Hinduism in England
Encyclopedia
Hinduism in England is particularly found in London
where the majority of the country's Hindu
population lives. Within London, Hinduism is found in Brent
and Harrow
where Hindus make up a fifth of the population, and to a lesser extent, in Southall
, Hounslow
, Hendon
, and Wembley
. Outside London, Leicester
has a significant concentration of Hindus, largely from East Africa, with over 40,000 living in the city. England has a number of Hindu temple
s, including the Hindu temple at Neasden
which is the largest Hindu
temple in Europe
. Recently the largest Hindu Mandir in the North of England, the Bradford Lakshmi Narayan Hindu Temple
opened in Bradford
, West Yorkshire
.
has been in England
since the early 19th century. Occasionally there were Hindu scholars, philosophers, reformers and also visitors from the princely states of India
. Raja Ram Mohun Roy (born in India in 1772) was founder of a Hindu reform movement in India. He came to England in 1829 to visit his Christian friends. He also had audience with King William the IV. Roy died in Bristol
four years later. The great orientalist and reformer Sir R.G.Bhandarkar visited London in 1874. Swami Vivekananda
visited England in 1895 and 1896, having addressed the World's Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893. In England Vivekananda's talk on Hindu philosophy
and particularly on Vedanta
deeply influenced Miss Margaret Elizabeth Noble, who was later known as Sister Nivedita
.
In 1935 Paramahansa Yogananda
visited England, returning from the USA. In London he addressed a large meeting at Caxton Hall introduced by Sir Francis Younghusband. He again visited England in 1936 addressing more meetings and especially a large gathering at Whitefield Congregational Church, organised by the British National Council of the World Fellowship of Faiths. A Self-Realization Fellowship
Centre in London was formed after Yogananda's departure. In his autobiography
Yogananda commented that the 'English tenacity has an admirable expression in a spiritual relationship'.
Early Hindus in England were usually students, sometimes with exceptional ability. Rabindranath Tagore
(later a Nobel Laureate) came to England in 1878, returning to India in 1880. Fifty years later Tagore was at Oxford delivering Hibbert Lectures
(1930) on the Religion of Man. Ramanujan, a mathematical genius and an orthodox Hindu, spent almost five years (1914–19) at Cambridge University. Professor Sir Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
was Spalding Professor of Eastern Religions and Ethics at the University of Oxford
from 1939 until 1952. Hinduism had already received widespread attention in the Victorian era
largely due to the work of the Theosophical Society
and emergence of the new field, Indology
. In 1878 Max Muller
, an Indologist, delivered inaugural Hibbert Lectures at Oxford on the Religions of India.
There have been three waves of migration of Hindus to England. The first wave was before India's Independence in 1947. Before the second world war Hindu migration to England was minuscule and largely temporary. During the post-war era, economic conditions compelled many Indians including Hindus to leave their country in search of better opportunities. The fact that Indians, as Commonwealth
citizens, didn't require a visa
to enter or live in the United Kingdom was a factor. In the early 1960s, in order to save the NHS, the Conservative Health Minister The Rt Hon Enoch Powell
recruited a large number of doctors including Hindus from the Indian sub-continent
The second wave of migration occurred in the 1970s after Idi Amin
's expulsion of Gujarati and other Asians (who were British Overseas Citizens
) from Uganda
. Initially, Hindu Immigration was limited to Punjabis and Gujaratis. Later Hindu communities from other regions of the Indian sub-continent and countries like Guyana
, Trinidad and Tobago
, Mauritius
and Fiji
could be found in England.
The last wave of migration began in the 1990s with two types of people settling in England – Tamil
refugees from Sri Lanka
and professionals including doctors and software engineers from India
.
At the more local level, Hindus have many organisations that are based on community or linguistic identities. They usually cater to the cultural and community needs of a particular Hindu denomination or sub-community. Examples of such organisations include the Arya Samaj
, Brahmin Society North London, Shree Kutch Leva Patel Community, Great Prajapati Association, International Punjabi Society, South Indian Association, Maharashtra Mandal of London and many others. They usually operate from own or rented premises and arrange large festivals and events, besides providing services to their communities, including religious discourses, match-making services, weddings and others.
There are a number of Hindu organisations that provide various services to different audiences in the fields of education, health care, counselling, advocacy and other areas. These include the Chinmaya Mission
, which offers classes on the Hindu Scriptures, Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies
, ISKCON Educational Services, City Hindus Network
, and the International Swaminarayan Satsang Organisation.
