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 po ...
is a minority religion in the
United States of America
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...
, ranking fourth-largest after
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesu ...
,
Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...
, and
Islam, and constituting 1% of the population.
The vast majority of American Hindus are immigrants from
South Asia
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;; ...
(mainly
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 ...
, some from
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...
,
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
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million pe ...
, and a minority from
Bhutan
Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountai ...
,
Maldives,
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 bord ...
, and
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
). There are also
Hindus from
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
(mainly
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
,
Malaysia,
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
,
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
(especially
Bali and
Java),
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...
, the
Caribbean (mainly
Trinidad and Tobago,
Guyana,
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 ...
, and
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispan ...
),
Oceania (mainly
Fiji,
Australia, and
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...
),
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
(mainly
Mauritius
Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...
,
Kenya
)
, national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
, ...
,
Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...
,
Uganda,
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of G ...
,
Réunion
Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...
, and
Seychelles),
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...
(mainly
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
,
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
,
Switzerland
; rm, citad federala, links=no). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzon ...
, and
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
), and the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
(mainly the
Gulf countries
The Arab states of the Persian Gulf refers to a group of Arab states which border the Persian Gulf. There are seven member states of the Arab League in the region: Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. ...
), and other countries and their descendants. Additionally, the United States has number of
converts to Hinduism. There are also about 900 ethnic
Cham people from
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...
, one of the few remaining non-Indic Hindus in the world, living in America, 55% of whom are Hindus.
While there were isolated sojourns by
Hindus in the United States during the 19th century, Hindu presence in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
was extremely limited until the passage of the
Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965.
Hindu-Americans hold the highest levels of educational attainment among all religious communities in the United States. This is mostly due to strong US immigration policies that favor educated and highly skilled migrants.
Many concepts of Hinduism, such as
meditation
Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm ...
,
karma,
ayurveda,
reincarnation, and
yoga, have entered into mainstream American vernacular. According to Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life survey of 2009, 24% of Americans believe in reincarnation, a core concept of Hinduism. Furthermore, the Hindu values of
vegetarianism
Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter.
Vegetarianism may ...
and
ahimsa are gaining in popularity. In September 2021, the State of
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...
aligned with the World Hindu Council to declare October as Hindu Heritage Month.
Om is a widely chanted
mantra across the United States, particularly among
millennials
Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the Western demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000 ...
and those who practice yoga and subscribe to the
New Age philosophy.
Demographics
The
United States Department of State's 2004 Religious Freedom Report found some 1.5 million adherents of Hinduism, corresponding to 0.50% of the total population. The Hindu population of USA is the world's
eighth-largest; 10% of
Asian Americans who together account for 5.8% of US population, are followers of the Hindu faith.
Most Hindus in America are immigrants (87%) and 9% are the children of immigrants and 10% of the Hindus are converts.
In the 1990s, Buddhist
Bhutan
Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountai ...
expelled or forced to leave most of its
Hindu population, one-fifth of the country's population, demanding conformity in religion. More than 90,000 Hindu-
Bhutanese refugees have been resettled in the United States.
Many of the
Afghan Hindus have also settled in
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
with their family, mainly after
Soviet–Afghan War and rise of
Taliban. Many of them immigrated to
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
due to the discrimination faced by them in their homeland. Many of them reflects and influence the
Culture of Afghanistan
The culture of Afghanistan has persisted for over three millennia, tracing record to at least the time of the Achaemenid Empire in 500 BCE, and encompasses the cultural diversity of the nation. Afghanistan's culture is historically strongly ...
in
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
.
According to the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies newsletter published March 2017, Hindus were the largest minority religion in 92 counties out of the 3143 counties in the country. In September 2021, the State of
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...
aligned with the World Hindu Council to declare October as Hindu Heritage Month.
Although Hinduism is practiced mainly by 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 ...
and
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...
