© Kamla-Raj 2013 J Sociology Soc Anth, 4(1-2): 1-15 (2013)

Hinduism in South Africa: Caste, Ethnicity, and Invented Traditions,

1860-Present
Vinay Lal1 and Goolam Vahed2
1
Department of History, University of California, Los Angeles, USA
E-mail: [email protected]
2
Department of History, University of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa
E-mail: [email protected]
KEYWORDS Gandhi. Swami Shankeranand. Maha Sabha. Arya Samaj Indentured Labour

ABSTRACT This paper examines the experience of Hindus and Hinduism in South Africa over the past century and half. It shows
that while the influence of caste has generally greatly diminished, Hinduism continues to flourish, and even shows signs of prosperity
in public spaces. If the reification of Hinduism is taking place, the faith is also opening itself up to other transgressive possibilities.
Hinduism has not been static but continues to undergo transformations of all kinds, in part due to influences from the Indian sub-
continent, and one of the burdens of this paper is to suggest that no Hinduism should be regarded as “authentic”. South African
Hinduism displays its own characteristic features and should be examined on its own terms, in the very specific social, cultural,
political, and economic conditions in which it is forged. Understanding how Hinduism is conceptualized and formulated in different
settings will allow us to compare distant diasporic communities with each other, as well as with the “homeland”, and also understand
how these communities view each other.

INTRODUCTION volition. While the majority of passengers were

Muslim, they included in their midst substan-
Indentured migration to Natal was part of tial numbers of Hindus from Gujarat, the Punjab,
an international circulation of labour which as well as some from South India. From Natal,
evolved after the British Parliament abolished many Indians, of both passenger and indentured
slavery in 1833. This created a labour shortage origins, made their way to various other parts
on colonial plantations where considerable sums of South Africa, even though there were restric-
of money had been invested in the production tions on inter-provincial movement (Bhana and
of sugar cane. Altogether, some 1.3 million In- Brain 1984). Hindus constituted a highly het-
dian contract labourers were exported to the erogeneous group in terms of class, caste, re-
mainly British colonies of Mauritius, Jamaica, gion, and linguistic background, and among
British Guiana, Trinidad, St. Lucia, Suriname, them were to be found speakers of Tamil, Telugu,
Fiji, Granada, and Natal from the middle de- Gujarati, Bhojpuri, Awadhi, and what one
cades of the nineteenth century to satisfy the scholar has described as ‘plantation Hindustani’
demand for cheap labour. In all, 152,184 In- (Tinker 1974: 208). The significant diversity of
dian indentured workers migrated to Natal be- beliefs and practices among Hindus, as shall be
seen, reflected differences that characterize Hin-
tween 1860 and 1911:sixty-two per cent were
duism in the subcontinent itself. Yet, stated
men, 25 per cent were women, and 13 per cent blandly as facts, these processes do not ad-
were children under thirteen. Sixty per cent were equately or even remotely furnish any clues
Tamil and Telegu speakers from Tamil Nadu about the enormous import of the migrations
and Andhra Pradesh in South India; the rest were that transported Hindus to South Africa and
from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in the north. Over helped in the transformation of Hinduism into
80 per cent were Hindu, around 15 per cent a “world religion”. Just what is to be under-
Muslim, and there were a small number of stood by “Hinduism” in the nineteenth century
Christians. Indentured migrants comprised sev- and later, and did Hindus even view themselves
eral hundred castes, ranging from Brahmins to as such? Where does South African Hinduism
Pariahs. Madras was the point of departure from belong in the larger narrative of Hinduism’s
the south and Calcutta (Kolkata) from the north dissemination in the modern period, and what
(Bhana 1991: 20). might be some of the peculiarities of Hinduism’s
Indentured migrants were followed to Natal diasporic presence, especially in South Africa?
by the ‘passenger’ Indians, a term that referred Broad as some of these questions are, any
to migrants who came at their own expense and assessment of Hinduism’s history in South Af-
2 VINAY LAL AND GOOLAM VAHED

rica can only acquire salience when viewed tually permit the diffusion of Hinduism in the
against the backdrop of Hinduism’s transforma- nineteenth century under vastly different con-
tion into a “world religion” and its transmis- ditions, as indentured Indians, taking the place
sion to outposts, near and remote, of what would of newly freed slaves, and playing an unwitting
become a far flung diaspora. In this respect, role in the global circulation of capital, were
several considerations come to the fore. What- dispersed around the globe, to Mauritius,
ever the early history, and it is not an inconsid- Trinidad, Guyana, Surinam, South Africa, Ma-
erable one, of Hinduism’s dispersal to South- laysia, Fiji, and elsewhere. Hinduism was des-
east Asia over several centuries in the first mil- tined to reach those corners of the world that it
lennium of the Common Era, by the seventeenth had never before breached, but it did so at a
century if not earlier, the religion had become time when the religion in India itself was under
confined to the Indian subcontinent –– barring great stress. The British conquest of India in
the remnants of Hinduism in Bali, among Viet- the 18th century was far more than a military
namese Cham, and in perhaps a few other pock- triumph that would bleed the country and ren-
ets. There is, of course, a complex literature on der Indians into a subject people living, for the
what precisely is to be understood when the most part, in abject poverty; it was a conquest
Indianization of the Malay Archipelago, the of knowledge, one of the consequences of which
Mekong Delta, Java, or Angkor is being invoked, was to throw the various practitioners of what
but the fact of a substantive Indic presence in would in time be called “Hinduism” into con-
this part of the world remains incontrovertible. siderable disarray. To be sure, there had always
Some older theses, which represented the been distinctions between ‘high’ and ‘low’, be-
kshatrityas (or members of the warrior caste) as tween classical and popular forms of religious
carriers of Indian civilization to Southeast Asia, worship, but one effect of colonial rule was to
or viewed traders as the advance guard of an heighten these differences, create new hierar-
army of religious emissaries and cultural am- chies of texts, even “authorized” forms of texts
bassadors, are no longer uncritically accepted. for which natives, scarcely beholden to colonial
However, the artifacts of India’s civilizational notions of an “authentic” text, had little use.
presence, whether manifested in enormous In the late nineteenth century, as Indian na-
temple complexes at Angkor, Prambanan, tionalists pondered over the fate of their coun-
Champa, and elsewhere, or in the widespread try, they sought the revival of an ancient faith
proliferation of India’s mythological lore and and cast it in a militant mode, partly on the as-
puranic literature across Southeast Asia’s im- sumption that the religion’s supposed accent on
mensely varied linguistic and ethnic landscapes, nonviolence and pacifism had rendered it spec-
continue to tell a narrative of the enduring in- tacularly vulnerable to the Abrahamic faiths (Lal
fluence of Hinduism in this part of the world. V 2008). To take one example, Bankimcandra
The verdict of Indian nationalists, who cel- Chatterjee, who pioneered the novel in Bengali
ebrated India’s “cultural empire” with some with immense success and became a widely ac-
awareness of what it meant to forge an empire claimed essayist, was among those who argued
shorn of arms, may be questioned by some; but that the Hindu’s attachment to the philosophy
less suspect is the viewpoint of two distinguished of bhakti (devotion) had emasculated the once
German scholars who have long been scholars vigorous race of the Aryans and made them in-
of Indian history. As they write, ‘The transmis- capable of defending themselves against the
sion of Indian culture to distant parts of central more militant and single-minded adherents of
Asia, China, Japan, and especially Southeast Islam and Christianity. His affirmation of a Hin-
Asia is one of the greatest achievements of In- duism that would at once be more masculine
dian history or even of the history of mankind. and possessed of a semblance to the Semitic
None of the other great civilisations - not even faiths won him many followers, especially
the Hellenic - had been able to achieve a simi- among the following generation of nationalists.
lar success without military conquest’ (Kulke Two generations before him, Rammohun Roy,
and Rothermund 1998: 143). later to be dubbed “the father of modern India”,
By the sixteenth century, a new phase would had already paved the way for the idea that Hin-
be inaugurated in world history, one marked by duism required a wholesale reformation: if Ca-
Europe’s dominance over Asia. This would even- tholicism had to be shorn of its ritualism and
HINDUISM IN SOUTH AFRICA 3