There are over 150 Hindu temples in England which provide a wide range of services to different communities within the Hindu community. Some of the larger and more famous temples include the Swaminarayan
Temple in Neasden
, the Bhaktivedanta Manor
(Hare Krishna
) Temple in Letchmore Heath
near Watford, the Balaji Temple in Birmingham, the Sanatan Mandir in Leicester, the Vishwa Hindu Mandir in Southall, the Murugan
Temple in Manor Park and the Gujarat Hindu Society Krishna
Temple in Preston. There are also 6 Shri Swaminarayan Temples
in different areas of London, not to be confused with the famous Swaminarayan Neasden Temple
.
The temples are centres of excellence where the community regularly congregates to worship, learn and socialise. In addition to large festivals like the Janmashtami festival at Bhaktivedanta Manor which attracts 80,000 visitors or the Diwali festival at Neasden which attracts 50,000 people, many temples provide services like weddings, Hindu sacraments, language classes, further education, computer classes, yoga
, counselling and various other services.
In 2008, a campaign was launched to raise funds to establish a temple to serve the 2,500 Hindus in Oxfordshire
.
. Construction of the £10 Million Krishna Avanti Primary School
in Edgware
, north west London, began in 2008 with the first pupils starting later that year in temporary accommodation.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
where the majority of the country's Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
population lives. Within London, Hinduism is found in Brent
London Borough of Brent
In 1801, the civil parishes that form the modern borough had a total population of 2,022. This rose slowly throughout the 19th century, as the district became built up; reaching 5,646 in the middle of the century. When the railways arrived the rate of population growth increased...
and Harrow
London Borough of Harrow
The London Borough of Harrow is a London borough of north-west London. It borders Hertfordshire to the north and other London boroughs: Hillingdon to the west, Ealing to the south, Brent to the south-east and Barnet to the east.-History:...
where Hindus make up a fifth of the population, and to a lesser extent, in Southall
Southall
Southall is a large suburban district of west London, England, and part of the London Borough of Ealing. It is situated west of Charing Cross. Neighbouring places include Yeading, Hayes, Hanwell, Heston, Hounslow, Greenford and Northolt...
, Hounslow
Hounslow
Hounslow is the principal town in the London Borough of Hounslow. It is a suburban development situated 10.6 miles west south-west of Charing Cross. It forms a post town in the TW postcode area.-Etymology:...
, Hendon
Hendon
Hendon is a London suburb situated northwest of Charing Cross.-History:Hendon was historically a civil parish in the county of Middlesex. The manor is described in Domesday , but the name, 'Hendun' meaning 'at the highest hill', is earlier...
, and Wembley
Wembley
Wembley is an area of northwest London, England, and part of the London Borough of Brent. It is home to the famous Wembley Stadium and Wembley Arena...
. Outside London, Leicester
Leicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
has a significant concentration of Hindus, largely from East Africa, with over 40,000 living in the city. England has a number of Hindu temple
Hindu temple
A Mandir, Devalayam, Devasthanam, or a Hindu temple is a place of worship for followers of Hinduism...
s, including the Hindu temple at Neasden
Neasden Temple
BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Neasden , is a Hindu temple in the London Borough of Brent in northwest London. Built entirely using traditional methods and materials, Neasden’s Swaminarayan Mandir is Britain’s first authentic Hindu temple. It was also Europe’s first traditional Hindu stone temple,...
which is the largest Hindu
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
temple in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. Recently the largest Hindu Mandir in the North of England, the Bradford Lakshmi Narayan Hindu Temple
Bradford Lakshmi Narayan Hindu Temple
The Lakshmi Narayan Hindu Temple in Bradford opened in April 2008, becoming the largest Hindu temple in Northern England. The temple was designed by local architects and built by a local construction company. The temple is faced with Yorkshire stone, and the design modern, reflecting the position...
opened in Bradford
Bradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
, West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
.
History
HinduismHinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
has been in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
since the early 19th century. Occasionally there were Hindu scholars, philosophers, reformers and also visitors from the princely states of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. Raja Ram Mohun Roy (born in India in 1772) was founder of a Hindu reform movement in India. He came to England in 1829 to visit his Christian friends. He also had audience with King William the IV. Roy died in Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
four years later. The great orientalist and reformer Sir R.G.Bhandarkar visited London in 1874. Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda , born Narendranath Dutta , was the chief disciple of the 19th century mystic Ramakrishna Paramahansa and the founder of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission...
visited England in 1895 and 1896, having addressed the World's Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893. In England Vivekananda's talk on Hindu philosophy
Hindu philosophy
Hindu philosophy is divided into six schools of thought, or , which accept the Vedas as supreme revealed scriptures. Three other schools do not accept the Vedas as authoritative...