, a sizable amount of Hindus in United States were converts to Hinduism. According to the Pew research estimates, 9% of the Hindus in United States belong to a non-Asian ethnicity – 4% of the Hindus in United States were
White
White is the lightness, lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...
, 2% were
Black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...
, 1%
Latino and 2% Mixed.
Converts to Hinduism include Hollywood actress
Julia Roberts, actor
Russell Brand
Russell Edward Brand (born 4 June 1975) is an English comedian and actor known for his flamboyant, loquacious style and manner. Brand has received three British Comedy Awards: Best Newcomer (2006), Best Live Stand-Up (2008), and the award for ...
etc.
Contemporary status and Public Opinion
American Hindus have the highest rates of educational attainment and highest rate of household income among all religious communities, and the lowest divorce rates. This is mostly due to strong
US immigration policies that favor educated and highly skilled migrants only.
According to the 2008 Pew Research, Of all the America adults who said they were raised as Hindus, 80 percent continued to adhere to Hinduism which is the highest retention rate for any religion in America.
Public opinions of Hindus
Hindus also have relatively high acceptance of homosexuality. 71% of the Hindus in the United States believe that
homosexuality should be accepted, which is higher than the general public which is 62%.
About 68% of the Hindus supported same-sex marriage, while that of general public is 53%.
Hindus in the United States also showed high support for
abortion
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...
. About 68% of the Hindus supported abortion. About 69% of the Hindus supported strict laws and regulation for the protection of
environment
Environment most often refers to:
__NOTOC__
* Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally
* Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...
and
nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans ar ...
.
According to the
Pew Research Center
The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan American think tank (referring to itself as a "fact tank") based in Washington, D.C.
It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the w ...
, only 15% of the Americans identified the
Vedas
upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''.
The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute th ...
as a
Hindu religious text. Roughly half of Americans knew that
yoga has roots in Hinduism.
On the same survey when respondents were asked to rate how warmly they see religious groups on a "feeling thermometer"; Hindus were below
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...
,
Catholics, and
Evangelical Christians
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
; but were above
Atheists, and
Muslims
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abra ...
. The Survey noted that on a scale of 0–100, Hindus had a thermometer reading at 55 compared to 63 for Jews, and Muslims at 49.
Religiosity
According to a 2014 Pew Research survey, 88% of the American Hindu population believed in
God (versus 89% of adults overall). However, only 26% believed that
religion
Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural ...
is very important in their life. About 51% of the
Hindu population reported
praying
Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified an ...
daily.
Though 88% of
Hindus believe in God, that is low compared to the 99% of
Evangelical Protestants, 96% of
Catholics, 99% of
Jehovah's Witnesses, etc.
History
Anandibai Joshi
Dr. Anandibai Gopalrao Joshi (31 March 1865 – 26 February 1887) was the first Indian female doctor of western medicine. She was the first woman from the erstwhile Bombay presidency of India to study and graduate with a two-year degree in west ...
is believed to be the first
Hindu woman to set foot on American soil, arriving in New York in June 1883 at the age of 19. She graduated with an MD from the
Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania
A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardle ...
on March 11, 1886, becoming the first female of South Asian origin to graduate with a degree in
Western medicine
Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, and Health promotion ...
from the United States. Joshi returned to
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 ...
in late 1886 but died within months of her return.
One of the first major discussions of Hinduism in the United States was
Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda (; ; 12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born Narendranath Datta (), was an Indian Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the intro ...
's address to the
World's Parliament of Religions
There have been several meetings referred to as a Parliament of the World's Religions, the first being the World's Parliament of Religions of 1893, which was an attempt to create a global dialogue of faiths. The event was celebrated by another c ...
in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
in 1893. He spent two years in the United States, and lectured in several cities including
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...
,
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...
