History
In the 2000s started the plans to establish a cultural institution of Jewish, Christian, Islamic, Buddhist and Hindu faith traditions, and on 25 April 2002 the association "Haus der Religionen – Dialog der Kulturen" (meaning "House of Religions - Dialogue of Cultures") was established. In March 2006 the "Stiftung Europaplatz" foundation was founded, which raised the necessary funds for the project, including sacred spaces, among others for Hindu and Buddhist communities, of the Alevis and the Council of Christian Churches in the canton of Bern (AKiB). In the beginning, the Jewish community of Bern and the Baháʼí Faith community did not wish to set up own rooms, but ideally supported the project. The cantonal Islamic Umma association has withdrawn from the project after initial concessions, but the Muslim association Hochfeldstrasse, however, was interested to participate. [3]
Building
The building includes, besides the house of religions, 88 apartments, shops, catering services and offices on a floor area of approximately 30,000 square metres (35,880 sq yd). [1] The location Europaplatz is situated in Bern-Ausserholligen, and served by S-Bahn, Tram Bern West, bus lines and the motorway junction. The Bern main train station and the city centre are accessible in a few minutes.
The city of Bern granted planning permission for the project in April 2007 with a cost of about 50 million Swiss Francs, of which about 15 million Swiss Francs were related to the Haus der Religionen. The construction was delayed several times; the ground-breaking ceremony took place on 27 June 2012. On 14 December 2014 the building was inaugurated and opened for the public use. [4]
Inauguration
Christians, Alevis, Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists in their church, Dargah, mosque, temples and centre now celebrate their cults. The religious communities celebrated the indentation in the newly built glass building on the Europaplatz square in the west of Bern on 14 December 2014 with thousands of visitors. While religious wars play anywhere in the world, we here get the opportunity to get to know other religions, a Sikh visitor told, and a Krishna monk tells in the Mosque, that Muslims pray daily five times, is discipline for my own religion. A young Albanian Muslim family is pleased with the open setting in the house: "I'm hip-hopper, my wife wears a headscarf. No reasons to condemn a people are both". And the non-denominational fellow hopes, "the House can help to break down stereotypes". [5]
Some of these religious communities lived so far in back yards or basements. The foundation provided funding to the (as of December 2014) five religious communities, and had to provide for the interior fittings and payments of the rental fees. Also the Bernese Jews, Baháʼí, and Sikhs are members of the association, which operates the house. [5]
Aims
The House of religions is used by cultural and religious communities of the city and the canton of Bern that previously had no rooms adapted to their needs. They represent Alevi, Christian, Islamic, Buddhist and Hindu faiths. Partners in the dialogue are also the Jewish community, the Baháʼís and Sikhs. A dialogue of cultures, access to experience, knowledge and spirituality of other cultures and religions are taught, as they have been found in the Bern region their home. Haus der Religionen will provide a center of excellence for dialogue its services. Everyone involved in the project knows the inviolable dignity of the human being, the idea of tolerance and mutual respect obliged. [3] We were dreamers, utopians, do-gooders far from any reality, said Guido Albisetti, president of the association. But now the Haus der Religionen is built, and past experience showed that the common dialog is possible and fruitful. [5]
According to the operators, the architecture of the building allows the various communities to engage with each other, but also to withdraw. The building's design enables that the sacred spaces on either side of a so-called dialog area are accessible to everyone, and therefore are arranged on two floors. [5]
Common space
Immediately after the opening ceremony the versatile cultural program was launched, lasting until March 2015 opening events. The restaurant Vanakam is the central meeting place, where every day different delicacies are prepared, so also an Ayurveda vegetarian lunch. [6] Of the eight religions, five have set up own prayer rooms, connected by dialog zones. [7]
The two largest facilities will be the mosque with about 500 square metres (598 sq yd) and the Hindu temple with about 800 square metres (957 sq yd). Alevis, Christians and Buddhists claim space in the size of 160 square metres (191 sq yd) to 180 square metres (215 sq yd). The public part with infrastructure, cafeteria, exhibition, course and event spaces comprise about 1,300 square metres (1,555 sq yd). [8]
Rooms of the faiths
Alevites
Förderverein Alevitische Kultur represents the Alevite faith. Primarily important is that people feel comfortable, and the ritual small fire pit will be a symbol of purity. In addition to the meeting and prayer room with seating for about 70 people, a children's corner. a library and a room for religious instruction and a kitchenette are provided, based on budget and furnishings collected amount. [8]
Buddhists