and particularly on Vedanta
Vedanta
Vedānta was originally a word used in Hindu philosophy as a synonym for that part of the Veda texts known also as the Upanishads. The name is a morphophonological form of Veda-anta = "Veda-end" = "the appendix to the Vedic hymns." It is also speculated that "Vedānta" means "the purpose or goal...
deeply influenced Miss Margaret Elizabeth Noble, who was later known as Sister Nivedita
Sister Nivedita
- A benediction to Sister Nivedita by Swami Vivekananda Sister Nivedita ; ; , born as Margaret Elizabeth Noble, was a Scots-Irish social worker, author, teacher and disciple of Swami Vivekananda. She met Vivekananda in 1895 in London and travelled to Calcutta, India in 1898...
.
In 1935 Paramahansa Yogananda
Paramahansa Yogananda
Paramahansa Yogananda , born Mukunda Lal Ghosh , was an Indian yogi and guru who introduced many westerners to the teachings of meditation and Kriya Yoga through his book, Autobiography of a...
visited England, returning from the USA. In London he addressed a large meeting at Caxton Hall introduced by Sir Francis Younghusband. He again visited England in 1936 addressing more meetings and especially a large gathering at Whitefield Congregational Church, organised by the British National Council of the World Fellowship of Faiths. A Self-Realization Fellowship
Self-Realization Fellowship
Self-Realization Fellowship / Yogoda Satsanga Society of India is a worldwide spiritual organization founded by Paramahansa Yogananda in 1920 and based in Mount Washington in Los Angeles, California....
Centre in London was formed after Yogananda's departure. In his autobiography
Autobiography of a Yogi
In 1946, Paramahansa Yogananda , published his life story, Autobiography of a Yogi, which introduced many westerners to meditation and yoga...
Yogananda commented that the 'English tenacity has an admirable expression in a spiritual relationship'.
Early Hindus in England were usually students, sometimes with exceptional ability. Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore , sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali polymath who reshaped his region's literature and music. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", he became the first non-European Nobel laureate by earning the 1913 Prize in Literature...
(later a Nobel Laureate) came to England in 1878, returning to India in 1880. Fifty years later Tagore was at Oxford delivering Hibbert Lectures
Hibbert Lectures
The Hibbert Lectures are an annual series of non-sectarian lectures on theological issues. They are sponsored by the Hibbert Trust, which was founded in 1847 by the Unitarian Robert Hibbert with a goal to uphold "the unfettered exercise of private judgement in matters of religion."...
(1930) on the Religion of Man. Ramanujan, a mathematical genius and an orthodox Hindu, spent almost five years (1914–19) at Cambridge University. Professor Sir Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
Sir Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan , OM, FBA was an Indian philosopher and statesman. He was the first Vice President of India and subsequently the second President of India ....
was Spalding Professor of Eastern Religions and Ethics at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
from 1939 until 1952. Hinduism had already received widespread attention in the Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
largely due to the work of the Theosophical Society
Theosophical Society
The Theosophical Society is an organization formed in 1875 to advance the spiritual principles and search for Truth known as Theosophy. The original organization, after splits and realignments has several successors...
and emergence of the new field, Indology
Indology
Indology is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent , and as such is a subset of Asian studies....
. In 1878 Max Muller
Max Müller
Friedrich Max Müller , more regularly known as Max Müller, was a German philologist and Orientalist, one of the founders of the western academic field of Indian studies and the discipline of comparative religion...
, an Indologist, delivered inaugural Hibbert Lectures at Oxford on the Religions of India.
There have been three waves of migration of Hindus to England. The first wave was before India's Independence in 1947. Before the second world war Hindu migration to England was minuscule and largely temporary. During the post-war era, economic conditions compelled many Indians including Hindus to leave their country in search of better opportunities. The fact that Indians, as Commonwealth
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
citizens, didn't require a visa
Visa (document)
A visa is a document showing that a person is authorized to enter the territory for which it was issued, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry. The authorization may be a document, but more commonly it is a stamp endorsed in the applicant's passport...
to enter or live in the United Kingdom was a factor. In the early 1960s, in order to save the NHS, the Conservative Health Minister The Rt Hon Enoch Powell
Enoch Powell
John Enoch Powell, MBE was a British politician, classical scholar, poet, writer, and soldier. He served as a Conservative Party MP and Minister of Health . He attained most prominence in 1968, when he made the controversial Rivers of Blood speech in opposition to mass immigration from...
recruited a large number of doctors including Hindus from the Indian sub-continent
The second wave of migration occurred in the 1970s after Idi Amin
Idi Amin
Idi Amin Dada was a military leader and President of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. Amin joined the British colonial regiment, the King's African Rifles in 1946. Eventually he held the rank of Major General in the post-colonial Ugandan Army and became its Commander before seizing power in the military...
