VictoriaCoward4 at 16:38, 12 February 2026

2026-02-12T16:38:01Z

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{{Short description|none}} 
{{Historical populations
|title = Historical Population
|type =
|footnote = Religious Affiliation was not recorded prior to 2001.
|align = right
|width =
|state =
|shading =
|pop_name =
|percentages =
|source =
|2001 | 546,982
|2011 | 806,199
|2021 | 1,020,533
}}{{Use British English|date=February 2026}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2026}}{{Hinduism by country}}
{{Hinduism small}}

'''Hinduism in England''' is the third largest religion in the country, with over 1,020,533 followers as of the [[2021 United Kingdom census|2021 census]]. This represents over 1.8% of the English population, up from 1.5% in 2011 and 1.1% in 2001. Hindus are predominantly in the cities of [[London]] and [[Leicester]], where they make up greater proportions of the population. England has a number of [[Hindu temple]]s, including the [[Neasden Temple|Hindu temple at Neasden]] which is a large [[Hinduism|Hindu]] temple in [[Europe]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060218161357/http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2005/05/19/hindu_london_feature.shtml Hindu London], BBC, 6 June 2005. URL accessed on 5 June 2006.</ref> In 2007, the largest Hindu [[Mandir]] in the North of England,<ref>[http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/search/display.var.760410.0.3m_hindu_temple_soon_to_take_shape.php largest mandir in the North to open in Bradford]</ref> the [[Bradford Lakshmi Narayan Hindu Temple]] opened in [[Bradford]],<ref>[http://www.bradfordmandir.org/ details of opening ceremony]</ref> [[West Yorkshire]].

==History==
[[Hinduism]] 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 Mohan Roy]] (born in India in 1772) was founder of a [[Hindu reform movement]] in India. He was in England in 1829 to visit his Christian friends. He also had audience with King [[William IV]]. Roy died in [[Stapleton, Bristol]] four years later.

The orientalist and reformer [[Ramakrishna Gopal Bhandarkar|Sir R.G. Bhandarkar]] visited London in 1874. In 1879 [[Aurobindo]] went to England as a boy with his two brothers to study, living in Manchester, London ([[St. Paul's School, London|St. Paul's School]]) and Cambridge ([[King's College, Cambridge|King's College]]) where he stayed until 1893. [[Swami Vivekananda]] visited England in 1895 and 1896, having addressed the [[World's Parliament of Religions]] in Chicago in 1893.<ref>[[Romain Rolland]] (1997), The life of Vivekananda and the Universal Gospel (translated from the original French by E.F. Malcolm-Smith), page 86, fifteenth impression published by Advaita Ashrama, Calcutta (first published in 1931).</ref> 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]].<ref>Pravrajika Atmaprana (1992), Sister Nivedita of Ramakrishna-Vivekananda, page 5, published by Sister Nivedita Girls' School, 5 Nivedita Lane, Calcutta 3 (first published in 1961).</ref>

Early Hindus in England were usually students. [[Rabindranath Tagore]] (later a [[Nobel Laureate]]) went to England in 1878, returning to India in 1880. Fifty years later Tagore was at Oxford <ref>Sen K. M. (1961), Hinduism, The World's Oldest Faith, page 109, Penguin Books, London, England</ref> delivering [[Hibbert Lectures]] (1930) on the Religion of Man.<ref>Tagore, Rabindranath (1963), The Religion of Man, Unwin Books, London England (first published in 1931)</ref> [[Ramanujan]], a mathematical genius and an orthodox Hindu, spent almost five years (1914–19) at [[Cambridge University]]. [[Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan|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.