superstitions, its venerations of saints, and its little scrutiny, it is surely striking that it is
popery, to pave the way for Protestanism, so Gandhi’s sustained encounters with South Af-
Hinduism had to be rid of its idolatrous and rican Christians that gave him a greater com-
obscurantist accretions before Vedic Hinduism prehension of his own faith. It is in these dia-
could once again be comprehended in its pris- lectical, dialogic, and hermeneutic spaces that
tine form. Bankim would thus number among the full history of Hinduism in South Africa will
those who, consciously or otherwise, were per- eventually have to be written.
suaded by the argument that Hinduism stood in This article, then, tracks some of the major
need of a thoroughgoing reformation. developments amongst Hindus and Hinduism
While the same might perhaps have been as it evolved in South Africa over the past cen-
argued apropos of religions other than Protes- tury and half, in the context of changing socio-
tant Christianity, considering, for example, the economic and political conditions. For the sake
“decline” of Islam from its heyday when the of convenience, it is divided into four chrono-
religion had swept the globe and Islamic em- logical periods: the Colonial period (1860-1914)
pires reigned supreme, Hinduism was believed which we end with the departure of Gandhi from
to be especially deficient. Whatever Islam’s other South Africa and not the formation of the Union
problems from the viewpoint of Protestants, it of South Africa in 1910; the period of Segrega-
was at least a recognized religion; but the same tion (1914-1948); the Apartheid era (1948-
could not be said of Hinduism, a chaotic faith 1994); and the post-Apartheid period. This
that lacked a historical founder, a central church, periodization is done mainly for ease of refer-
even a text which all its adherents could agree ence as many important developments over-
upon as the ultimate source of “canonical” au- lapped these arbitrary boundaries.
thority. The task set before the reformers of “Hin-
duism” was therefore especially onerous, since THE COLONIAL PERIOD
they were, in a manner of speaking, charged
with the creation a proper religion that, in time, Migration and indenture disrupted the
would serve a proper nation-state. The very idea girmityas’ religious and cultural life. There were
of “religion”, as Tomoko Masuzawa (2005) has few shrines and sacred places, few murtis or
persuasively argued, was to be understood by images, few learned men, pandits, sadhus or
the nineteenth century in the template of Prot- maulvis, versed in the scriptures to impart moral
estant Christianity, and henceforth Hinduism’s and spiritual instruction. Their absence facili-
more vocal adherents would also attempt to tated an essentially emotional, egalitarian and
transform it into a “world religion”. non-intellectual moral order among the
One might well ask, of course, what bearing girmityas (Lal B 2004: 17).
this larger narrative has to the story of the trans- Migration overseas was not an easy decision
plantation of Hinduism in South Africa and the for Hindus; often it was not a decision at all,
manner in which it would take roots in a for- since we can be reasonably certain that some
eign climate. We find, to take one trajectory, that among those who boarded the ships that took
the question of the “reform” of Hinduism has them beyond the “kalapani”, the forbidden wa-
never been far from the mind of some of the ters, were entirely unaware of their destination.
religion’s practitioners in South Africa; indeed, There was concern about being “polluted” by
at the onset of the twentieth century, some South mixing with “outsiders”, and others would have
African Hindus felt emboldened to suggest that experienced a particular sense of lossin reflect-
certain religious practices were inauthentic and ing on the journey given the Hindu relationship
scarcely proper for a religion aspiring to dem- with the sacred geography of India, and with its
onstrate its modernity. We may likewise ask gods, goddesses, holy rivers, and places of pil-
whether, in the diasporic setting, “temple Hin- grimage. There was an ‘emotional and ritual
duism” acquires rather more importance, partly attachment to this landscape’ (Warrier 2008: 89),
as a form of community solidarity, than it had a landscape literally littered with signs of the
in India itself. Though in this paper the endur- sacred and the presence of the gods. Most in-
ing if controversial place of Mohandas Gandhi dentured migrants moved to Natal out of eco-
in South Africa’s history and in giving shape to nomic necessity and despite the terrible work,
notions of Indian “community” has received health, and living conditions on the plantations
4 VINAY LAL AND GOOLAM VAHED