's expulsion of Gujarati and other Asians (who were British Overseas Citizens
British nationality law
British nationality law is the law of the United Kingdom that concerns citizenship and other categories of British nationality. The law is complex because of the United Kingdom's former status as an imperial power.-History:...
) from Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
. Initially, Hindu Immigration was limited to Punjabis and Gujaratis. Later Hindu communities from other regions of the Indian sub-continent and countries like Guyana
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
, Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
, Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
and Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
could be found in England.
The last wave of migration began in the 1990s with two types of people settling in England – Tamil
Tamil people
Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...
refugees from Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
and professionals including doctors and software engineers from India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
Regional and local organisations
Many regional umbrella organisations have been set up to bring local Hindu organisations in a town or region together to engage with local government. These include the Hindu Council of Brent, Hindu Council of Harrow, Hindu Council of Birmingham and the Hindu Council of the North.At the more local level, Hindus have many organisations that are based on community or linguistic identities. They usually cater to the cultural and community needs of a particular Hindu denomination or sub-community. Examples of such organisations include the Arya Samaj
Arya Samaj
Arya Samaj is a Hindu reform movement founded by Swami Dayananda on 10 April 1875. He was a sannyasi who believed in the infallible authority of the Vedas. Dayananda emphasized the ideals of brahmacharya...
, Brahmin Society North London, Shree Kutch Leva Patel Community, Great Prajapati Association, International Punjabi Society, South Indian Association, Maharashtra Mandal of London and many others. They usually operate from own or rented premises and arrange large festivals and events, besides providing services to their communities, including religious discourses, match-making services, weddings and others.
There are a number of Hindu organisations that provide various services to different audiences in the fields of education, health care, counselling, advocacy and other areas. These include the Chinmaya Mission
Chinmaya Mission
Chinmaya Mission was founded in 1953 by the devotees of Swami Chinmayananda to 'give organizational structure and cohesiveness to the work and activities initiated by Swami Chinmayananda' . It is administered from Central Chinmaya Mission Trust, Mumbai...
, which offers classes on the Hindu Scriptures, Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies
Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies
The Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, founded in 1997, is a Recognised Independent Centre of Oxford University. The Centre is engaged in developing academic programmes of education, research and publishing in the field of Hindu studies...
, ISKCON Educational Services, City Hindus Network
City Hindus Network
The City Hindus Network is a non profit-making organisation created to promote networking, education and charity amongst Hindu professionals. It was founded in 2005 and its current Chairperson is Pratik Dattani, who took over from founder Dhruv Patel in October 2010...
, and the International Swaminarayan Satsang Organisation.
Temples
Neasden Temple
BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Neasden , is a Hindu temple in the London Borough of Brent in northwest London. Built entirely using traditional methods and materials, Neasden’s Swaminarayan Mandir is Britain’s first authentic Hindu temple. It was also Europe’s first traditional Hindu stone temple,...
Temple in Neasden
Neasden
Neasden is an area in northwest London, UK. It forms part of the London Borough of Brent.-History:The area was recorded as Neasdun in 939 AD and the name is derived from the Old English nēos = 'nose' and dūn = 'hill'. It means 'the nose-shaped hill' referring to a well-defined landmark of this area...
, the Bhaktivedanta Manor
Bhaktivedanta Manor
Bhaktivedanta Manor is a Gaudiya Vaishnava temple set in the Hertfordshire countryside of England in the village of Aldenham near Watford. The Manor, as it is called by those familiar with it, is owned and run by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, better known as ISKCON or the...
(Hare Krishna
International Society for Krishna Consciousness
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness , known colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement, is a Gaudiya Vaishnava religious organization. It was founded in 1966 in New York City by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada...
) Temple in Letchmore Heath
Letchmore Heath
Letchmore Heath is a village in Hertfordshire in England, situated about three miles east of Watford.-Locality:Letchmore Heath lies to the east of Watford, west of Radlett and south west of Aldenham. It is a pretty village of around 150 houses that due to its proximity to Elstree Studios has been...
near Watford, the Balaji Temple in Birmingham, the Sanatan Mandir in Leicester, the Vishwa Hindu Mandir in Southall, the Murugan
Murugan
Murugan also called Kartikeya, Skanda and Subrahmanya, is a popular Hindu deity especially among Tamil Hindus, worshipped primarily in areas with Tamil influences, especially South India, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Mauritius and Reunion Island. His six most important shrines in India are the...