, and New York. In 1902
Swami Rama Tirtha
Swami Rama Tirtha ( Punjabi: ਸਵਾਮੀ ਰਾਮਤੀਰਥ, Hindi: स्वामी रामतीर्थ 22 October 1873 – 17 October 1906Verma, M.L. ''Swadhinta Sangram Ke Krantikari Sahitya Ka Itihas''. Vol 2. pp. 418–421 ...
visited the US for about two years lecturing on the philosophy of
Vedanta
''Vedanta'' (; sa, वेदान्त, ), also ''Uttara Mīmāṃsā'', is one of the six (''āstika'') schools of Hindu philosophy. Literally meaning "end of the Vedas", Vedanta reflects ideas that emerged from, or were aligned with, ...
. In 1920
Paramahansa Yogananda was India's delegate at the International Congress of Religious
Liberals held in Boston.
Prior to 1965, Hindu
immigration
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...
to the United States was minuscule and isolated, with fewer than fifty thousand Indians immigrating before 1965. It is worth noting that although most of these immigrants were
Punjabi
Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan
* Punjabi language
* Punjabi people
* Punjabi dialects and languages
Punjabi may also refer to:
* Punjabi (horse), a British Th ...
Sikh
Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...
s, they were incorrectly referred to as "Hindoo" by many
Americans
Americans are the citizens and nationals of the United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many dual citizens, expatriates, and permanent residents could also legally claim Amer ...
, as well as in some official immigration documents. The
Bellingham Riots in
Bellingham, Washington on September 5, 1907, epitomized the low tolerance in the United States for Indians and Hindus. In the 1923 case ''
United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind
''United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind'', 261 U.S. 204 (1923), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States decided that Bhagat Singh Thind, an Indian Sikh man who identified himself as an Aryan, was ineligible for naturalized citi ...
'', the Supreme Court ruled that Thind and other South Asians were not "free white persons" according to a 1790 federal law that stated that only white immigrants could apply for naturalized citizenship. The
Immigration Act of 1924 prohibited the immigration of Asians such as Middle Easterners and Indians. This further prevented Hindus from immigrating to the United States. Despite such events, some people, including professionals, stayed and worked until the
Immigration and Nationality Services (INS) Act of 1965
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, also known as the Hart–Celler Act and more recently as the 1965 Immigration Act, is a federal law passed by the 89th United States Congress and signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The l ...
was passed. This opened the doors to Hindu immigrants who wished to work and start families in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
. It included
Hindu preachers as well, who spread awareness of the religion among the people who had little or no contact with it.
Also during the 1960s, Hindu teachers found resonance in the US
counter-culture, leading to the formation of a number of
Neo-Hindu movements such as the
International Society for Krishna Consciousness founded by
Swami 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 ...
. People involved in the
counter-culture such as
Ram Dass,
George Harrison, and
Allen Ginsberg were influential in the spread of Hinduism in the United States.
Ram Dass was a
Harvard professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professor ...
known as
Richard Alpert and after being fired from Harvard was receiving a lot of media coverage. He traveled to India and studied under
Neem Karoli Baba and came back to the
west as a Hindu teacher and changed his name to
Ram Dass which means servant of
Rama (one of the Hindu gods). A student of
Ram Dass,
Jeffery Kagel, devoted his life to
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 po ...
in the sixties and is now making many CDs chanting the sacred
mantras or
spiritual verses. He has been very successful and is considered the rock star of
yoga. George Harrison was a member of
The Beatles which in its peak of popularity was receiving more media coverage than any other band in the world. He became a devotee of
Swami 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 ...
.
George Harrison started to record songs with the words "
Hari Krishna" in the lyrics and was widely responsible for popularizing Hinduism in America with the younger generation of the time.
Allen Ginsberg, the author of
Howl
Howl most often refers to:
*Howling, an animal vocalization in many canine species
*Howl (poem), a 1956 poem by Allen Ginsberg
Howl may also refer to:
Film
* ''The Howl'', a 1970 Italian film
* ''Howl'' (2010 film), a 2010 American arthouse b ...