In 1929 Dr. Hari Prasad Shastri (1882-1956),<ref>{{Cite web|title=Hari Prasad Shastri: Life and Work|url=http://www.worldwisdom.com/public/authors/Hari-Prasad-Shastri.aspx|access-date=2020-08-27|website=www.worldwisdom.com}}</ref> who was a highly learned teacher ([[Acharya]]) of Adhyatma Yoga in India, went to England having taught for many years in Japan at [[Imperial University of Tokyo|Imperial]] and [[Waseda University|Waseda]] Universities and then in China also as a professor of philosophy. Hari Prasad Shastri founded Shanti Sadan<ref>{{Cite web|title=Center of Non Duality {{!}} Advaita Vedanta {{!}} London|url=https://www.shantisadan.org/|access-date=2020-08-27|website=Shanti Sadan|language=en-GB}}</ref> (temple of inner peace) in London. [[Trevor Leggett]], an English [[Judo]] teacher, met Shastri in 1936. He was deeply influenced by Hari Prasad Shastri's yoga teachings.

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 of a Yogi|autobiography]] Yogananda commented that the 'English tenacity has an admirable expression in a spiritual relationship'.<ref>Paramahansa Yogananda (1986), [[Autobiography of a Yogi]] (sixth impression), pages 360, 465, published by Jaico Books, Bombay (first Indian edition in English was puiblished in 1963).</ref>

There have been three waves of migration of Hindus to England. The first wave was before [[India independence|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 of Nations|Commonwealth]] [[citizens]], didn't require a [[Visa (document)|visa]] to enter or live in the United Kingdom was a factor. In the early 1960s, in order to save the [[National Health Service|NHS]], the Conservative Health Minister [[Enoch Powell|The Rt Hon Enoch Powell]] recruited a large number of [[Medical doctor|doctors]] including Hindus from the Indian sub-continent

The second wave of migration occurred in the 1970s after [[Idi Amin]]'s [[Expulsion of Asians from Uganda|expulsion]] of [[Gujarat]]i and other Asians (who were [[British nationality law|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 people|Tamil]] refugees from [[Sri Lanka]] and professionals including doctors and software engineers from [[India]].

Leicester's [[Chanda Vyas]] became the first female Hindu priest, or ''[[purohita]]'', to conduct ceremonies including [[Hindu wedding|weddings]] and [[Antyesti|funerals]], in the United Kingdom, conducting ceremonies in both the [[English language|English]] and [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]] languages.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2010-03-08 |title=City's first female Hindu priest |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/leicester/hi/people_and_places/religion_and_ethics/newsid_8544000/8544260.stm |access-date=2026-02-12 |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Chanda Vyas... |url=https://www.asian-voice.com/Opinion/Columnists/Keith-Vaz/Chanda-Vyas |access-date=2026-02-12 |website=www.asian-voice.com |language=en-GB}}</ref>

