Seite - 65 - in Mobile Culture Studies - The Journal, Band 4/2018

Mobile Culture Studies. The Journal 4 2o18 Debora Baldelli | Parading in the city’s public space 65 now congregates at the Radha Krishna temple in Lumiar, opened in 1995 (Dias 2016). In 1976, after the Carnation Revolution and the considerable increase of Hindu immigrants in the coun- try, a committee for the organisation of cultural and recreational events of a religious nature was created for this community (Dias, 2016). It was precisely at this point that the relationship between the Hindu community and Hare Krishna devotees became very close. Giriraja Swami, the first guru to settle in Lisbon between 1980 and 1983 (remaining until 1990), came from the US. He had a good relationship with the “Hindu community”. The Hare Krishna Movement conducted joint activities within the “Hindu Community of Portugal” at a location that was given to the Hindus by the Lisbon City Council in 1984, until the construction of the temple in Lumiar was completed. The location was a 1.600m2 warehouse in Sapadores neighbourhood. Some of my collaborators mentioned they held festivals there with 300 to 400 participants, which is a relatively high number, even for the Hare Krishna Movement in Portugal today. When questioned about the participation of Hindus in the temple, the head of the temple says: “Indians are wonderful people, highly pious and they come to take the darshan [reverence to the statues of the deities of the temple, which is considered a direct connection with God], see Krishna and give a donation, it is a natural thing. So Prabhupada’s vision was per- fect. He wanted a balance between the Indians and Westerners. Indians, when they wanted, they could contribute to the financial part, giving support to the devotees to propagate Krishna consciousness in any country whatsoever.” (Paramgati Prabhu, head of the Temple of Lisbon in an interview in December 2013) In the 90s, a group of devotees from Brazil arrived in Portugal. The group was composed of the current head of the temple in Lisbon and three devotees. Their arrival was the starting point for a wide circulation of Brazilians in Portugal and Portuguese devotees in Brazil. Regarding the intense presence of Brazilian devotees in Portugal, Paulo, a Portuguese-Brazilian devotee, makes a mistake when dividing the public between Brazilians and foreigners as if the Brazilians were not foreigners: “We can divide the public between brazi... Portuguese and foreigners. We always have foreigners and Brazilians... they always came to the temple, people of other nationalities.” (Interview with Paulo in March 2013) The development of the practice in Portugal has had an intense involvement of Brazilian devotees throughout its history. Many arrive at the invitation of the head of the temple and spend seasons of six months in Lisbon/at the temple, leaving for Brazil when their tourist visa expires in order to be able to acquire a new visa and return to Portugal. Others, due to dual- citizenship, often Portuguese, can remain indefinitely. There are also cases where marriage with a national or European citizen also allows devotees to stay in the country, without necessarily being the sole cause of a civil union. I observed between the years 2011 and 2016 a considerable increase in Brazilian devotees coming and staying in the temple in Lisbon with administrative functions. It is possible to say that among devotees nowadays, Brazilians are the most numerous. It should be emphasised that the common language, Portuguese, helps a Brazilian devotee to adapt in Portugal. The dialogue between both countries can also be exemplified by books and CDs in Portuguese mainly produced in Brazil. These reading and audio materials are