traditions within Hinduism centered on one or more gods or goddesses, such as Vishnu, Shiva, Shakti and so on. The term ''sampradaya'' is used for bran ...
*
Hinduism in Suriname
Hinduism is the second-largest religion in Suriname. According to ARDA, there are 129,440 Hindus in Suriname as of 2015, constituting 23.15% of the population. Suriname has the second largest percentage of Hindus in the Western Hemisphere, after ...
*
Persecution of Hindus
Hindus have experienced both historical and ongoing religious persecution and systematic violence, in the form of forced conversions, documented massacres, genocides, demolition and desecration of temples, as well as the destruction of e ...
*
List of Hindu temples in the Netherlands
*
Hinduism in Guadeloupe
Notes
References
Dutch language
''Geloven in het publieke domein: verkenningen van een dubbele transformatie'' W.B.H.J. van de Donk, A.P. Jonkers, G.J. Kronjee en R.J.J. Plum. 2006.
Bevolking; Islamieten en hindoes in Nederland CBS StatLine
English language
Chapter 11, ''Other Countries of Europe'' Report of the High Level Committee on the Indian Diaspora.
External links
{{Hinduism in Europe