of Colonial Natal, which have been well docu- class made it a challenge for Hindus to recon-
mented (see Desai and Vahed 2010), had the struct their religious life in Durban. “Temples”,
presence of mind and will to begin rebuilding which Hindus erected on sugar estates, became
their cultural, religious, and social lives which the centre of community life. Most early struc-
proved to be one of the means of survival in the tures were tiny, roughly six feet squared, and
new setting. Religion, we have been told by sev- were made from wattle, daub, thatch and, later,
eral generations of Indologists and anthropolo- corrugated iron (Henning 1993: 150). The first
gists, was central to Hindu lives in India, and temples included Umbilo (1869), Newlands
certainly the Hindus newly arrived South Af- (1896), Cato Manor (1882), Isipingo Rail
rica set about establishing temples and religious (1870), Mount Edgecombe (1875), Somtseu
rituals from the earliest days of settlement in Road (1880s), Umgeni Road (1885), and Sea
Natal, which became important sites in diasporic View (1910).
cultural reproduction. Generally, in diasporic These simple structures allowed Hindus to
settings, the migratory experience of first gen- practice ritual and engage in sacrificial worship,
eration Hindus included ‘exclusiveness in their and they became the converging point of a
social interactions [and] communal self-renewal community’s social and cultural life. The no-
through participation at social events marking tion that the temple could serve as something of
birth, marriage, and death’ (Warrier 2008: 94). a community centre was beginning to take shape,
Few Hindus would have been exposed to the a characteristic development not only in South
reformist tendencies of movements such as the Africa but across the growing Hindu diaspora.
Arya Samaj that was sweeping India from the Over time, most temples had elaborate designs
late 1870s. The Hinduism practiced in Natal was because visual imagery (darshana) is an impor-
largely ‘a non-scriptural devotional and ritual- tant part of religious worship (Eck 1985), and
istic cult,’ known as Sanathanism, which oper- designs reflected regional variations in India
ated on a popular rather than philosophical level, (Bhana and Vahed 2005: 54). One of the leg-
and was closely bound to temples and festivals endary early temple builders in Natal was
(Diesel and Maxwell 1993:17). Migration was Kistappa Reddi (1863-1941) who arrived as an
mostly an individual undertaking, which made indentured worker in 1898 and was assigned to
it difficult to replicate lives left behind in India. Marshall Campbell’s Natal Estates Sugar Mill.
But the fact that the migrants were recruited While still under indenture, Reddy built the
from particular regions meant that, in the new Ganesha Temple in Mount Edgecombe. After
Natal setting, individuals migrants would have completing his indenture, Reddi built many
come across people who broadly shared some temples in Natal, including the Umbilo Siva
religious beliefs and cultural practices. The fun- (1930), Newlands Narainsamy Vishnu (1906),
damentals of Hinduism were transmitted to the and Canelands Emperumal (1937) (Kuppusami
young largely through priests, temples, and fes- 1993: 70-71).
tivals, and orally through stories from Hindu Festivals fulfilled several functions for Hin-
texts such as the Ramayana, Mahabharata, and dus. They helped to increase religious devotion
Bhagavad Gita (Naidoo et al. 1989:153). The by reminding followers of particular deities; they
African Chronicle (23 April 1906) recorded that served a social role as devotees joined together
when indentured Indians arrived in Natal ‘there in a show of unity; and they provided an escape
was no-one there to teach them [because] the from the grind of plantation labour. During the
learned Pandits in Natal themselves have very formative decades, most indentured workers
little formal education.’ The Pandits, the news- participated in the Muslim festival of
paper went on, exploited the masses by keeping Muharram, which was known in the colony as
them in superstition and idolatry. “Coolie Christmas” (see Vahed 2002). What
In the absence of formal religious instruc- should perhaps be underscored here is the fact,
tion the basic tenets of Hinduism were learnt in for fact it is, that most Hindus partook of the
the normal course of family life through prayers festivities surrounding Muharram. In Trinidad,
at home, ceremonies, festivals, and reading and where Muharram was known as “Hosay” or
acting out religious texts such as the Ramayana. “Hosein”, it came to be looked upon with im-
Financial constraints, difficulty in observing mense disfavour by the colonial authorities who
caste rules, and absence of a learned priestly were first puzzled and then outraged at Hindu
HINDUISM IN SOUTH AFRICA 5

participation in a Shia festival.Thirteen years grounds that people were going there on their
before the Muharram massacre of 1884, in own free will but he did not award monetary
which police firing led to the death of twelve damages (Diesel and Maxwell 1993: 51).
people and many more injured, a certain Rever- The Draupadi (fire walking) festival was cel-
end Morton attempted to explain the habitual ebrated annually in March in honour of the
presence of Hindus in the Muharram celebra- Goddess Draupadi who is regarded by Hindus
tions with the observation that they had joined as ‘the model of duty, love and devotion, who
in them ‘simply in remembrance of their coun- bore various trials with great fortitude’ (Diesel
try, or they have fallen in with it that they may and Maxwell 1993: 51). Kavadi was celebrated
have one fete day in the year during their expa- in February and May of each year in honour of
triation’ (Singh 1988: 45-47). Colonial officials the god Muruga who, devotees believe, has the
and European observers, accustomed as they power to cure people of their illness and get rid
were from their understanding of Europe’s his- of misfortune. Kavadi remains a mass based fes-
tory as one of interminable religious conflict, tival in Tamilnadu and Kerala, as well as in the
and wholly persuaded by the idea that Hindus Tamil diaspora in Malaysia, Singapore, Sri
and Muslims had always existed in a relation- Lanka, and Mauritius. The mortification of the
ship of unmitigated antagonism, could not coun- body is part of kavadi. The central component
tenance the thought that Hindus and Muslims involved devotees ceremonially carrying a
might have a history of shared customs, festi- kavadi or ‘burden’ (such as a pot of milk car-
vals, and ways of life. Doubtless, such inter- ried on a decorated semi-circular canopy sup-
mingling was easier in the earlier days of mi- ported by a wooden rod carried on the shoul-
gration and settlement, and one is not surprised der) and walking around the temple on a set
that gradually Hindu festivals such as Thai route and making an offering at the temple
Pongal, Thai Pusam (Kavadi), Draupadi, (Ganesh 2010: 35). Mortification of the body
Mariamman, and Diwali assumed greater im- included devotees sticking needles and pins in
portance among Hindus. their tongues and cheeks, or drawing chariots
From 1890, the Shree Temple organized a with strings knotted into large hooks protrud-
festival annually in April during the Tamil New ing from the fleshy parts of the backs. Reform-
Year (Chaita Masam), the day, Hindus believe, ist minded Hindus, not unlike their counterparts
Lord Brahma started creation. It marked both in India, regarded these festivals as a distortion
an occasion to atone for bad deeds and pray for of ‘authentic’ Hinduism. The newspaper
a profitable new year. One of the most popular Dharma Vir (25 January 1925), a voice of re-
festivals was the Mariamman “Porridge” festi- formist Hinduism, complained that these ‘prac-
val, associated with the popular Goddess tices and usages have entered into our religion....
Mariamman who, in South India, is believed to [They] may have suited our forefathers with their
both cause and cure infectious diseases like ample leisure in our Homeland ... [but] are some-
smallpox and measles. Devotees offer “cooling” what wearisome in these modern days and must
foods such as milk and coconut to the goddess give way to simpler modes’. An editorial in the
to “cool” her anger. In some places, a goat is Indian Opinion opined in 1936 that festivals had
sacrificed and its blood spilt to represent life become ‘haunts for gamblers and other money
and fertility (Diesel and Maxwell 1993: 49). makers, who seem more to be in the forefront
This festival was celebrated widely in Isipingo than the religious ceremony itself’ (Indian Opin-
on the south coast of Natal on Good Friday from ion 10 April 1936). These grumblings of dis-
around the turn of the twentieth century and content are not without interest: the objection
drew crowds in excess of 10,000 (African appears to be not merely that some of the festi-
Chronicle 16 September 1916). Reformist- vals could not be reconciled with ‘authentic’ or
minded Hindus condemned the festival. For ‘high’ Hinduism, but also that they did not quite
example, C.V. Pillay, editor of The Vineka comport with the idea of religion under moder-
Bhanoo, wrote that ‘ignorant people who did nity, of a religion that, Protestant-like, ought to
not understand the Indian religion spent their be stripped bare of unnecessary accoutrements.
money in useless pursuits.’ The proprietor of the Mariamman and Draupadi are South Indian
temple sued him for defamation. The magistrate goddesses who were widely worshipped in ar-
gave judgment in favor of the plaintiff on the eas of South Africa where the majority of mi-
6 VINAY LAL AND GOOLAM VAHED

