In 2021, Charles J. Muscat wrote Ekam Sat: Il-Verità Waħda: Esperjenza tal-Veda Dharma Ġabra ta' testi ewlenin u riflessjonijiet prattići, an anthology of South Asian religious texts in Maltese including the Vedas and Upanishads.[4]
Demographics
In 2010, there were about 840 Hindus in Malta.[5] According to the 2021 Census, there are 6,411 Hindus in Malta. of which 135 are Maltese Citizens and 6,276 Hindus are non-Maltese residents. Hindus form 0.04% of the Maltese Citizens and 6.02% of the non-Maltese residents. Hinduism is practiced mainly by the Indian Maltese and Nepalese Maltese people.[3]
District-wise Hindu Population
The District wise Hindu Population of Malta is shown below:[3]
District
Percentage of Hindus(%)
Population of Hindus
Total Population
South Harbour District
1.11
749
67,175
Northern Harbour District
3.06
3224
1,05,309
South Eastern District
0.68
395
58,448
Western District
0.5
259
51,695
Northern District
2.53
1557
61,547
Gozo and Comino District
0.78
227
29,130
Northern Harbour District has the highest percentage of Hindus and Western District has the lowest percentage of Hindus.[3]
Majority of the Hindus in Malta is of Asian origin, mainly Indian and Nepalese Hindus. There are 286 Caucasian Hindus, 164 Hispanic/Latino Hindus,
107 African and 51 Arab Hindus.[3]
Community life
A first floor flat is used as a temporary Hindu meeting point that is known as Maltese-Indian Community Centre.[6]
Hindu deceased were buried using Catholic burial rites after the British left in 1964, rather than being cremated as required by their religion. Under British rule of Malta, cremation took place at the Lazarettocemetery in Manoel Island.[citation needed] One Hindu leader in the United States, Rajan Zed, implored the Maltese government in 2019 to subsidize cremations abroad for Hindus in Malta.[9][10][11]
Status
Hinduism, along with other Indian religions (like Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism) and Judaism are not recognized in Malta and are treated as cults.[2] In 2010, Hindu and Jewish groups urged Pope Benedict XVI to intervene to ensure that Malta treats all religions equally before the law, but the Pope did not intervene.[1]