Temple in Manor Park and the Gujarat Hindu Society Krishna
Krishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
Temple in Preston. There are also 6 Shri Swaminarayan Temples
Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, London
The following Swaminarayan temples are located in the area of London:* Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, London * Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, London * Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, London * Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, London...
in different areas of London, not to be confused with the famous Swaminarayan Neasden Temple
Neasden Temple
BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Neasden , is a Hindu temple in the London Borough of Brent in northwest London. Built entirely using traditional methods and materials, Neasden’s Swaminarayan Mandir is Britain’s first authentic Hindu temple. It was also Europe’s first traditional Hindu stone temple,...
.
The temples are centres of excellence where the community regularly congregates to worship, learn and socialise. In addition to large festivals like the Janmashtami festival at Bhaktivedanta Manor which attracts 80,000 visitors or the Diwali festival at Neasden which attracts 50,000 people, many temples provide services like weddings, Hindu sacraments, language classes, further education, computer classes, yoga
Yoga
Yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual discipline, originating in ancient India. The goal of yoga, or of the person practicing yoga, is the attainment of a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility while meditating on Supersoul...
, counselling and various other services.
In 2008, a campaign was launched to raise funds to establish a temple to serve the 2,500 Hindus in Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
.
Hindu schools
The first state-funded Hindu school in England was approved in 2005, to be run by the I-FoundationI-Foundation
The I-Foundation is a Hindu and ISKCON charity in England and Wales that has founded the first Hindu school in London to be funded by the government...
. Construction of the £10 Million Krishna Avanti Primary School
Krishna Avanti Primary School
The Krishna Avanti school, is Britain's first state-funded Hindu school.A second Hindu primary school is due to open in Leicester in September 2011.-History:...
in Edgware
Edgware
Edgware is an area in London, situated north-northwest of Charing Cross. It forms part of both the London Borough of Barnet and the London Borough of Harrow. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....
, north west London, began in 2008 with the first pupils starting later that year in temporary accommodation.
See also
- Hinduism in Northern IrelandHinduism in Northern IrelandHinduism is a relatively minor religion in Northern Ireland with only around 200 Hindu families in the country. There are, however, 3 Mandirs in Belfast: Radha-Krishna Temple in Malone Road, Laxmi-Narayan Mandir in Clifton Street and Radha Madhava Mandir in Upper Dunmurry Lane...
- Hinduism in ScotlandHinduism in ScotlandHinduism in Scotland is of relatively recent provenance, with the bulk of Scottish Hindus having settled there in the second half of the 20th century. Some Scottish Hindus prefer not to be called 'Asians' as this term is often used to refer to Scotland's Pakistani community...
- Hinduism in WalesHinduism in WalesHinduism in Wales is of relatively recent provenance, with the bulk of Welsh Hindus having settled there in the second half of the 20th century. There are today around 5,000 Hindus in Wales.-Origins:...
- Hinduism by countryHinduism by countryThe percentage of Hindu population of each country was taken from the US State Department's International Religious Freedom Report 2006. Other sources used were the CIA World Factbook and adherents.com...
- Neasden TempleNeasden TempleBAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Neasden , is a Hindu temple in the London Borough of Brent in northwest London. Built entirely using traditional methods and materials, Neasden’s Swaminarayan Mandir is Britain’s first authentic Hindu temple. It was also Europe’s first traditional Hindu stone temple,...
- DesiDesiDesi or Deshi refers to the people, cultures, and products of the Indian subcontinent and, increasingly, to the people, cultures, and products of their diaspora. Desi countries include India, Pakistan, Bangladesh...
, British AsianBritish AsianBritish Asian is a term used to describe British citizens who descended from mainly South Asia, also known as South Asians in the United Kingdom... - Detailed population by Local authority boundaries for Hindus
- I-FoundationI-FoundationThe I-Foundation is a Hindu and ISKCON charity in England and Wales that has founded the first Hindu school in London to be funded by the government...
- Hindu Organisations a Survey
External links
- Hindu Council UK
- Hindu Forum of Britain
- Hindu Council Birmingham
- Chinmaya Mission UK - Prominent Hindu Organisation based in Hendon, London
- British Asians: Hindus, ‘Desis’ or What Atul Cowshish
- Cambridge University Hindu Cultural Society
- Rathayatra (chariotTemple carTemple cars are chariots used to carry representations of Hindu gods. The car is usually used on festival days, when many people pull the cart....
festival) Site - Reassessing what we collect website – Hindu London History of Hindu London with objects and images
- Brahmin Society North London
- South Indian Association
- Maharashtra Mandal London
- Shree Kutch Leva Patel Community