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A Hindu sect, known as Swaminarayan Gadi Sansthan has been notorious for targeting Churches for the sole reason of converting them into temples, in the US and the UK.[1] The sect is headquartered in Maninagar, Ahmedabad. In India, however, the conversion of Churches to temples is more violent.[2]
This table lists former Churches with identified original buildings that have been converted into Hindu Temples. It only includes those Churches where the original structure was never a site of a temple.
Current Name | Church Name | Images | City | Country | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Swaminarayan Hindu temple | unknown | [image] | Portsmouth, VA | USA | A 30 year old Church was converted to a temple to accommodate the Guajarati community of Chesapeake near Portsmouth, VA. It is the 6th Church to be converted into a temple in the US, and the 9th in the world.[3] |
Swaminarayan Hindu temple | Highland Mennonite Church | [image] | Bear, Delaware | USA | A 50 year old Church was converted to a temple. It is the 3rd Church to be converted into a temple in the US, and the 5th in the world.[4] |
Udupi Krishna temple | unknown | [image] | Edison, NJ | USA | In 2017, a Protestant church covering 4.5 acres, in Edison, New Jersey was acquired to be converted into an Udupi Krishna temple.[4][5] |
Swaminarayan Hindu temple | St John's Baptist Church[6] | [image] | Islington, London | UK (England) | June 1970: The first BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir in the UK was opened in a converted disused Anglican church in Islington, North London, by Yogiji Maharaj.[7] It was also called the Mission Hall of St. John's[8] |
Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Bolton | Unity Church (Unitarian)[9] | ![]() |
Bolton, Manchester[10] | UK (England) | A Unity Church of the Unitarian denomination, on Deane Road was a fine example of late 19th century religious gothic in red brick with terracotta detailing. It was converted to a temple on 1973 and rebuilt into a larger building after demolishing the old structure in 1993.[11] |
BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Toronto | unknown | [image] | Toronto, ON | Canada | Gujarat-based Maninagar Shree Swaminarayan Gadi Sansthan constructed a temple in Toronto, Canada, on a 125-year-old plot of land which had previously housed a church.[12] |
Lord Swaminarayan abode | unknown | [image] | Los Angeles, CA | USA | In 2012, the Sansthan bought churches in Los Angeles, California and turned it into Lord Swaminarayan abode.[1] |
BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir | Goshen Methodist Church | ![]() |
Louisville, KY | USA | The Sansthan has bought a defunct church, spread over four acre of land, at Louisville, Kentucky.[1] |
Swaminarayan Hindu Temple | Dunamis Christian Faith Church | Louisville, KY | USA | The Sansthan has bought another defunct church, in the heart of Louisville, Kentucky.[1] | |
Temple name unknown | St Ninian's Church | [image] | city name unknown | UK (England) | In 1982, St Ninian's Church was bought for £200,000 and a temple built on its 2.5 acre compound.[13] |
BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Scarborough | unknown | [image] | Scarborough, ON | Canada | A 100-year-old church was declared a heritage structure by the Canadian government, is located in Scarborough. The church was built over 9,000 sq ft, included a community hall and house.[1] |
Shiva temple | Hall of the 7th Day Adventist | [image] | Aligarh, UP | India | A church overnight turned into a temple adorned with a portrait of Shiva after what some Hindu groups in Asroi, near Aligarh termed the "ghar wapasi" (reconversion) of 72 Valmikis who had become Christians in 1995.[14] |
Hanuman temple | Evangelical prayer hall | [image] | city name unknown, HR | India | On 12 December 2005, the home of Pastor Ramesh Masih Bhatti, where the church was meeting, had been taken over by Hindus and converted into a Hindu temple. A Hindu god had been placed at the doorway and Bhatti was forced to take his family from the home where they had lived for 25 years. A militant leader in the area reportedly announced a campaign to move throughout the area villages forcing Christians to reconvert to Hinduism[15][16] |
Ashtalakshmi temple | unknown | ![]() |
North Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA | USA | Ashtalakshmi temple in North Hollywood, California was once a church and was bought by Hindu community |
Aberdeen Hindu Temple | Old Stoneywood Church | ![]() |
Aberdeen | UK (Scotland) | Plans have been unveiled to convert a former church into Aberdeen’s first Hindu temple. The Old Stoneywood Church on Bankhead Road, which dates back to the 1840s, has now been vacant for more than four years. Aberdeen Hindu Temple Trust said there are more than 3,500 Hindu religion followers in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, but the closest temple is 70 miles away in Dundee.[17][18] |
- ^ a b c d e ., TNN. "Swaminarayan sect buys 2 US, Canada churches". The Times of India.
{{cite news}}
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has numeric name (help) - ^ Ali, Mohammad. "Church attacks not illegal: Hindu outfit". The Hindu.
- ^ https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/30-yr-old-us-church-to-be-converted-into-temple/articleshowprint/67222108.cms
- ^ a b "50-Year-Old Church Converted Into Temple In US". www.outlookindia.com/. Retrieved 2021-01-06.
- ^ "Mangaluru: Udupi seer turns derelict US church into a temple". Bangalore Mirror.
- ^ "BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha - History of BAPS in the UK & Europe".
- ^ Book of the year 1971. Encyclopædia Britannica. 1971.
- ^ "British History Online - Islington: Hindus".
- ^ "Shree Swaminarayan Mandir, Deane Road".
- ^ https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/50-year-old-church-converted-into-temple-in-us/305994/
- ^ "Shree K. S. Swaminarayan Temple Bolton". Archived from the original on 2011-07-28.
- ^ Natrajkumar, Nandita. "Portsmouth Swaminarayan Mandir: Here's the 6th temple converted from a church in US". IBT Times.
- ^ "Churches are turning into temples in UK and US".
- ^ ., TNN. "Church turned into 'temple' after 72 Valmikis reconvert to Hinduism". The Times of India.
{{cite news}}
:|last=
has numeric name (help) - ^ "Pastor Beaten and Accused of Forcible Conversion". VOM Canada. 16 November 2005.
- ^ "Church Building Converted to Hindu Temple". VOM Canada. 14 December 2005.
- ^ https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/fp/news/local/hindu-temple-plan-to-bring-kirk-back-to-life/
- ^ https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-49688608