, became a figure in the sixties that was also heavily involved with Hinduism and it was said that he chanted "
Om" at
The Human Be-in of 1967 for hours on end. Other influential Indians of Hindu faith are
Mata Amritanandamayi,
Chinmoy
Chinmoy Kumar Ghose (27 August 1931 – 11 October 2007), better known as Sri Chinmoy, was an Indian spiritual leader who taught meditation in the West after moving to New York City in 1964.[Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (born Mahesh Prasad Varma, 12 January 1918] .
A joint session of the
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washi ...
was opened with a prayer in
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominalization, nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cul ...
(with some
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of North India, northern, Central India, centr ...
and
English added), read by
Venkatachalapathi Samudrala, in September 2000, to honor the visit of Indian Prime Minister
Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The historic gesture was an initiative by Ohio Congressman
Sherrod Brown who requested the US Congress House Chaplain to invite the Hindu
priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...
from the Shiva Vishnu Hindu Temple in
Parma, Ohio. Another Hindu prayer was read in the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and ...
on July 12, 2007, by
Rajan Zed, a Hindu chaplain from Nevada. His prayer was interrupted by a couple and their daughter who claimed to be "
Christian patriots", which prompted a criticism of candidates in the
upcoming presidential election for not criticizing the remarks. In October 2009, President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
lit a ceremonial
Diwali lamp at the White House to symbolize victory of
light over
darkness
Darkness, the direct opposite of lightness, is defined as a lack of illumination, an absence of visible light, or a surface that absorbs light, such as black or brown.
Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low ...
. In April 2009, President Obama appointed the first Hindu American, Anju Bhargava, a management consultant and pioneer community builder, to serve as a member of his inaugural Advisory Council on Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnership. In collaboration with the White House Hindu American Seva Communities was formed to bring the Hindu seva voices to the forefront in the public arena and to bridge the gap between US government and Hindu and Dharmic people and places of worship.
92,323 exiled
Bhutanese refugees have been resettled in the USA since 2008. Hinduism is the major religion of
Bhutanese who resettle in the USA.
Western Influence
Hindu Americans as well as Hindu Immigrants can be seen adapting their practice and places of worship in accordance with the world around them. Hindu temples in the United States tend to house more than one deity corresponding with a different tradition, unlike those in India which tend to house deities from a single tradition. Not only has yoga entered the American vernacular, but its meaning has shifted. While Hindus in the United States may refer to the practice as a form of meditation that has different forms (''i.e. karma yoga, bhakti yoga, kriya yoga''), it is used in reference to the physical aspect of the word.
Hindu temples
The
Vedanta Society was responsible for building the earliest temples in the United States starting in 1905, with the
Old Temple in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, but they were not considered formal temples. The earliest traditional
Mandir
A Hindu temple, or ''mandir'' or ''koil'' in Indian languages, is a house, seat and body of divinity for Hindus. It is a structure designed to bring human beings and gods together through worship, sacrifice, and devotion.; Quote: "The Hind ...
in the United States is Shiva Murugan Temple in
Concord, California and was built in 1957 known as Palanisamy Temple, it is one of the few temples that is run by the public by elected members. The Maha Vallabha Ganapathi Devastanam owned by the
Hindu Temple Society of North America in Flushing, New York City was consecrated on July 4, 1977. This temple recently underwent significant expansion and renovation.
Today there are over 1450 Hindu Temples across the United States, spread across the country, with a majority of them situated on the east coast centered around the New York region which alone has over 1135 temples the next largest number being in Texas with 128 Temples and Massachusetts with 127 temples.
Other prominent temples include the
Malibu Hindu Temple
Malibu Hindu Temple is a Hindu temple built in the traditional South Indian style, and dedicated to the worship of the Hindu god Venkateswara. It is located in the Santa Monica Mountains, in the city of Calabasas, California, Calabasas near Malib ...
, built-in 1981 and located in
Calabasas
Calabasas may refer to:
* Calabasas, Arizona, former populated place in what is now Rio Rico, Arizona
* Calabasas, California, city in Los Angeles County, California
See also
* Calabaza
Calabaza is the generic name in the Spanish languag ...