grants were from South India. Most lower-caste low class, Diwali among the urban middle class
Tamil-speaking Hindus in South India worship and rich’ (Kelly 1988: 45), this consideration
these two goddesses who play an important role held sway in South Africa as well. In India and
in their daily lives. Worshippers walking on in diasporic locations, Holi has long been asso-
burning coals, animal sacrifices, and religious ciated with the god Krishna, whose sexual mo-
figures going into trance to heal the sick are all rality is questionable; in arguing for the primacy
features of Hinduism among the working classes of Diwali, which celebrates the return of Rama
in Madras and vicinity (see Hiltebal 1988). In to Ayodhya, Swami Shankeranand was enact-
Natal, however, goddess worshippers (Sakti ing that same Protestant impulse to render Hin-
worshippers) blended various traditions so that duism into a respectable religion.
subsidiary-deities of Mariammen, such as The Swami, however, also created dissension
Munisvaran and Koterie, are often placed out- among Indians by taking issue with the politi-
side temples rather that Mariamman herself cal agenda of Mohandas K. Gandhi, who lived
(Ganesh 2010: 33). in South Africa between 1893 and 1914, and
When a full history of Hinduism in South asking Hindus to dissociate from Indian Mus-
Africa is written, the name of Swami lims and Christians. The presence of Gandhi
Shankeranand, who spent almost four years in was important in several respects. Gandhi was
Natal between 1908 and 1912, will loom large brought to South Africa by a Muslim trader Dada
given his influence over a wide canvas of Hindu Abdoolla, and formed the Natal Indian Congress
life in South Africa. The building of temples in 1894 to challenge the racial restrictions be-
and establishment of festivals were due in large ing implemented to curtail Indian trade, finance,
measure to the memories of first generation residence, and immigration (see Swan 1985).
migrants. Subsequent generations built on this Gandhi played a crucial role in transcending
by establishing institutional structures that al- religious differences and ensuring that religion
lowed for the practice and replication of cul- did not divide Indians. He demanded of Hin-
tural and religious life. John Kelly and Martha dus, Christians, and Muslims, of all classes and
Kaplan, in their 2001 study, Represented Com- castes, to trust each other and work together
munities, suggest that communities and nations against white minority rule. This would not have
are not just ‘imagined’, as Benedict Anderson been possible had migrants remained in India
(1983) argued when he wrote that ‘print capi- (see Bhana and Vahed 2005).
talism’ fostered nations as imagined communi- The decades following the departure of
ties in a modular form that became the culture Gandhi from South Africa were witness to the
of modernity, but that at critical moments indi- rapid urbanisation of Indians, extensive urban
vidual leaders make significant interventions poverty, formation of education and social wel-
that have long term consequences. Swami fare institutions, and increasing state hostility.
Shankeranand was one such individual. He These changes in work patterns and geographic
played a pivotal role in establishing institutional location impacted on religious and cultural prac-
Hinduism, with the most significant organi- tices. Most Indians in Natal were Hindu. Ac-
sation being the South African Hindu Maha cording to the 1936 population census, 81 per-
Sabha in 1912, and in stressing the importance cent of Natal’s Indians were Hindu. African
of education. His role in raising a Hindu, as labour rendered Indians superfluous in farming,
opposed to Indian, consciousness is better ap- mining, and the public sector and their num-
preciated through an understanding of his ef- bers dropped dramatically on Natal’s mines,
forts in making Diwali the premier Hindu festi- railways, in general farming, and on sugar es-
val in Natal. Among Fiji Indians, the anthro- tates. Most Indians moved to cities. The num-
pologist John Kelly has written, the two festi- ber of Indians in Durban, for example, increased
vals of which the colonial state took at all any from 17,015 in 1911 to 123,165 in 1949. As a
cognizance were Holi and Muharram; Diwali percentage of Durban’s population, Indians in-
was not the ‘focus of the Fiji Hindu ritual cal- creased from 23 to 33 per cent (Housing Survey
endar’ (Kelly 1988: 44). Much the same can be 1952: 35). Unemployment and low pay resulted
said about Diwali in South Africa: if in Fiji in wide-scale poverty among Indians. A study
‘Holi and its transcendence of status and caste by the University of Natal in 1943/44 reported
is especially popular among the low caste and that 70.6 percent of Indians were living below
HINDUISM IN SOUTH AFRICA 7

the poverty datum line and that 40 percent were impact on Hindus. This is discussed in detail
destitute (Daily News 8 June 1944). below.
The white minority government’s main fo-
cus during these years was on repatriating Indi- INSTITUTIONS AND EXEMPLARS:
ans. A round-table conference between the South THE APARTHEID PERIOD, 1948-1994
African, Indian and Imperial governments in
1927 introduced a system of voluntary repatria- The coming to power of the National Party
tion and an “Agent” was appointed by the In- (NP) government in 1948 had paradoxical con-
dian government to oversee the upliftment of sequences for Indians. Social, political and eco-
Indians who remained in South Africa (Pachai nomic segregation was intensified but Indians
1971: 108). The policy failed because few Indi- were finally recognised as permanent citizens.
ans repatriated while the government, for its The expansion of educational opportunities and
part, did little to improve the condition of Indi- economic mobility impacted on the form and
ans. For the most part, Hindus and Muslims practice of Hinduism. Partly because of state
lived in harmony. Recalling life in Durban in policy and in part because of settlement patterns
the 1930s and 1940s, a correspondent to a news- in the post-indenture period, there was 91 per-
paper, Harry Sewlall, recalled that ‘what was cent residential segregation between Indians and
remarkable was the camaraderie that existed whites in Durban in 1951 (Davies 1963: 37).
between Muslims and Hindus, who lived cheek- Segregation was consolidated after 1948 through
by-jowl with one another. I was not aware of the Group Areas Act which relocated thousands
any differences between us. In my family, we of Indians, mainly to two large townships,
referred to our elderly Muslim neighbours as Chatsworth in the south and Phoenix in the
“mausi” (aunt) and “mausa” (uncle”)’ (Sun- north, while areas like Reservoir Hills, La Mercy
day Times Extra 12 December 1999). While In- and Westville were made available for middle
dians largely overlooked religious distinctions, class housing in KwaZulu Natal. In the Trans-
visits by overseas missionaries, both Hindu and vaal, the township of Lenasia became “home”
Muslim, usually created religious discord. for Indians. Apartheid, abhorrent as the policy
Part of the reason for religion not dividing was, meant that Indians lived in racially segre-
Indians was that they felt sandwiched between gated residential areas which made it easier for
a white governing minority and the African them to establish and practice their religion and
masses. From the 1930s the focus of the state culture.
was on repatriating Indians and segregating Education played a crucial transformative
those who remained. The land struggle was pro- role. Literacy levels were very low in 1950. Af-
tracted and culminated in a passive resistance ter the control of Indian education shifted to a
campaign by Indians between 1946 and 1948 Department of Indian Affairs in 1965, free and
(Bugwandeen 1991). At the same time, the compulsory education was available from 1970.
growing tension between Indians and Africans The rapid increase in the building of secular
during the 1940s culminated in three days of schools resulted in adequate space for all chil-
riots between Africans and Indians in January dren by 1983. The number of candidates who
1949 which resulted in 142 deaths and 1087 wrote the final year examination at secondary
injuries. This was an indication of the depth of school level increased from 2,623 in 1968 to
antagonism that Africans felt against Indians 10,449 in 1984 (Naidoo 1989: 116). This was
in a climate where they competed for scarce eco- coupled with the opening of the University of
nomic resources (Edwards and Nuttall 1990). Durban-Westville (1963) and expansion of the
This brought Indian, Hindus, Christians, and M L Sultan Technical College. The advantage
Muslims together in the public sphere and fos- taken by Indians of these opportunities is re-
tered the racial identity, “Indianness”, which flected in the fact that English became the lan-
would be cemented after the National Party (NP) guage of communication among Indians; the
came to power in 1948 and began to implement number who regarded English as their home
its policy of apartheid. One very important trend language increased from six per cent in 1951 to
among Hindus was the appearance of the ninety-three per cent in 1996.
Bethesda Temple in the 1930s, a form of Pente- Mass education was critical in reshaping
costal Christianity that would have a powerful conceptions of self and religion, which contin-
8 VINAY LAL AND GOOLAM VAHED

