Although at least 95% of approximately 1.5 billion Hindu followers live in the Indian subcontinent, Hinduism is a religion that has spread all over the world ( Rigopoulos, 2019) . As a matter of fact, scholars in matters religion assert that most people who aren’t either Muslim or Christians are most likely Hindus. Hinduism is also the world’s oldest and third largest religion after Islam and Christianity Furthermore, Hinduism is not one distinct religion instead it is an umbrella religion for many philosophies and traditions practiced in many places around the globe. It might be quite difficult to trace back the exact origin of Hinduism since the religions do not have a specific founder like other religions in the world. Therefore, Hinduism is a world religion and not one belonging exclusively to Asia since it is practiced all over the world by people of various cultural orientations.
According to many scholars, Hinduism is a fusion of diverse Indian traditions and cultures, which shape Indians’ way of life. However, Hinduism religion has diverse roots since the actual founder of the religious doctrine cannot be definitively stated. The practice of Hinduism in Asia began to develop following the end of Vedic era (1500 to 500 BC) and became widely accepted in the medieval era after the decline of Buddhism in India and other parts of Asia. Hinduism them spread different parts of Asia, including Burma, Malaysia, and Southeast Asia. As Indians traded with Africans from the East African Coast and Sub-Saharan African, they taught the merchants Hinduism cultures and traditions. The trade merchants later spread the religion to their regions. Although the faith was not readily and widely accepted in most parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, a significant number of people Arab Muslims converted to Hinduism by the 15 th C.
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There is no one single supreme being (god) in Hinduism religion. Therefore, various around the world worship different gods. In Asia, Hindus predominantly worship Brahman who they believe is omnipresent and omnipotent. However, in different parts of the world, Hindus believe in other Hindu deities such as Devi, Krishna, Saraswati, Shiva, Vishnu, and Lakshmi. Therefore, Hindus across the globe offer supplication to different Hindu gods, indicating that Hinduism is not exclusive to Asia, where Braham is the supreme being of all Hindus. The belief in different deities gave rise to Hindu sects such as Shaiva sect, Vaishnava sect, Smarta sect, and Shakta sects which are spread in various parts of the world. Moreover, there are many Hindu Mandirs (temples) in major cities around the world, which indicates that Hindus are spread all over the globe even though most of them are found in the Indian subcontinent. In African countries such as Mauritius, Hinduism is the most predominant religion with at least 48.54% of the population professing to the Hindu faith. Furthermore, there are very many Hindu communities in Carribean, North America, Europe, and Northern regions of Africa. Therefore, it is quite evident that Hinduism is a religion practiced only in Asia but all over the world, just like Christianity and Islam.
There is clear evidence to prove Hinduism influence in the ancient Mediterranean world. Pythagoras’ metempsychosis doctrine which asserted that after death, the soul moved from the dead body to another might be a derivative of Achaemenian assertions of reincarnation between the 6 th and 4 th Century BCE in Persia. Moreover, the ideas of reincarnation were also widely accepted in Egypt early before Pythagoras and Achaemenian times. Since all Hindus all over the world believe in reincarnation, this evidence indicates that Egyptians and Greeks believed in Hinduism religious doctrines and philosophies even before the 4 th Century BCE. Therefore, Hinduism does not exclusively belong to Asia, but a world religion whose philosophies and traditions are widely accepted across the globe. After the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi who led the Indian Independence movement against the British colonialists, many Hindu priests in India moved to Europe, the Middle East, and Africa where they taught natives in the regions Hindu traditions and philosophies. As a result, Hinduism spread to diverse parts of the world.
Conclusion
Hinduism is a widely practiced religion all over the world and not exclusively in Asia. Although the majority of Hindus are found in Asia, many people in other continents practice and adhere to Hinduism traditions and religions. In countries such as Mauritius, more than a third of the entire population profess to Hinduism as their religion, indicating that people in other countries outside Asia also embrace the faith. Since the Hinduism is an umbrella religion for various religious traditions and philosophies, it incorporates diverse traditions parts in different parts of the world. Moreover, there is clear evidence that Hindu philosophies were widely practiced in ancient Greece and Egypt, indicating that religion is not exclusively practiced in Asia.
References
Harshananda, S. (2019). Hinduism through Questions and Answers . Sri Ramakrishna Math.
Lochtefeld, J. G. (2016). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Volume 1 (Vol. 1). The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.
Rigopoulos, A. (2019). Tolerance in Swami Vivekānanda’s Neo-Hinduism. Philosophy & Social Criticism , 45 (4), 438-460.
Saha, S. (2017). Hinduism, gurus, and globalization. In Religion, globalization, and culture (pp. 485-502). Brill.
Sharma, A. (2015). Ancient Hinduism as a missionary religion. Numen , 39 (2), 175-192.
