The Global Gujarati Hindu Diasporas

Abstract

Abstract This chapter considers Gujarati Hindu diasporas worldwide, focusing on different migration patterns, strategies of adaptation, and on their various cultural expressions. Gujarati migrants have carried with them, along their multiple journeys, the diversity of practices and beliefs that, in many cases, coexist and overlap with each other. This diversity also reflects the variety of social groups, professional activities, and education options, as well as new ways of living, and worshipping. The transformations resulting from their many journeys and settlement patterns also led to innovative cultural and religious adaptations, by which gender patterns were also transformed. Therefore, particular attention must be paid to the centrality of women in cultural and religious maintenance and reproduction among Hindu Gujarati global diasporas.