A member of the community told in an interview of the pitfalls when setting up the Buddhist rooms, which take place at least in the common building. In the entrance area is tiny temple, besides a small information room and a room with kitchen, where a teacher may also temporarily reside. The main room is kept simple: oiled oak floors, yellow walls and a 1.2 metres (4 ft)-high sculpture of the Buddha from Thailand. So Buddhists of all currents should feel addressed. Aimed is a beautiful space, in which people in any way recognize and feel comfortable. The finances were decisive for the size of the room. Each square meter costs 110 Swiss Francs ia year, the monthly costs amount to approximately 2,000 Swiss Francs, which are paid with donations. [9]
Christians
Interested Christians, church communities, are involved since 2009 in the Club "Kirche im Haus der Religionen". [6]
Hindus
The Hindu temple of the Saivanerikoodam association was not yet finished in December 2014, but the interior rooms are shaped after the 'typical' South Indian temple architecture. For ten Hindu deities shrines are to be built, integrated into a temple of about 500 square metres (598 sq yd). There are also several rooms for seminars, yoga, meditation, and for cultural and language training for children and adolescents. Of central importance will be the vegetarian cuisine, which come into contact with either meat or animal products. For the entire interior decoration, the Hindu community expects costs of two million Swiss Francs. [8]
Muslims
The Muslims community is represented by Muslimischer Verein, needing about 500 square metres (598 sq yd) as the second largest community. The Mosque is located on two floors, the prayer rooms for men and women are interconnected. Planned were a 200 square metres (239 sq yd) large prayer room for women and an approximately 300 square metres (359 sq yd) large room for the men. Skip offices and a café in the mosque were also planned. [8]
A place of worship is a specially designed structure or space where individuals or a group of people such as a congregation come to perform acts of devotion, veneration, or religious study. A building constructed or used for this purpose is sometimes called a house of worship. Temples, churches, mosques, and synagogues are examples of structures created for worship. A monastery may serve both to house those belonging to religious orders and as a place of worship for visitors. Natural or topographical features may also serve as places of worship, and are considered holy or sacrosanct in some religions; the rituals associated with the Ganges river are an example in Hinduism.
Religion in Singapore is characterised by a wide variety of religious beliefs and practices due to its diverse ethnic mix of peoples originating from various countries. This means that Singapore is commonly termed as a "melting pot" of various religious practices originating from different religious denominations around the world. Most major religious denominations are present in Singapore, with the Inter-Religious Organisation, Singapore (IRO) recognising 10 major religions in the city state. A 2014 analysis by the Pew Research Center found Singapore to be the world's most religiously diverse nation.
Religion in Hong Kong is characterized by a multi-faith diversity of beliefs and practices.
Buddhism in Germany looks back to a history of over 150 years. Arthur Schopenhauer was one of the earliest Germans who were influenced by Buddhism. Schopenhauer got his knowledge of Buddhism from authors like Isaac Jacob Schmidt (1779-1847). German Buddhists or Orientalists like Karl Eugen Neumann, Paul Dahlke, Georg Grimm, Friedrich Zimmermann and the first German Buddhist monk Nyanatiloka Mahathera were also influenced by Schopenhauer and his understanding of Buddhism. But also German Indologists like Hermann Oldenberg and his work ”Buddha, sein Leben, seine Lehre, seine Gemeinde“ had an important influence on German Buddhism.
Hinduism is a minority religion practised by 0.6% of the population of Switzerland. Approximately 90% of Hindu adherents are foreign-born, and about a third of them have the status of refugee or asylum seeker. The Sri Sivasubramaniar Temple, located in the Sihl Valley in Adliswil, is the most famous and oldest Hindu temple in Switzerland, the Arulmihu Sivan Temple located in Glattbrugg is dedicated to Shiva, and the latest foundation is the Sri Vishnu Thurkkai Amman Temple in Dürnten in 2010.
Reinhart Hummel was a German theologian and long-term leader of the Evangelische Zentralstelle für Weltanschauungsfragen (EZW). The EZW is a subdivision of the Evangelical Church in Germany. Located in Berlin, it professes to function as a centralized research, documentation and information center on new religious movements. Hummel is also the author of many books about new religious movements.
Nepal is a secular state under the Constitution of Nepal 2015, where "secular" means religious, cultural freedoms, including protection of religion and culture handed down from time immemorial. The Constitution provides for freedom to practice one's religion. The Constitution also specifically denies the right to convert another person. The now-defunct constitution of 1990, which was in effect until 15 January 2007, described the country as a "Hindu Kingdom". The Government generally did not interfere with the practice of other religious groups, and religious tolerance was broadly observed; however, there were some restrictions.