ued to be an important part of Indian lives un- ments. In this context, the entire worshipping
der apartheid. Religious practices were not static community can be seen as experiencing a strong
but transformed to meet new needs and grow. sense of identity and solidarity from their par-
Important trends during this period included the ticipation in the richly symbolic rituals, with
continued growth of institutional religion among their powerful mythology. To come through the
Hindus, the expansion of Hindu reformist ac- fire unscathed, viewed as affirmation of one’s
tivities, and the attraction of Pentecostal Chris- purity and devotion to the Goddess, is in itself
tianity. One important development was what empowering, and claimed by many to bring
has come to be called a process of “Sanskriti- healing. Loring Danforth maintains that
sation”, that is, the giving up of oral-based reli- ‘through firewalking [worshippers] are empow-
gious practices in preference for worship forms ered; their lives are transformed. They gain an
that include the use of the Sanskrit language enhanced sense of self-confidence and self-es-
and its texts in worship. Reformist tendencies teem, and they are able to function more effec-
in India, which resulted from the ongoing en- tively in the world in which they live (Diesel
counter with the voices of colonialism challeng- 2003: 44).
ing Indian conceptions of religion, and which While ritualistic tradition continued to ap-
proposed new forms of Hinduism, made their peal to large numbers of Hindus, reformist Hindu
way to South Africa where they influenced lo- movements made their mark from during the
cal practices. For some Hindus, this meant con- middle decades of the twentieth century. They
version to Christianity, but others embraced new included the Ramakrishna Centre, Krishna Con-
streams of Hinduism. Three major phases of sciousness Movement, Divine Life Society, and
Indian Hinduism influenced Hindus in South the SaivaSithanthaSungum. In general, these
Africa. The first was the influence of the movements were characterised by regular com-
AryaSamaj from the turn of the 20th century; a munal religious services (satsang); avoidance
second influence was the neo-vedantic move- of trance festivals such as firewalking and
ments from the 1940s (Ramakrishna Centre and Kavadi; a focus on inner spirituality through
Divine Life society); while the third important practices such as yoga and meditation; and the
influence was the charismatic guru based sects reading and study of religious scriptures (Die-
and movements from the 1970s onwards, such sel and Maxwell 1993: 63). The Arya Samaj
as Sai Baba and Hare Krishna (Ganesh 2010: movement, as already pointed out, had its roots
35). in the visit of missionaries Professor Parmanand
The majority of Hindus, however, continued and Swami Shakeranand in the early twentieth-
to practice a ritualistic form of Hinduism, which century. It failed to make a significant impact
included major festivals such as the Draupadi- at the time but established a foothold through
firewalking festival, Mariammen “Porridge” the efforts of Bhavani Dayal Sanyasi (1892-
prayer, the Gengaiamman festival, and Kavadi. 1950), who was born in Johannesburg yet be-
Neither urbanisation nor Group Areas failed to came a sanyasi in India. On the occasion of the
dampen enthusiasm for these festivals. Accord- Birth Centenary Celebration (Shivaratri day 22
ing to Diesel, these festivals played an impor- February 1925) of Swami Dayanand, founder
tant role in the lives of worshippers: of the Arya Samaj, the Arya Pratinidhi Sabha
Participation can bring considerable empow- was established in Natal. The movement’s head-
erment, particularly to the South African Hindu quarters in Carlisle Street, Durban, was built in
community, which during the apartheid era was 1936, while the grand Aryan Temple on the site,
politically, socially, and religiously margin- the Veda Mandir, was built here in 1975.
alised and discriminated against. Many of the The Arya Samaj and their missionaries,
descendents of the south Indian indentured though they failed to attract a large following,
labourers have tended to remain relatively eco- paved the way for other Neo-Vedanta reformist
nomically depressed, suffering more than usual movements. Neo-Vedanta revolves around lo-
stress, frustration and anxiety. This has led to cal ashrams. Its basic message is that God is
considerable physical and psychological illness. real and can be realised in the depths of one’s
Many people cannot afford doctors’ fees, while being by following one of a number of paths.
others despair of the ability of conventional The Ramakrishna Centre, started by M.D.
Western medicine to provide cures for their ail- Naidoo (1925-1965), originated in 1942 when
HINDUISM IN SOUTH AFRICA 9

