Immigrant Hinduism in Switzerland: Tamils from Sri Lanka and Their Temples

The first Hindu temple, which was inaugurated by Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka, was the Sri Sithi Vinayakar temple in Basel in 1986. Initially squeezed in a basement room, at long last the temple board was able to move the deities to more spacious options in a converted warehouse. There, proper shrines made of brick were built and the gods and goddesses ritually installed.

The main deity of the temple had been Sri Sithi Vinayakar. As Vinayakar (Tamil), in Sanskrit named Ganesha, is the remover of all obstructions and prayed to before starting new enterprises, the name was well chosen as the first Tamil Hindu temple in Switzerland. Due to an increase of the rent, the temple closed in summer 2004 and merged with the two other temples existent since the late 1990s in Basel.

Details from the richly decorated dome-shaped roof of Sri Sithi Vinayakar's shrine. Easy to recognize is Vinayakar respectively Ganesha with his elephant head.

The temple had also a spacious room to perform weddings. In the back, we see the traditionally styled marriage baldachin in front of which the bridal pair sat and the rituals were performed.

The Sri Sivasubramaniar temple found its early beginning in a converted warehouse in 1994. It is situated in an industrial are in the village of Adliswil, 20 minutes drive from the city of Zurich.

Only few outward signs point to the religious nature of the building. The plate above the entrance gives the temple's name in Tamil and in western letters.

Inside the temple, a South Asian environment and atmosphere makes one forget to be actually in Switzerland. Here, the priest conducts the honouring of the gods in front of the shrine for Shiva.

The temple is one of the spacious-wide biggest among the Hindu temples in Switzerland. Due to media interest and the performance of public processions during the annual temple festival, the temple can claim to be the best known, both among Tamil immigrants and - if having an interest at all - the general Swiss public.

Every last Saturday of a month a special puja (Tam.: pucai) is done for Sri Iyappan. Iyappan mythologically is the son of Shiva and Mohini and is venerated by some Tamil visitors in particular. The god is honoured with the ritual of abhisheka, offerings of light and then being taken around the main shrine.

The main deity of the temple is Murugan in his form as Sivasubramaniar. His Sanskrit names are among others Subramanya, Skanda and Karttikeya. Murugan is one of the most venerated gods among Sri Lankan Tamil Hindus. The image shows the brick made shrine of Murugan, in front the pali pitha ("place for sacrifice") and the vehicle of Murugan, the peacock.

On top of the shrine, the dome-shaped roof displays the vehicle of Murugan, the peacock.

The temple has also the flag post where the temple's priests hoist the flag to start the temple festival. Though the temple is comparatively spacious, nevertheless, the various shrines had to be placed nearby each other to accommodate them all in the hall.

Murugan and his two wives are made out of precious metal. The figures are the deities, which are to be taken around for procession, both inside and outside of the temple.

The priest conducts puja in front of Murugan and his wives. Humbly the visitors follow the homage of the priest to the gods.

The Sivasubramaniar temple has also a multi-purpose function hall. Assemblies can be held and weddings performed. Note the nicely decorated marriage baldachin in front of which children play while rituals are made in the temple room.

In addition to the special veneration of Iyappan many Hindus bring special offerings to the powerful planet god Sani, in autumn. Oil lamps are burnt und turn the air in the temple smoky.

After having lit the lamps, the family receives the gods' blessing, passed on by the priest. Then they circumambulate the shrine of the nine plant gods. Like the shrines for the other gods it is also topped by a dome-shaped roof, though open to all for sides.

The Saturday evening ends with a special light offering to Iyappan. The stage, a stairway, is prepared behind the curtain displaying Murugan as six-headed god with his two wives. In front children wait with their mother for the puja to start.

This is a special homage to Iyappan performed with numerous small oil lamps on the golden stairway. To the right, musicians join the visitors, playing drums and singing devotional songs and hymns.

On the first floor of this warehouse, Tamil Hindus from the Canton of Lucerne established the Sri Thurkkai Amman Temple in 2000. The floor provides space for a large shrine room, a kitchen and offices.

Entering the temple for goddess Thurkkai (Skt. Durga) the visitor steps into another world. Central is the brick-made shrine for Thurkkai, in the shrine's back are shrines for Vinayakar, Shiva, Vishnu and Murugan.

The priest Sri Sasithara Sarma performs the puja, honouring the goddess. The shrine is toped by a marvellously made cupola with the goddess' vehicle, the lion.

The shrine room provides space for gatherings, such as singing devotional hymns, celebrating festivals and enjoying a Tamil meal, distributed on Tuesday and Friday evenings after puja. In the back, there are the shrines for Vinayakar (very left) and Shiva and in the middle the shrine for Thurkkai.

The little shrine room to venerate Sathya Sai Baba is located in a basement room of the Roman Catholic St. Karli Church in Lucerne. Formerly, from 1991-2000 this small room had served as the Sri Thurkkai temple. A group of some 15 to 20 Tamil Hindus gather every Saturday to sing devotional songs and to perform the puja.

A tabla player accompanies the hymns. In the centre, there is the shrine for Sathya Sai Baba, a huge picture serving to concentrate on him.

A detail from the stairs forming the altar in front of the picture of Sathya Sai Baba. We find a wooden carved statue of Vinayakar (Ganesha), but also figures of the Madonna of Lourdes (a popular pilgrimage place for Tamils in Europe), small Buddha figures, the Koran and other statues to represent the various religions. This mirrors the claim of Sai Baba to interpret existent religious messages anew for the current time.