, is owned and operated by the Hindu Temple Society of Southern California. The temple is near
Malibu, California. Apart from these,
Swaminarayan temples
Swaminarayan, the founder of the Swaminarayan Sampraday, established temples, known as ''mandirs'' (Devnagari: मन्दिर), as part of his philosophy of theism and deity worship. These mandirs are known as Swaminarayan Hindu temples.
He ...
exist in several cities across the country with a sizable following.
The
Sri Ganesha Temple of Alaska
The Sri Ganesha Temple of Alaska is a Hindu temple in Anchorage, Alaska. Inaugurated in 1999, it is the first Hindu temple in Alaska. Its main deity is Ganesha. The temple also has the sacred images of Durga and Rama.
History
In 1995, a group ...
in
Anchorage is the northernmost Hindu temple in the world.
The oldest Hindu Temple in Texas is the Shree Raseshwari Radha Rani temple at
Radha Madhav Dham,
Austin. The temple, established by
Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj is one of the largest Hindu Temple complexes in the
Western Hemisphere,
and the largest in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
.
In Tampa,
South Florida
South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of th ...
, the Sri Vishnu Temple was consecrated in November 2001.
Parashakthi Temple in
Pontiac, Michigan
Pontiac ( ') is a city in and the county seat of Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city had a total population of 61,606. A northern suburb of Metro Detr ...
is a
tirtha peetham in the west for Goddess "
Shakthi" referred to as the "Great Divine Mother" in Hinduism. The Temple was envisioned by Dr. G Krishna Kumar in a deep meditative kundalini experience of "Adi Shakthi" in 1994.
Akshardham in
Robbinsville, New Jersey is one of the largest stone Hindu temples in the United States.
The Indian American Cultural Center opened on March 9, 2002, in Merrillville, Northwest Indiana. It was in 2010 on June 18 that the temple was finalized and opened, The Bharatiya Temple of Northwest Indiana. This temple is adjacent to the Cultural Center. In the native way of Hinduism, one would never see different sectarian groups worship in one temple. The Bharatiya Temple is unique in its own way by allowing different sectarian groups to worship together. The Bharatiya Temple has four different Hindu groups as well as a
Jain group.
Political Involvement
A Hindu Military Chaplaincy was launched in May 2011; Army Captain Pratima Dharm become the first Hindu to serve as a
U.S. military chaplain.
Tulsi Gabbard became the first-ever Hindu to be elected to the
US Congress in 2012; she is a Hawaiian of Samoan and European descent, the daughter of a Roman
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
father and a Hindu mother. Later, in 2016 three more Hindus were elected to Congress:
Raja Krishnamoorthi,
Pramila Jayapal and
Ro Khanna (Rohit Khanna)all of Indian descent. American Hindus are now the third-largest Religious Group in Congress with four members. Among the lawmakers declining to state their religious affiliations were Indian-American
Pramila Jayapal elected to the House of Representatives; since her mother is a Hindu, the
Hindu American Foundation suggests that
Jayapal is also Hindu. In 2019
Padma Kuppa, an Indian politician from Troy Michigan joined the House of Representatives.
The American Hindu are considered as an important vote bank in the
American Politics.
Activism
Several organizations have been made to combat discrimination against Hindus in the United States and make changes in the political scene. Some of these organizations include:
*
Hindus for Human Rights
Hindus for Human Rights ( ) is a U.S.-based non-profit advocacy group founded in 2019. The organization supports pluralism, civil rights, and human rights in South Asia and North America and focuses on providing a Hindu voice of resistance to ca ...
*Sadhana: Coalition of Progressive Hindus
*CoHNA: Coalition of Hindus of North America
Hinduism in United States Territories
Guam
Hinduism is practiced by 0.1% of the population of
Guam
Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic ce ...
.