a group of young men led by Naidoo, who was the Swami, “must not be treated only as an awe-
then a stores clerk, formed a literary group to inspiring subject, but that both the material and
study Hindu religion, philosophy and culture. spiritual benefits should be brought home – to
His correspondence with the then President of the younger set in particular. Our movement
the world-wide Ramakrishna Mission, Swami offers a variety of activities from the spiritual
Virajananda, fanned his devotion. Books on Sri to the sporting side.” The Swami impressed upon
Ramakrishna, Sri Sarada Devi, Swami Viveka- me that his movement was completely non-ra-
nanda and the Cultural Heritage of India as well cial. “Black, white or blue receive the same
as the Mission’s journals (Prabuddha Bharata treatment at our centre. Because a person is
and Vedanta Kesari) were studied. Naidoo went white he gets no special treatment,” he said,
to India to be initiated into the holy order of a while a white follower from Johannesburg
Swami. He stayed at the Headquarters of the brought a tray of tea and toasted cheese sand-
Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission wiches into the carpeted lounge where we sat,
in Kolkata, India. In March 1949 he was initi- talking. The lounge is as tastefully furnished as
ated into spiritual life by Swami Virajananda. the other rooms of the headquarters. The shrine
He subsequently spent about five years in a cave is the one place in the centre where one has to
in the Himalayas. Under Swami Purushottam- take off one’s shoes before entering. After a short
ananda, he took his final monastic vows but impressive service, the followers walked to
(sanyasa). Swami Nischalananda returned to the Swami, who stood below the images and
South Africa in 1953. In 1959 Nischalananda blessed each of his flock. I found a strange as-
set up the Ashram, printing press and Rama- sortment of people – academic men, profes-
krishna Clinic on a fourteen-acre property in sional men, simple labourers, students, busi-
Glen Anil, Durban, where the headquarters of nessmen, and housewives.... One man fell in a
the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa is dead faint after the Swami had touched him,
based. Ashrams were subsequently established and had to be carried away from the grotto. The
in Asherville, Chatsworth, Northdale, Lady- party then wended its way back to the shrine
smith, and Newcastle. Journalist G.R. Naidoo after an hour to offer more prayers and to fin-
recorded the following after visiting the Centre ish off the morning’s service. It was at the cul-
in 1961: mination of the service that I witnessed moving
I met Swami Nichalananda (he is referred to scenes. Several men and women in the shrine
as “Swamijee” by all his followers) at the plush cried while they were again blessed by the
£12,000 headquarters of the movement a few Swami and more fainted. Women knelt at the
miles out of town. The headquarters, a sprawl- feet of the swami and some laid themselves pros-
ing two-storeyed building set amidst fourteen trate on his feet (Drum February 1961).
acres of gloriously wooded land, was previously The Divine Life Society bases its teaching
the retreat of a Frenchman and was known as on Swami Sivananda (1887-1963) who opened
the “Chateau de Montreal”. The Swami is a an ashram in Rishikesh in northern India in
small wiry man with flowing curly hair, a bushy 1936. An ashram was started in Reservoir Hills
black beard interspersed with a few white hairs by V. Srinivasan (Swami Sahajananda) in 1949.
which stand out in sharp relief, piercing brown Swami Sahajananda (1925–2007) was born in
eyes and two large hands with tapered fingers the small midlands town of Estcourt in KwaZulu
of an artist. He has a flamboyant personality and took up teaching. He was influenced by
and a keen analytical mind. He is courteous, Swami Sivananda’s book Practice of Karma
easy of manner, well read and able to discuss Yoga and gave up teaching in 1948 to meet
intimately a vast repertoire of subjects.The Sivananda in India. He returned the following
Swami’s religious beliefs and the methods em- year and took up a teaching post at the FOSA
ployed for disseminating his beliefs are as mod- (Friends of Sick Association) TB Settlement in
ern as the surroundings in which he lives. He Durban. He started a Divine Life branch in Oc-
makes good use of modern tape recorders, film tober 1949 upon the request of Swami Siva-
projectors and colour slides during his lectures nanda. Swami Sahajananda published and dis-
and prayer sessions. Special 78 r.p.m. records seminated Sivananda’s writings and conducted
with devotional songs are available to members prayer services. In 1956 Sahajananda visited
and well-wishers of the centre. “Religion”, says Sivananda who initiated him into the Holy Or-
10 VINAY LAL AND GOOLAM VAHED

der of Sannyas. In 2008, in recognition of Swami The 1970s saw the arrival of Hindu forms
Sahajananda’s work for the underprivileged, the that centered aroundcharismatic gurus and sects.
University of KwaZulu Natal posthumously con- This, as Ganesh points out, resulted in a ‘fur-
ferred the degree of Doctor of Theology on him. ther loosening of ritual and dogma, an opening
Aside from the Divine Life Society’s headquar- up to various religions and nationalities, an
ters in Reservoir Hills, he also opened the emphasis on individual guru and congregational
Sivananda International Cultural Centre devotion, minimal ritual and life style inspired
(SICC), Sivananda Nagar, La Mercy, which is by Hinduism but coexisting with and indeed
one of the largest Hindu spiritual centres in the embracing modernity and technology (Ganesh
southern hemisphere (http://www.sivananda. 2010: 36). Two prominent expressions of Hin-
dls.org.za). Other Vedanta organisations inc- duism in South Africa revolved around the cult
lude the Chinmaya Mission in Chatsworth; of SatyaSai Baba and the International Society
the Vedanta Mission for Eternal Religion for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).As an
(M.E.R) in Isipingo Hills; and the Gita Mandir aside, it should be noted that whatever
in Pietermaritzburg. ISKCON’s associations with Hinduism in the
Among South Indians, the Saiva Sithantha public imagination, many of its own adherents
Sungum is an important reformist organisation describe themselves, not altogether convinc-
formed in 1937 by Guru SubramaniyaSwamikal ingly, as followers of Krishna rather than of
(1910-1953). The movement established the Hinduism. ISKCON was founded in the United
Siva Kumara Prathanay – Jothi Linga States in 1966 by the Bengali Bhaktivedanta
Mandabam in Derby Street, Durban, and now Swami Prabhupada, who places himself in the
has branches countrywide, with the Pieter- direct lineage of Chaitanya Mahaprahu, a six-
maritzburg centre, opened in Northdale in 1980, teenth century social reformer and exponent of
one of the largest in the South Africa. Guru Gaudiya Vaishnavism. Its public face in South
Swamikal was not a trained religious scholar Africa is the spectacular Shri-ShriRadha-
but had studied classical Tamil scriptures of Radhanath Temple of Understanding in Chats-
Saivism, and was responding to the challenges worth which was opened in 1985. ISKCON
of both the Arya and the Bethesda Movement members tend to be more middle class and af-
(Pentecostal Christianity) among Indians. It is fluent than followers of other streams of Hin-
said that local Hindus approached him to help duism. The religion is commonly known as Hare
counter the Bethesda movement. He started his Krishna from therefrain that appears in their
religious revival work by giving outdoor lectures principal mantra: ‘Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna,
at the Victoria Street Market, at bus ranks in Krishna, Krishna, Hare, Hare, Hare Rama, Hare
the city, and at the Magazine Barracks which Rama, Rama, Rama, Hare, Hare’. Krishna
housed the city’s working class municipal work- means ‘The All-Attractive;’ Hare, adherents of
ers. His lectures included the singing of the di- the religion argue, addresses the energy of God,
vine hymns. The Sungum adopted a Neo- and Rama means ‘The Greatest Pleasure.’While
Vedantic position which stresses the universal- Hare Krishna beliefs are similar to conventional
ity of all religions and inner spirituality through Hinduism in many respects, differences include
meditation. They de-emphasised traditional ritu- the emphasis on congregational singing of God’s
alistic Tamil/Dravidian festivals such as names as a means to achieve Krishna conscious-
firewalking and Kavadi, but observed festivals ness, the worship of Krishna as the Supreme
such as Maha-Shivatri and Kartigai Deepam, God, and the need for a spiritual master. Public
and condemned image worship. The Swami festivals form an important part of the Hare
wrote a prayer book and introduced a rigid Krishna Temple. The largest and most spectacu-
prayer at 9:00 am every Sunday morning (see lar of these is the Ratha Yatra five-day Festival
http://saiva-sithantha-sungum.org/home.html). of Chariots in honour of Lord Jagannath
Another Tamil organisation, The South African (Vishnu), which is held over Easter at the
Tamil Federation, was formed in 1968, with beachfront in Durban, KwaZulu Natal (see http:/
three regional affiliates in KwaZulu Natal, /iskcondurban.net/about-us/temple-history).
Gauteng, and the Cape. Dravidians for Peace In the late 1960s, Sai Baba began to emerge
and Justice is a human rights organisation as a growing influence among Hindus. The
formed in East London in 1999. founder’s movement was Sathya Sai Baba
HINDUISM IN SOUTH AFRICA 11

