 | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 140,000 0.1% of its total population | |
| Religions | |
| Hinduism Majority: Vaishnavism (Krishnaism) Minority: Shaivism andSlavic Vedism | |
| Scriptures | |
| Bhagavad Gita,Bhagavatam andVedas | |
| Languages | |
| Sacred: Sanskrit Other: Russian &Other Russian languages |
Hinduism has been spread inRussia primarily due to the work of scholars from the religious organizationInternational Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) and by itinerantSwamis fromIndia and small communities of Indian immigrants. While ISKCON appears to have a relatively strong following in Russia, the other organizations in the list also have a presence in this country. There is an activeTantra Sangha operating in Russia. According to the 2012 official census, there are 140,010 Hindus in Russia, which accounts for 0.1% of the population of Russia.[1]
The history of Hinduism in Russia dates back to at least the 16th century. WhenAstrakhan was conquered in 1556, the small Indian community became part of the Moscow state.[2]
By the early 17th century, Indian merchants, mainlyMultanis andShikarpuris fromSindh andPunjab, had established a permanent settlement inAstrakhan.Tsar Michael Fedorovich (r. 1613–1645) encouraged them to build anIndian dvor (“Indian Court”), a walled compound containing living quarters, warehouses, and a small Hindu temple. These merchants, described by travellers such asAdam Olearius, Peter Pallas, andGeorge Forster, practised daily rituals before images ofVishnu andKali, lit lamps, performed ablutions in the Volga, and celebrated festivals such as Diwali. In 1683, the Tsar granted the Astrakhan Hindus official permission to cremate their dead outside the city, making it one of the earliest legal recognitions of Hindu rites in Russia.[3]
In the early eighteenth century, the first Russian emperor,Peter the Great, met the head of the Astrakhan Hindus and, at their request, asked the Russian Senate to issue a law protecting Hindu beliefs. This was the first law in Russia that protected a foreign creed.[2]
By the mid-eighteenth century, observers such as the Prussian naturalistPeter Simon Pallas noted the presence of hundreds of MultaniVaiṣṇava Hindu merchant families at the mouth of theVolga River, where their temple in theIndiiskii dvor remained active.[4][3] From the seventeenth to the early nineteenth centuries, Astrakhan functioned as a northern outpost of Hinduism in Eurasia, maintaining continuous worship under official Russian tolerance before the community’s decline as caravan trade throughBukhara andIran waned.[3]
In 1971A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder of theInternational Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), introduced it to Russia. In 1988,ISKCON was first registered as a religion. Later, it was re-registered in 1998. In the same year, there were 120 Krishna communities in Russia.[5]
As of December 2005, the Federal Registration Service recorded 79 Hindu groups with a particular orientation onKrishnaism.[6] These are theInternational Society for Krishna Consciousness,ISKCON Revival Movement,Science of Identity Foundation,Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math,Sri Chaitanya Gaudiya Math [ru],Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mission [ru],Sri Gopinatha Gaudiya Math [ru],International Pure Bhakti Yoga Society [ru], among others.
The followers ofShaivism in Russia are theNaths,Lingayats (Veerashaiva), andTantra Sangha [ru].[7]
Hindu reform movements which have presence in Russia are theBrahma Kumaris,Ramakrishna Mission,Arya Samaj,Sri Aurobindo Ashram,International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres,Ananda Marga,Ananda Sangha,Self-Realization Fellowship,Sri Ramana Ashram,Sahaja Yoga,Sri Chinmoy Centre,Sanatan Sanstha,Sathya Sai Baba movement,Science of Identity Foundation,Shri Prakash Dham, the organizations associated withMaharishi Mahesh Yogi andHaidakhan Babaji (Haidakhandi Samaj [ru]), and others. Brahma Kumaris have 20 centres, Ramakrishna Mission has one centre, Ananda Marga has a centre inBarnaul, Tantra Sangha has one registered branch in Moscow and another inNizhniy Novgorod was officially recognized in 1993.[6][8][7]
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According to the 2012 official census, Hinduism is practised by 140,000 people, or 0.1% of the total population. It constitutes 12% of the population in theAltai Republic, 5% inSamara Oblast, 4% inKhakassia,Kalmykia,Bryansk Oblast,Kamchatka,Kurgan Oblast,Tyumen Oblast andChelyabinsk Oblast, 3% inSverdlovsk Oblast, 2% to 3% inYamalia,Krasnodar Krai,Stavropol Krai,Rostov Oblast andSakhalin Oblast, and 0.1% to 0.2% in other federal subjects.[9]
In 2006, the Russian capitalMoscow had an estimated 10,000Hare Krishna devotees and at least 5,000 Indians, Sri Lankans, Nepalese, and Mauritians following Hindu denominations.[10]
The number ofISKCON followers in Russia is disputed. According to Sanjeet Jha of the Association of Indians of Russia, Russia's Krishna devotee population is estimated to be as high as 250,000, while Filatov of the Institute of Oriental Studies estimates Russia's Krishna population to be 15,000.[11] According to Bhakti Vijnana Goswami, a Russian ISKCON guru, there were 50,000 active Hare Krishna devotees in Russia in 2011.[12]
Media related toHinduism in Russia at Wikimedia Commons
