Hinduism in Britain: a short history
Britain's Hindu community grew from roughly 30,000 people in 1961 to over a million by 2021 — and the 154 mandirs in this directory are the physical record of that. Most began as converted church halls, shops and front rooms. This is how they came to be here.
Before the migration
Hindu presence in Britain long predates the post-war era, but organised institutions were rare. In 1929 the scholar Hari Prasad Shastri founded Shanti Sadan in London, one of the earliest lasting Hindu centres in the country. For decades afterwards, worship for the small resident community happened privately.
Three waves
Hindu migration to Britain came in three broad waves. The first, after the Second World War, brought people directly from Gujarat and Punjab to fill labour shortages in industrial towns. The second, and the most consequential, came from East Africa in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The third, more recent, has drawn Hindus from across India and from the wider diaspora — Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Fiji, Guyana, Trinidad — which is why the traditions in this directory range from Gujarati Swaminarayan to Tamil Saiva.
1972: the year that changed the map
In August 1972, President Idi Amin ordered the expulsion of Uganda's Asian population. Around 60,000 people were forced to leave, and the British government admitted some 27,000 through the Uganda Resettlement Board. Many were Gujarati Hindus who arrived with almost nothing, having lost homes and businesses built over generations.
They settled where there was work and where community already existed — Leicester, Wembley and Brent, Coventry, Bolton, Preston. That single event explains much of the map on this site: it is why Leicester's Belgrave Road became the Golden Mile, and why London and the East Midlands hold the densest clusters of mandirs in the country today.
From front rooms to mandirs
The earliest temples were not built as temples. They were disused churches, chapels, warehouses, shops and terraced houses, bought cheaply by communities with little money and consecrated by installing the murtis — because a building becomes a mandir only when the deities are installed in it. That pattern is still visible: many temples in this directory occupy buildings that began life as something else.
Timeline
- 1929
Shanti Sadan opens in London
Hari Prasad Shastri, a teacher of Adhyatma Yoga, settles in London and founds Shanti Sadan — among the earliest organised Hindu institutions in Britain, decades before mass migration.
- 1950s
The first congregations
Hindus begin arriving in numbers after the Second World War, mostly from Gujarat and Punjab. Worship happens in front rooms and hired halls; there are no temples yet.
- 1960s
ISKCON reaches London
Devotees sent from San Francisco establish a base in a Covent Garden warehouse. George Harrison takes an interest, records with them at Abbey Road, and co-signs the lease on their Bloomsbury premises.
- 1969
Leicester: murtis installed on Cromford Street
On 20 July 1969, Radha-Krishna murtis are installed at a converted property in Highfields, Leicester — widely cited as the first Hindu temple in Britain. A building becomes a mandir only once the murtis are installed. See temples in Leicester →
- 1970
BAPS opens in a disused Islington church
The Swaminarayan community converts a redundant church in Islington — typical of the era, when almost every early mandir was a repurposed chapel, hall or shop.
- 1972
The Ugandan expulsion
Idi Amin expels Uganda's Asian population. Around 60,000 people are forced out; the British government admits some 27,000 through the Uganda Resettlement Board. Many are Gujarati Hindus who arrive having lost homes and businesses. Leicester, Wembley and the East Midlands are transformed.
- 1973
George Harrison gives Bhaktivedanta Manor
Harrison buys the Hertfordshire estate and donates it to ISKCON. It becomes the movement's UK home and today hosts the largest Janmashtami celebration outside India. See temples in Watford →
- 1980
Purpose-run mandirs take shape
Shri Nathji Sanatan Hindu Mandir opens in Leytonstone under Shri Vallabh Nidhi UK, as communities move from borrowed rooms to buildings of their own.
- 1981
Wimbledon: the first fully consecrated temple
Shree Ghanapathy Temple opens in a former church hall in Wimbledon, redesigned to Hindu architectural guidelines — described as the first fully consecrated Hindu temple in Europe. See temples in London →
- 1982
Neasden begins
Having outgrown Islington, BAPS moves to a converted warehouse in Neasden — the site that will become Britain's best-known mandir.
- 1995
Europe's first traditional stone mandir
On 20 August 1995, BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir opens in Neasden: hand-carved marble and limestone, built by traditional methods at a cost of around £12 million. The first purpose-built stone mandir in Europe, as distinct from a converted secular building. See temples in London →
- 2010
A second generation of building
Shree Sanatan Hindu Mandir is completed off Ealing Road, Wembley — part of a wave of purpose-built mandirs replacing the converted halls of the 1970s. See temples in London →
- 2021
Over a million
The census records 1,066,894 Hindus across the UK — the third-largest religious group, and more than triple the 1981 figure.
The numbers
Religious affiliation was not recorded in the census before 2001, so earlier figures are estimates. The trajectory is nonetheless clear.
Hindu population of the United Kingdom by year. Pre-2001 figures are estimates.
Where Hindus live in Britain today
| Nation | Hindu population | Share | Census |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | 1,020,533 | 1.8% | 2021 |
| Scotland | 29,929 | 0.6% | 2022 |
| Wales | 12,242 | 0.4% | 2021 |
| Northern Ireland | 4,190 | 0.2% | 2021 |
| Region (England) | Hindu population | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Greater London | 453,034 | 5.1% |
| South East | 154,748 | 1.7% |
| East Midlands | 120,345 | 2.5% |
| West Midlands | 88,116 | 1.5% |
Greater London alone accounts for over 450,000 Hindus — around 5.1% of its population, the highest concentration in the UK. You can see the same pattern in this directory: London holds more mandirs than any other city, followed by Leicester.
A note on "the first Hindu temple in Britain"
Several temples are described as the first, and they are describing different things. The Leicester mandir of 1969 is generally cited as the earliest Hindu temple in Britain, in a converted property. Shree Ghanapathy Temple in Wimbledon (1981) is described as the first fully consecrated Hindu temple in Europe. BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir at Neasden (1995) was Europe's first traditional stone mandir, purpose-built rather than converted. All three claims can be true at once.
Sources
Population figures: Office for National Statistics, Census 2021 (England and Wales); National Records of Scotland, Census 2022; Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, Census 2021. Pre-2001 estimates and migration history via published summaries of UK census and migration records. Ugandan expulsion figures: Uganda Resettlement Board records as summarised in standard histories of the 1972 expulsion. Temple dates: each temple's own published history, and contemporary reporting including the Leicester Mercury, 21 July 1969.
Where sources disagree — particularly on which temple was "first" — this page says so rather than choosing. Spotted an error or have a documented date? Tell us and we'll correct it.