(1926-2011) of Puttaparthi in South India. The ans in South Africa. Another prominent church
many Sai Baba groups in South Africa are af- was that of Stephen Govender whose Peniel In-
filiated to the Gauteng based Central Council ternational Assembly started an independent
of South Africa. Sai Baba emphasised God- church in Gale Street, Durban. When the church
realisation through group devotional singing in Gale Street was forced to shut down by Group
(bhajans), prayer, spiritual meditation, service Areas, Govender relocated to Merebank. The
to the community (Seva), and participation in rise of Pentecostalism among Indians was con-
‘Education in Human Values’ sessions. Sai nected initially to the movement from rural to
Baba’s teachings focus on the spiritual benefit urban areas among Indians in the 1920s and
of darshan, a time when Sai Baba interacts with 1930s, and subsequently to the dislocation
people, accepts letters, distributes sacred ash, caused by the Group Areas Act from the 1960s.
or interviews individuals. The figure of Sai Baba Rowlandsshrewdly made his version of Chris-
– his divinity and miracles – is important to tianity ‘Indian’ by calling his church a ‘temple’,
believers. The movement has strong roots in regularly showing photographs of his tours of
Lenasia, where members formed the Lenasia Sai India at the church, and making healing and
Centre. Branch centres were subsequently exorcism practices, which were important to the
opened in Laudium and Benoni and eventually South Indian Hindu tradition, a part of the new
countrywide. Devotees of Sai Baba gather an- Christianity (see Oosthuizen 1975).
nually in April to remember and pray for the In his presentation to the Trust and Recon-
mystic and philanthropist, and celebrate his life ciliation Commission (TRC) on behalf of the
and accomplishments (see http://www.srisathya South African Hindu Maha Sabha on 18 No-
sai.org.za). vember 1999, Ashwin Trikamjee, the Sabha’s
Despite these reformist tendencies, the Hindu president, noted the negative consequences of
composition of the Indian population of South the Group Areas Act:
Africa has declined dramatically in the last half The most serious and painful of legislation
century, as reflected in the census figures (Table was the Group Areas Act passed in 1950. Settled
1). This decline is due to various factors, in par- communities who had built little schools and
ticular to the rapid “Christianisation” of the temples were rudely uprooted by the ruling class
Indian population over this period. and relocated to some distant areas or new ar-
The spread of Christianity among former eas with very little facilities. Cato Manor in
Hindus, due mainly to the inroads made by Pen- Durban was one of the many affected areas
tecostal churches,has been a worrying tendency where Indians settled, built homes, started their
among Hindu leaders. In the nineteenth-century, own market gardening and worked as unskilled
traditional churches, such as the Roman Catho- labourers. When this area was declared a white
lics, Methodists, Anglicans and Lutherans, had area, the Indian Community received the big-
proselytised vigorously among Indians but with gest blow to its survival. To name one of many,
limited success. Two individuals instrumental the Arian Benevolent Home, which started as a
in spreading Pentecostal Christianity among home for the homeless in 1921, was badly af-
Indians were Ebenezer Theophilius, an Indian fected in the grand settlement plan. It took about
Methodist and businessman, and J.A. Rowlands, 15 years to find an alternative for re-settlement
a Quaker from England, and more especially at a much higher cost. In the process, the old,
his son John Francis Rowlands. It was J.F. the disabled and the affected children had to
Rowlands who founded the Bethesda Church endure immeasurable hardships. In all such ar-
which is the largest single church among Indi- eas, including Johannesburg, where the Group
Table 1: Indian population in South Africa in the last half century
1950 1960 1970 1980 2001
Hindus 246,257 327,908 430,290 512,304 527,353
Muslims 78,905 98,946 126,000 154,348 274,932
Christians 22,754 35,850 53,550 102,625 269,128
6.2% 12.5% 24.12%
Other / None 19,084 15,296 20,160 52,544
Total 367,000 478,000 630,000 821,000 1115,467
12 VINAY LAL AND GOOLAM VAHED

