Hinduism in Zambia – Main Concepts of the Religion in Cognitive Perspective

There are approximately 4400 Hindus in Zambia, with five Hindu temples in Lusaka and two in Kafue. The majority of Zambian Hindus are descendants of people who migrated from India in the 20th century or from the boarder Indian diasporas. However, during our research temple priests and leaders said that there were about 60 indigenous Africans and 30 white1 Europeans who embraced Hinduism in their pursuit of spiritual growth and the feeling of protection. They frequent some of the temples included in this study. The aim of this paper is to explain how Zambian Hindus understand the concept of God, the belief in reincarnation and caste system, the extent to which Hinduism in Zambia is influenced by African Traditional Religions (ATR), and whether or not the Hindu community in Zambia deliberately engages in proselytising and converting the local populace. These issues are examined in an interdisciplinary approach. This paper uses two methodologies. While the first part uses the anthropological method, the second employs the cognitive approach (conceptual metaphor theory, CMT).