Hinduism in Brazil

Hinduism in World

According to the 2000 Census, there are about 3000 Hindus in Brazil. The number must be more as Hinduism has greatly accelerated in the last 10 years. Most of the Brazilians are ethnic East Indians.

Today about 5 million Brazilians are practicing yoga regularly and several dance-and-art schools have mushroomed all over Brazil. Major Hindu influence began in Brazil in 1953 when yoga was taken by a French man, whose Indian name was Shivananda. He started a yoga academy in one of the towns of Brazil. Later, many other forms have entered such as Hare Krishna Movement, Vedanta Philosophy, Indian classical music, and finally Indian classical dance. The Brazilians got hooked to Indian music, vegetarianism, food, and culture and there has been no stopping its popularity.

The Indian way of life has penetrated deeply among the people and some of the Brazilians have great admiration for Indian culture. Many have ventured out to take a trip to India visiting several ashrams and gurus. They have taken back to Brazil a kind of Indian culture which has created a deep-rooted impact among Brazilians.

International Geeta Society (IGS) has a branch in Brazil.

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Comments (10)

  • Hello, I am wanting to travel to Manaus, Amazonas and am wondering if there are any Hindu shrines in Manaus or in the vicinity of that city.

    Thank you!

    Reply

  • Thanks for this very informative article!

    I am wanting to travel to Manaus, Amazonas in the next year or so and am wondering if anyone can direct me to a Hindu Temple or Shrine within that city or within the state of Amazonas.

    Thanks!

    Reply

  • C….hindu is a way of life is a unknowlegeable concept…Hinduism is a full fledged religion with its great spirituality & vedic scriptures….Westerners & unknowlegeable Indians hv made it small…Bali also worship hanuman..rama…karthikeyaa…da same Hindu Gods….In context of sreekanth…da wrd hindu sud be replaced vd word indian….4 in subcontinent dou dre r varied religions…da dressin..eating …soceital beliefs r same…So if not incorect most of da world dou hsnt cnvrtd 2 hinduism…bt adopted 2 Indian culture of da subcontinent which roots r ofcourse in itz oldest religion da Da Hinduism

    Reply

  • i am hindu in Bali Indonesia….the way to pray in bali and the temple in Bali is diferent and use many flower n fruit for praying, every family have a small temple at ther house

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  • Namaskar, Hinduism itself i feel is not at all a religion , i mean it doesn’t need somebody to force and adopt and adapt the life styles to be called as a hindu .
    it’s away of life that can be best suitable for any human being to live life like a human, who is respected by , for his deeds towards the fellow society members , his principals and doctrines are so natural that he simply gets registered by his fellow people. whether it ‘s brazil / india humans are the same .

    Reply

  • Why not make Hindus out of Brazilians? Millions of Hindus have been made Christians through generations. Why not reverse the trend now.

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    • First thing, conversion to Hinduism is not the ultimate goal of Hinduism. If you want to preach, preach the philosophy of Hinduism. Then, if somebody wants to convert, then it is fine. Conversion creates misunderstandings between faiths.

      Reply

  • Namaskar ,

    I would like to comment on article about Hinduism in Brazil.. I live here in Brazil for almost 5 years teaching and giving lectures on Yoga, meditation, yogik health, Ayurveda…etc..
    More and more brazilians are learning yoga and meditation day by day as the yoga centeres as well as yoga teachers are sproutting in great numbers!!.. Through yoga and meditation the people are learning more about indians spirituality .. The yogik wisdom … But it is not correct to say the Indian way of life has penetrated the brazilian culture or way of life or Brazilians are becoming Hindus …I dont see them wearing saries, Kurtas or punjabi dress..!!.. instead most indians who are living here adopted the brazilian social culture in their day today life… But what is more important is that the Brazilians are willing to adopt the yogik life style into their daily life…becoming vegetarian, practicing asanas and meditation, learning yogik philosophies, accepting Gurus from india as their beloved masters, giving respect to sanyasis in orange dress ..etc.. The Brazilians are accepting the spiritual culture of India but not the social and religious traditions …
    In every big cities there are hundreds of yoga centers from different lineage of gurus teaching yoga,meditation,bhajan,kiirtan, vegetarianism, indian musics and dance…etc..
    Besides yoga centeres there are 1000 nds of indian clothes and jewelry shops all over Brazil that also helps exposing indian culture to the brazilians..

    We are here not to make Hindus out of Brazilians but simply teaching a healthy yogik spiritual lifestyle into their life to create a harmonius world to live peacefully together.

    Reply

    • Thank you for commenting. Thank you very much for providing true facts about Hinduism in Brazil. As you live in Brazil, you know more about Hinduism in Brazil. Whatever I have written in my article is based on what I have heard or read in the newspaper and/or Internet. So, thank you once again for sharing the facts on Hinduism in Brazil.

      Reply

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