==Demographics==
===Geographical Distribution===
According to the 2011 [[Census]] of England, there are some 806,199 Hindus living there.<ref>2011 Census: Religion, local authorities in England and Wales: Table KS209EW</ref> The two major cities of Hindus are London and Leicester.<ref>[http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=956 Minority religions mainly in London]. National Statistics. Accessed 5 Jun 2006.</ref> Within London, Hinduism is found in [[London Borough of Brent|Brent]] and [[London Borough of Harrow|Harrow]] where Hindus make up a fifth of the population, and to a lesser extent, in [[Southall]], [[Hounslow]], [[Ilford]], [[East Ham]], [[Croydon]], [[Hendon]], and [[Wembley]]. Outside London, [[Leicester]] has a significant concentration of Hindus, largely from East Africa and India, with over 45,000 living in the city.<ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/leicestershire/3146704.stm] BBC News 28 September 2003</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ British Hindus by [[Regions of England|English Region]]
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[Regions of England|Region]]
! colspan="2" |[[2021 United Kingdom census|2021]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=TS030 - Religion Edit query|url=https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/datasets/c2021ts030|access-date=2022-11-29|website=www.nomisweb.co.uk}}</ref>
! colspan="2" |[[2011 United Kingdom census|2011]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=KS209EW (Religion) - Nomis - 2011 |url=https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks209ew |access-date=2022-10-18 |website=www.nomisweb.co.uk}}</ref>
! colspan="2" |[[2001 United Kingdom census|2001]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=KS007 - Religion - Nomis - 2001 |url=https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/datasets/ks007 |access-date=2022-10-18 |website=www.nomisweb.co.uk}}</ref>
|-
!Number
!{{Abbr|%|percentage}}
!Number
!{{Abbr|%|percentage}}
!Number
!{{Abbr|%|percentage}}
|-
| [[Greater London]]
| 453,034
| 5.1%
| 411,291
| 5.0%
| 291,977
| 4.1%
|-
| [[South East England|South East]]
| 154,748
| 1.7%
| 92,499
| 1.1%
| 44,575
| 0.6%
|-
| [[East Midlands]]
| 120,345
| 2.5%
| 89,723
| 2.0%
| 66,710
| 1.6%
|-
| [[West Midlands (region)|West Midlands]]
| 88,116
| 1.5%
| 72,247
| 1.3%
| 56,668
| 1.1%
|-
| [[East of England|East]]
| 86,631
| 1.4%
| 54,010
| 0.9%
| 31,386
| 0.6%
|-
| [[North West England|North West]]
| 49,749
| 0.7%
| 38,259
| 0.5%
| 27,211
| 0.4%
|-
| [[Yorkshire and the Humber]]
| 29,243
| 0.5%
| 24,074
| 0.5%
| 15,797
| 0.3%
|-
|[[South West England|South West]]
| 27,746
| 0.5%
| 16,324
| 0.3%
| 8,288
| 0.2%
|-
|[[North East England|North East]]
| 10,924
| 0.4%
| 7,772
| 0.3%
| 4,370
| 0.2%
|-
!'''{{flag|England}}'''
! '''1,020,533'''
! '''1.8%'''
! '''806,199'''
! '''1.5%'''
! '''546,982'''
! '''1.1%'''
|-
|}

===Ethnic group===
{| class="sortable wikitable"
|+British Hindus by Ethnic group
!rowspan="2"|Ethnic group
!colspan="2"|[[2001 United Kingdom census|2001]]
!colspan="2"|[[2011 United Kingdom census|2011]]
!colspan="2"|[[2021 United Kingdom census|2021]]
|-
!Number
!%
!Number
!%
!Number
!%
|-
||||||||||||
|-
!align=left|Asian|| 528,521 || 96.62 || 771,496 || 95.70 || 954,900 || 93.57
|-
|align=left| – [[British Indian|Indian]]|| 462,097 || 84.48 || 613,802 || 76.14 || 846,412 || 79.62
|-
|align=left| – [[British Bangladeshi|Bangladeshi]]|| 1,686 || 0.31 || 3,966 || 0.49 || 6,165 || 0.60
|-
|align=left| – [[British Pakistani|Pakistani]]|| 540 || 0.10 || 3,848 || 0.48 || 1,391 || 0.14
|-
|align=left| – [[British Chinese|Chinese]]|| 151 || 0.03 || 2,798 || 0.35 || 328 || 0.03
|-
|align=left| – Other Asian|| 64,047 || 11.71 || 147,082 || 18.24 || 158,435 || 15.52
|-
!align=left|White|| 6,947 || 1.27 || 11,601 || 1.44 || 6,455 || 0.63
|-
|align=left| – [[White British|British]]|| 5,552 || 1.02 || 6,552 || 0.81 || 4,795 || 0.47
|-
|align=left| – [[White Irish|Irish]]|| 144 || 0.03 || 272 || 0.03 || 193 || 0.02
|-
|align=left| – [[Irish Travellers|Gypsy and Irish Traveller]]|||| || 98 || 0.01 || 83 || 0.01
|-
|align=left| – [[Romani people in the United Kingdom|Roma]]|||| || || || 58 || 0.01
|-
|align=left| – [[Other White]]|| 1,251 || 0.23 || 4,679 || 0.58 || 1,326 || 0.13
|-
!align=left|Mixed|| 5,647 || 1.03 || 9,636 || 1.20 || 10,794 || 1.06
|-
|align=left| – White and Asian|| 3,460 || 0.63 || 6,311 || 0.78 || 7,854 || 0.77
|-
|align=left| – White and Black Caribbean|| 141 || 0.03 || 385 || 0.05 || 206 || 0.02
|-
|align=left| – White and Black African|| 166 || 0.03 || 333 || 0.04 || 205 || 0.02
|-
|align=left| – Other Mixed|| 1,880 || 0.34 || 2,607 || 0.32 || 2,529 || 0.25
|-
!align=left|Black|| 2,968 || 0.54 || 5,414 || 0.67 || 1,887 || 0.18
|-
|align=left| – African|| 984 || 0.18 || 1,856 || 0.23 || 705 || 0.07
|-
|align=left| – [[British African-Caribbean people|Caribbean ]]|| 1,639 || 0.30 || 1,314 || 0.16 || 783 || 0.08
|-
|align=left| – Other Black|| 345 || 0.06 || 2,244 || 0.28 || 399 || 0.04
|-
!align=left|Other||2,899 || 0.53 || 8,052 || 1.00 || 47,400 || 4.54
|-
|align=left| – [[British Arab|Arab]]|| || || 1,025 || 0.13 || 103 || 0.01
|-
|align=left| – Other Ethnic group|| 2,899 || 0.53 || 7,027 || 0.87 || 46,297 || 4.53
|-
||||||||||||
|-
!align=left| TOTAL || 546,982 || 100.0 || 806,199 || 100.0 || 1,020,533 || 100.0
|}

