Week 291: Russian Czar Religious Freedom Decree, Jagannath Rath Yatra, Aesthetic

07/13/2025 - Modern Hindu Content

Jul 14, 2025

Welcome to Eternal Path! This week we feature: a religious freedom decree, the Jagannath Rath Yatra and an aesthetic!

History Highlight: 1722 Decree of Peter the Great

We have covered topics around contemporary practice of Hinduism in Russia in Week 76 (Russian Hindu Video) and Week 80 (Altai Hindus), however Hinduism has a very interesting history in Russia that predates this by centuries. We alluded to this historical presence in Week 162 (Mongol Ramayana) and Week 177 (Pran Puri - The Traveling Sanyasi). By the 16th century, Hindu traders, loosely around the Silk Road had established a presence in the Astrakhan area, which was a major trading center. These were largely Punjabi and Sindhi merchants. The Indian merchants were quite successful, had their own court, and many among them were amongst Astrakhan’s richest citizens.

With the Russian conquest of Astrakhan in 1556, the Hindu merchants became residents of the Moscow Kingdom. That time also saw the growth of the Russian Empire, which began to heavily expand and modernize later on, especially during the reign of Peter the Great, who reigned from 1685 to 1725.

Peter was also known for being very European in outlook, inspired by the Enlightenment movements going on in Western European Kingdoms. During his rule, he modernized the military, spent time studying industrial processes, and prioritized modernized thought. Part of that modernization occurred on the back of economic growth, and cognizant of the impact of Hindu and other merchants in the area, Astrakhan Governor Aleksei Volyn was ordered by the Russian Senate to provide assistance to “Eastern merchants”. Additionally he was asked to “show kindness and goodwill” to the merchants. In 1722, Peter the Great met a delegation of Indian merchants, led by a man named “Anburam” with some requests for special trading privileges, but additionally, the delegation asked the Russian Senate for an edict protecting Hindu beliefs. Peter the Great agreed, and the Russian Senate in 1722 passed a law protecting the Hindu community and their beliefs. This was the first ever law passed in Russia protecting a “foreign” religion. The Hindu community was able to build prayer halls and Astrakhan for nearly another century served as a center for Hinduism in Europe, before the Silk Road trade dried up and the community assimilated into the Russian and Tatar communities.

Festival Highlight: Jagannath Rath Yatra

Aesthetic: Tamil Nadu Jagannath Temple

Week 289: 1000 Javanese Temples, Pashubali v Qurbani, Aesthetic!

06/29/2025 - Modern Hindu Content

Jun 30, 2025

Welcome to Eternal Path! This week we feature: a Program to build 1000 Javanese Temples, Pashubali v Qurbani, and an aesthetic!

Program Highlight: Program 1000 Candi Nusantara

Generally readers that think of Hinduism in Indonesia will immediately assume Bali - and there is good reason for that. The Balinese are the most firmly Hindu ethnicity in Indonesia and the group that spearheaded the Hindu revival in the country post-independence. However Bali is not the only place that Hinduism is practiced in Indonesia and Hinduism has an illustrious and long history in the island of Java as well.

As an aside, we have covered Indonesia related topics in Week 5, Week 282, and Week 2, amongst others. There are likely over 1 million Hindus in Java, a constant Hindu presence, lots of history, and in recent decades many have converted to Hinduism in Java. To further that revival, Javanese Hindu groups are working on a project called “Project 1000 Candi Nusantara” (candi meaning “Temple” and nusantara meaning “outer islands/archipelago”) with the goal of opening 1000 Javanese-style Hindu temples across Indonesia. We first learned about this through porbotialora on X.

For our readers who know Bahasa Indonesia, we are linking a podcast episode below that covers this initiative. Readers who do not know Bahasa Indonesia are encouraged to use YouTube’s “Autotranslate” feature and select their language of choice.

Comparative Religion Highlight: Pashubali vs Qurbani

We have covered the Hindu topic of pashubali (animal sacrifice) and its religious sanctity and justification in previous issues such as Week 2, Week 198, and Week 257. We encourage readers to read all three before delving in to the thread below.