A Global Hindu Tamil Diaspora?

Abstract

Abstract At a time when the ideas of ‘global Indian diasporas’ and of a ‘global Hinduism’ are developing, the aim of this chapter is to establish whether it is relevant to speak of a ‘global Hindu Tamil diaspora’, given the cultural and migration specificities of Hindu Tamils and their involvement in the development of overseas Hinduism. To answer this question, this chapter deals with overseas Hindu Tamils as a whole, considering Tamils from India and Sri Lanka jointly. The chapter first examines the history and scope of Tamil migration around the world. Then, it questions the relevance of using the term ‘diaspora’ to refer to the Tamil émigrés and their descendants, based on the criteria of a diaspora proposed by Rogers Brubaker. The third part shows that many specific religious practices are common among Hindu Tamils living in different parts of the world, and that these practices are increasingly connected through transnational networks and exchanges, especially in temple activities. Thus, although all Hindu emigrants of Tamil origin are far from constituting a homogeneous transnational community, it seems appropriate to speak of a global Hindu Tamil diaspora, given the global scale of Tamil emigration, the increasing homeland-orientation and transnational consciousness among overseas Tamils, and the formation of a transnational Tamil Hinduism.