In Thailand, the freedom of religion is protected through statutory means. The law provides for freedom of religion, and the government generally has respected this right in practice; however, it does not register new religious groups that have not been accepted into one of the existing religious governing bodies on doctrinal or other grounds. In practice, unregistered religious organizations have operated freely, and the government's practice of not recognizing any new religious groups has not restricted the activities of unregistered religious groups. The government officially limits the number of foreign missionaries that may work in the country, although unregistered missionaries have been present in large numbers and have been allowed to live and work freely. There have been no reports of societal abuses or discrimination based on religious belief or practice; however, in the far southern border provinces, continued separatist violence has resulted in increasingly tense relations between the Buddhist and Muslim communities.
The Basic Law, in accordance with tradition, declares that Islam is the state religion and that Shari'a is the source of legislation. It also prohibits discrimination based on religion and provides for the freedom to practice religious rites as long as doing so does not disrupt public order. The government generally respected this right, but within defined parameters that placed limitations on the right in practice. While the government continued to protect the free practice of religion in general, it formalized previously unwritten prohibitions on religious gatherings in locations other than government-approved houses of worship, and on non-Islamic institutions issuing publications within their communities, without prior approval from the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs (MERA). There were no reports of societal abuses or discrimination based on religious belief or practice.
The Baitus Sami mosque is located in the German city of Hanover, Germany. It has both a dome and minaret, although the minaret is too slender to be climbed. Built by an Ahmadiyya community, the mosque comprises approximately 2,800 square metres (30,000 sq ft), with space for 300 worshippers. Situated at a street in an industrial area outside a nearby residential area, it was inaugurated in August 2008 by the Caliph of the community, Mirza Masroor Ahmad. The construction of the mosque was opposed by many local people, with sometimes violent protests.
Sri Lankans in Switzerland refer to Sri Lankans living in Switzerland. There are about 46,000 to 55,000 Swiss of Sri Lankan origin and Sri Lankan expatriates living in Switzerland. Most of them are ethnic Tamils.
Sri Krishnan Temple is a Hindu temple in Singapore. Built in 1870 and gazetted as a national monument of Singapore in 2014, it is one of Singapore's oldest temples and is the only South Indian temple in Singapore dedicated to Krishna and his consort Rukmini. The Sri Krishnan Temple and the nearby Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple are known for having evolved a social practice termed "cross-worshipping", where many devotees of either temple also worship at the other. This practice is commonly seen as a microcosm of Singapore's multi-religious society.
More than 60 percent of Berlin residents have no registered religious affiliation. As of 2010, at least 30 percent of the population identified with some form of Christianity, approximately 8.1 percent were Muslim, 1 percent were Jewish, and 1 percent belonged to other religions. As of 2018, the number of registered church members has shrunk to 14.9 percent for EKD Protestants and 8.5 percent for Catholics.
The city of Houston which historically was centered on Protestant Christianity, and a part of the Bible Belt, is now home to many different religions owing to its large ethnic diverse population.
The Sri Vishnu Thurkkai Amman Temple is a Hindu temple located in the municipality of Dürnten in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland.
The Arulmiku Sivan Temple is a Hindu temple located in the municipality of Glattbrugg in the Canton of Zürich in Switzerland.
The House of Religions is located in Hanover, Germany, on the former location of the Athanasiuskirche. Held by Haus der Religionen Hannover e.V., an organization established on 2 December 2008 by people from seven religions with the purpose of promoting dialogue among the religions in Hanover.
The Association of Islamic Organisations in Zurich was founded in 1995 and is with more than 30 member organizations the largest cantonal Islamic umbrella organization in Switzerland. VIOZ member organizations operate over 40 mosques in the Canton of Zurich, which represents about 90% of all Zurich masjids.
Swiss Tamils refer to the Swiss citizens of Tamil as well as expatriate residents of Tamil origin living in Switzerland. Most of the Tamils in Switzerland are from Sri Lanka, who came to Switzerland during 1980s and 1990s as refugees due to the Sri Lankan Civil War. The Tamils are well integrated in the Swiss society and have proved themselves as a hard-working people and many young Tamils are doing well in school. Tamil values are still strong among the community, caste system and arranged wedding are common. The second generation seem to be better integrated than the first generation, but most still follow the old ways.
