Jagannath chariot procession Hindu car festival, Lisbon Portugal

There is relatively little history of active practice of Hinduism in Portugal. Presently there is a

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 ...

community of approximately 9,000 persons, which largely traces its origins 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 so ...

ns who emigrated from the former

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

colonies In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...

of Lusophone

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 ...

, particularly from

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

, and from the former colony of Diu, Daman and

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

and other possessions in Portuguese India. From the mid 1990s on there was an influx of Hindus of Nepalese origin in Portugal as a result of labour migration originated from that South Asian country. Also since the 1990s it is possible to find in Lisbon a small Hare Krishna community, consisting mainly of Caucasians of Portuguese origin, but also Brazilian and devotes from other European countries. Hindus in Portugal are, according to the Indian Embassy in Lisbon, mainly

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 ...

(

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...

is taught at the Hindu Community Cultural Centre, in Lisbon), Punjabis and

Goans Goans ( kok, गोंयकार, Romi Konkani: , pt, Goeses) is the demonym used to describe the people native to Goa, India, who form an ethno-linguistic group resulting from the assimilation of Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Indo-Portuguese, and ...

. The majority of the Hindus live in the capital city, Lisbon, but it is also possible to find some Hindu-Gujarati families living in Oporto.

Hindu groups in Portugal

moved to Mozambique under colonial rule, and after the independence of that country in 1974, some of them moved to Portugal (particularly to Lisbon). Since the 1980s, Gujaratis have migrated to Portugal directly from their homeland in Gujarat and the island of Diu.

ns first emigrated to Portugal in 1961, following the action of the Indian armed forces and subsequent liberation of Goa, Damão & Diu to India. They also built up a community in Mozambique before its independence, and then moved to Portugal. A liberal immigration policy and citizenship given to families of former Portuguese subjects in Goa has allowed their numbers to rise in Portugal. Daman, Diu,

Dadra Dadra is associated with the Hindustani classical music of the Indian subcontinent. Dadra tala This is a Hindustani classical '' tala'' (rhythmic cycle), consisting of six beats in two equal divisions of three. The most commonly accepted theka ...

and Nagar Haveli Hindus have been present in Portugal since slightly before the annexation of those territories in 1954 and 1961. Punjabis, who were subjects of British rather than Portuguese colonialism, have recently begun emigration to Portugal.

Nepalis Nepalis (English: Nepalese ; ne, नेपाली) are the citizens of Nepal under the provisions of Nepali nationality law. The country is home to people of many different national origins who are the descendants of immigrants from India, ...

(see

Nepalis in Portugal There is a community of Nepalis living and working in Portugal. They are one of the fastest growing expatriates and immigrants in Portugal. Most of them reside in Lisbon. As of 2019, 1,287 Nepalis acquired the Portuguese citizenship, making them ...

)

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 (" ...

Hindu organisation in Portugal

- The "Hindu Community of Portugal" ( pt, Comunidade Hindu de Portugal), a Hindu organisation, was founded in 198

There is also a

Hindu temple 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 Hin ...

, called ''Templo Hindu

Radha Krishna Radha-Krishna ( IAST , sa, राधा कृष्ण) are collectively known within Hinduism as the combined forms of feminine as well as the masculine realities of God. Krishna and Radha are the primeval forms of God and his pleasure pote ...

'', which belongs to Comunidade Hindu de Portugal, and is located at the

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

alameda in Lisbon. - Shiv Mandir Association. (

: Templo de Shiva - Associação de Solidariedade Social). - BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Lisbon (

: Missão Swaminarayan Hindu). -

ISKCON 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. Bhaktiv ...

- Lisboa, Associação Internacional para a Consciência de Krishna.

References

Sources

* * * Pereira Bastos, Susana (2001) ''De Moçambique a Portugal. Reinterpretações identitárias do Hinduismo em viagem'', Lisboa, Fundação Oriente, 373 pags. * Trovão, Susana; Rosales, Marta (ed.) (2010) ''Das Índias. Gentes, movimentos e pertenças transnacionais'', Lisboa, Edições Colibri, 207 pags. * Lourenço, Inês (2009) ''Os Corpos da Devi. Religião e Género em Diáspora'', Dissertação de doutoramento em Antropologia, ISCTE-IUL. * Roxo, Pedro (2010) “Sonoridades Sul Asiáticas da Área de Lisboa: Nepaleses, Hindu-Gujarati e Sikhs outh Asian Sounds from the Lisbon Area: Nepalese, Hindu-Gujarati and Sikh�� in AAVV, Oriente/Ocidente. Miscigenações. Livro de Actas e Memória do Evento. Lisboa: Faculdade de Belas-Artes da Universidade de Lisboa. * Roxo, Pedro (2010) “Hindu-Gujarati em Portugal, Música e Práticas Coreográficas entre os indu-Gujarati in Portugal, Music and Choreographic Practices among the�� in Salwa Castelo-Branco (coord.) Enciclopédia da Música em Portugal no Século XX. Vol. 2, p. 612-617. Lisboa: Círculo de Leitores. * Cachado, Rita Ávila (2014), "Localizando os hindus portugueses: a transnacionalidade nas cidades", Sociologia, Problemas e Práticas, CIES-IUL/Editora Mundos Sociais, nº76, pp. 109–124, oi: 10.7458/SPP2014763330; ISSN 0873-6529; DisponíveL em: http://revistas.rcaap.pt/spp/article/view/3330* Cachado, Rita D'Ávila (2013), "O registo escondido num bairro em processo de realojamento: o caso dos hindus da Quinta da Vitória", Etnografica, vol. 17 (3), pp. 477–499; Disponível em: http://etnografica.revues.org/3201

External links

Hindu Community of Portugal - official siteYouth Network Hindu Community of Portugal - official site
*http://www.shiva-pt.org/index.php *http://www.baps.org/Global-Network/UK-and-Europe/Lisbon.aspx *http://www.iskcon-lisboa.com/ {{Religion in Portugal

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

Religion in Portugal