U.S Virgin Islands
According to the 2000 census, there were more than 400 Hindus in the
United States Virgin Islands (0.4% of the population).
According to the 2011 census, there are 528
Hindus in the U.S. Virgin Islands representing 1.9% of the population. The majority reside in the
Tortola Island (454) followed by the
Virgin Gorda Island (69). Tortola and Virgin Gorda are part of the British Virgin Islands, to which these statistics refer, so are not applicable here. The majority of them are
Sindhi Hindus with some Gujaratis.
Puerto Rico
As of 2006, there were 3,482 Hindus in
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
making up 0.09% of the population, according to Religious Intelligence.
Discrimination
Temple desecration
In January 2019, Swaminarayan Temple in Kentucky was vandalized. They sprayed black paint on the deity and also sprayed '
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...
is the only
God' on the walls. The
Christian cross
A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a s ...
was also spray painted on various walls. In February 2015, Hindu temples in
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
and the Seattle Metropolitan area were
vandalized, and in April 2015, a Hindu temple in north Texas was vandalized with xenophobic images spray-painted on its walls. The Sri Venkateshwara temple in Pittsburgh was also vandalized and $15000 worth of jewelry was stolen.
Hindu prayers in Congress and State legislatures
Venkatachalapathi Samuldrala
The first
Hindu opening prayer
''Opening Prayer'' is a composition for baritone and orchestra, written for the reopening of Carnegie Hall in 1986. Composer Leonard Bernstein set a Hebrew biblical benediction, which concludes a traditional morning service. He derived the music f ...
offered in the
U.S. Congress was by Venkatachalapathi Samuldrala, a priest of
Shiva Hindu Temple in
Parma, Ohio.
This prompted criticism from the
Family Research Council (FRC), a conservative Christian group, who protested against it in conservative media, in turn generating responses from their opponents and leading to serious discussions over the role of legislative chaplains in a pluralist society.
Rajan Zed
There was controversy over the prayer by Rajan Zed, a Hindu cleric, in
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and ...
. It was instigated by the conservative Christian group
American Family Association, which cited the loss of the "Judeo-Christian foundations" of the United States as a motive.
California textbook protest over Hindu history
A controversy in the US state of California concerning the portrayal of
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 po ...
in history textbooks began in 2005. The Texas-based Vedic Foundation and the American Hindu Education Foundation complained to California's Curriculum Commission, arguing that the coverage in sixth grade history
textbooks of
Indian history and Hinduism was biased against Hinduism.
Points of contention included a textbook's portrayal of the
caste system, the
Indo-Aryan migration theory, and the
status of women in Indian society
The status of women in India has been subject to many changes over the span of recorded Indian history. Their position in society deteriorated early in India's ancient period, especially in the Indo-Aryan speaking regions, and their subordinat ...
.
See also
*
Maharishi Vedic City, Iowa
*
:Converts to Hinduism
*
Hindu American Foundation
*
Hindu Temple Society of North America
*
Hindu University of America
*
Hinduism in Los Angeles
*
Sanskrit studies
*
Hinduism Today
*
Persecution of Hindus
*
Hinduism in the West Indies
*
Indians in the New York City metropolitan area
*
List of Hindu temples in the United States
This is a list of the Hindu temples, centers, and ashrams in the United States as of 2022.
History
Following his famous speech at the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago, Swami Vivekananda established Vedanta Societies in New Yor ...
*
Hindu eschatology
*
Hinduism in Vietnam
*
Bhutanese refugees
*
Micheal Altman
Michael J Altman is a scholar of American religious history and Asian religions in American culture at The University of Alabama. His research focuses on the development of the representation of Hinduism in the United States.
Bibliography
* ...
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
External links
*
*
* at
Google Maps
Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panorama, interactive panoramic views of streets (Google Street View, Street View ...
*
*
*
Hindu American FoundationBehind Every Temple- USA
{{Demographics of the United States
Neo-Vedanta
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
Hinduism in North America
Religion in the United States by religion