Areas applied, temples, schools and cultural spite their disenfranchisement. Pentecostal
centres had to be left behind. Some such temples churches inadvertently contributed to social
were never built ... It took the Hindu commu- stability by creating surrogate communities for
nity a long time to rebuild their places of wor- their members (Pillay 1997: 294).
ship. Priority had to be given to providing much Generally, it seems that the appeal of Pente-
needed homes which were relatively small, giv- costalism lies in the emphasis on group partici-
ing birth to the dismantling of the joint family pation and the loose structure of worship ser-
system and the disruption of the traditional fam- vices. It also helped that most church ministers
ily life. To compound the problem, religious sites were charismatic and that the liturgy was nar-
in the new areas were generally purchased by rative with an emphasis on immediate and di-
the Christian churches because they had the rect experience of God. While the founders of
necessary funds. This led to many conversions the early churches were whites, Pentecostal ex-
to other faiths, especially Christianity. pansion from the 1960s was due almost entirely
An analysis of the reasons for the spread of to Indian laypeople. The emotional prayer, joy-
Pentecostal Christianity falls outside the scope ful singing, clapping, raising hands and danc-
of this chapter. One might argue that nineteenth- ing in the presence of God, which are features
century Protestantism, though better positioned of Pentecostal liturgical accoutrements, have an
to win converts among a people who might have appeal for many ordinary people. This was, as
felt especially vulnerable in an alien land, alien- we have already suggested, in stark contrast to
ated Hindus with its stern austerity; but Pente- the rationalistic, written and set liturgies pre-
costalism, which emphasizes baptism in the sided over by a clergyman that was a feature of
Holy Spirit, as evidenced by speaking in tongues, most forms of traditional Christianity. In town-
exorcism, divine healing, and the power of the ships like Chatsworth and Phoenix, where there
miraculous, has been attractive to Hindus whose were no established mosques and temples when
own forms of popular religiosity have dwelled Indians first relocated, Pentecostal denomina-
on vibrant, even spectacular, displays of reli- tions were quick to establish themselves. The
gious experience. We should certainly treat with Pentecostal Repentant Church in Chatsworth
caution the notion that Pentecostal Christianity and the Bible Deliverance Fellowship in Phoe-
has grown because of the intellectual poverty of nix are examples of churches that filled the void
Hindus, which implies that the people who con- in townships. There are over fifty established
vert do not know what is good for them, as is and independent Pentecostal churches operat-
often suggested by local Hindu leaders. We have ing among Indians in the Durban – Pieter-
to assume that people choose something because maritzburg regions alone.
they believe that it is better for them or because
it helps them to confront certain immediate dif- THE POST-APARTHEID PERIOD
ficulties in their lives. According to Pillay:
Crisis, decision, commitment, and dedica- The end of apartheid redefined the world of
tion were fundamental themes in the life and Hindus who were part of an Indian minority that
worship of the Pentecostal churches. Everyone had a marginal role in determining the country’s
in each congregation was called to evangelize, trajectory, even though many individual Indi-
and clergy and laity were not readily distin- ans figured, and continue to figure, in the post-
guished. During the times of socio-economic apartheid African National Congress (ANC) led
crisis and cultural upheaval that was largely government. This was different to places like
the result of apartheid legislation, churches like Trinidad, Mauritius, and Fiji where they played
Bethesda gave succour to people caught be- a significant role because of sheer demograph-
tween the old, traditional Indian life and cul- ics. Indians are dealing with this in different
ture, rapidly passing away, and new, Western ways. While Indian Muslims have come to re-
secular life. They gave to their members a feel- constitute their identities as part of global
ing of continuity with an old culture and helped ummah and many Christians crossed racial bar-
to foster their socio-psychological well-being. riers to be part of non-racial Pentecostal
They provided a level of social cohesion suffi- churches, Hindus were faced with a larger chal-
cient to cope in difficult circumstances and to lenge and they have responded in various ways.
develop a relatively well large middle class de- The uncertainties created by the demise of apart-
HINDUISM IN SOUTH AFRICA 13

heid in the context of globalization were com- in the former Soviet Union after the fall of com-
pounded by globalization processes that chal- munism, and as has been noted apropos of other
lenged conceptions of national identity based societies where a politically repressive regime
on citizenship in a single nation state. This pe- was toppled, the post-apartheid period has been
riod also witnessed the rise of India as an emerg- witness to increased religiosity among many
ing economic power, which has resulted in South Africans, with mosque, church, and
greater identification with the country of ori- temple worship increasing. All streams of Hin-
gin. Pilgrimages to India have become common duism ––Sanatanism, Arya Samaj, neo Vedanta
as has the desire to obtain PIO (Person of In- and guru based sects –– have witnessed a re-
dian Origin) cards, but few have taken the vival. One manifestation is the renewed empha-
plunge to return permanently to India. sis on festivals. This seems contradictory because
Another result of the opening up of national the increased participation by some Hindus in
boundaries in the post-apartheid period has been large scale public festivals such as Kavadi,
the influx of migrants from the Indian sub-con- Mariamman, and Thaippoossam goes against
tinent. Included in this flow of migrants are the the reformist agenda of the Arya Samaj, Rama-
Kurukkal (traditional Brahmin priests) who ar- krishna Mission, Divine Life Society, and oth-
rived mainly from Sri Lanka. This is an indica- ers who, until recent decades, sought to appeal
tion of the continued value of customary rituals to the educated and sophisticated Hindus by
among local devotees. Locals, however, found “modernizing” Hinduism.
that some Kurukkal families were monopoliz-
ing the priesthood and that some were using CONCLUSION
the position for personal financial gain. The
move back to local priests can also be seen as a This paper points to several important themes
move to reclaim the local from the global (ca- in the story of Hinduism in South Africa. The
nonical), and not rely on mantras by learned first is that Hinduism has not been static. It has
specialists. At some temples this has been imple- continued to undergo transformations of all
mented but at other temples Kurukkal continue kinds, due in part to the impact of influences
to officiate as priests (Ganesh 2010: 37). from the Indian sub-continent. While the Hin-
Language and region have become further duism practiced in South Africa partakes of some
sources of identity. Tamil Hindus, Hindi-speak- of the tendencies encountered in India and in
ing Hindus, and Gujarati-speaking Hindus have the wider Indian diaspora, South African Hin-
resorted to language/region as the basis for duism has displayed its own characteristic fea-
ethno-religious identity. Region/language now tures. A more exhaustive study of the contours
function as caste categories. This is not to sug- of Hinduism in South Africa, though not pos-
gest that there are open tensions among Hin- sible within the confines of this paper, would
dus. The South African Hindu Maha Sabha, doubtless yield other insights. We have not, for
formed in 1912, continues to provide a forum example, considered the relationship of Hindu-
for Hindus to discuss common problems and ism to caste, a contentious subject on which a
share ideas. The MahaSabhahas aimed at be- variety of sentiments continue to be entertained,
coming something of an umbrella organization, with some even suggesting that when caste dis-
including in its fold the Sanathanist, the Saivite, appears, so too will Hinduism. Gandhi’s prin-
the Arya Samajist, the Vaishnavite, the Shakta, cipal intellectual adversary in India, the Dalit
the Advaita, the Visisthadvaita, the Dwaita, and leader B. R. Ambedkar, was equally certain that
the Mimansaka tendencies within Hinduism. It caste discrimination was embedded in Hindu-
purports to shelter a variety of Hinduisms, with ism, a religion that he construed as execrable to
certain issues helping to create common cause the core and incapable of being reformed. Now
and bridge differences. One example of an is- in South Africa, and elsewhere in diasporic set-
sue that has brought Hindus together is the tings such as Trinidad and Fiji, the influence of
clamour for Diwali to be made a national holi- caste is generally held to have been greatly di-
day in South Africa. The Sunday Tribune Her- minished. Social life in these settings is not
ald, 1 July 2012, carried the story on its front organised by caste. And yet Hinduism flourished,
page with the headline ‘Anger over repeated even showing signs of prosperity in public spaces
Diwali exclusion’. In general, as was the case when the Indian community was weighed down
14 VINAY LAL AND GOOLAM VAHED

by political repression or had to contend, as in 1902. A Study Based on Ships Lists. New Delhi:
Trinidad, with African-Creole cultural hege- Promilla.
Bhana S, Brain J 1984. Setting Down Roots. Indian Migrants
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set of considerations: to what extent if at all Bugwandeen DL 1991. A People on Trial - For Breaching
have Hindus in South Africa brought their faith Racism. The Struggle for Land and Housing of the Indian
into conversation with African religions? In People of Natal: 1940-1946. Durban: Madiba
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suggest that no Hinduism should be regarded Community. 1952. Durban: University of Natal Press.
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