==Hindu organisations==
[[File:Gopuram and vimana at Shri Venkateswara (Balaji) Temple United Kingdom.jpg|thumb|[[Gopuram]] and [[vimana]] at [[Shri Venkateswara (Balaji) Temple]] United Kingdom]]
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]], 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, [[BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha]], [[Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies]], [[ISKCON|ISKCON Educational Services]], [[City Hindus Network]], [https://www.nhsf.org.uk National Hindu Students' Forum (UK)] and the [[International Swaminarayan Satsang Organisation]].

==Temples==
{{main|List of Hindu temples in England}}
[[Image:Neasden Temple - Shree Swaminarayan Hindu Mandir - Power Plant.jpg|thumb|300px|right|The [[Neasden Temple|Swaminarayan Temple]] at Neasden, London which is the largest Hindu Temple in Europe]]
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 [[Neasden Temple|Swaminarayan]] Temple in [[Neasden]], the [[Bhaktivedanta Manor]] ([[International Society for Krishna Consciousness|Hare Krishna]]) Temple in [[Letchmore Heath]] near Watford, the [[Venkateswara|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, Lancashire|Preston]]. There are also 6 [[Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, London|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 [[Hindu wedding|weddings]], [[Hindu samskara|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]].<ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/7616637.stm Hindu worshippers in first prayer] BBC News, 15 September 2008</ref>

In 2020, [[Historic England]] (HE) published ''A Survey of Hindu Buildings in England'' with the aim of providing information about buildings that Hindus use in England so that HE can work with communities to enhance and protect those buildings now and in the future. The scoping survey identified 187 Hindu temples in England.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Singh, Jasjit; Tomalin, Emma|date=2020|title=A Survey of Hindu Buildings in England. Historic England Research Report 203/2020|url=https://research.historicengland.org.uk/Report.aspx?i=16739&ru=/Results.aspx?n=10&ry=2020&p=2|access-date=2020-06-16|website=research.historicengland.org.uk}}</ref>

==Encyclopedia of Hinduism==
The [[Encyclopedia of Hinduism]] was unveiled in October 2014 by the British Prime Minister [[David Cameron]] at a [[Diwali]] function held in London at the [[Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre]] near Westminster. The function was hosted by [[Lord Andrew Feldman]], the Chairman of the Conservative Party and attended by more than 1000 guests. PM Cameron and his wife [[Samantha Cameron|Samantha]] lit a ceremonial [[Diya (light)|''diya'']] at the event.<ref>Joanna Sugden (reported by), Britain's PM David Cameron Unveils Encyclopedia of Hinduism, The Wall Street Journal, 28 October 2014.</ref>

==Hindu schools==
{{Main|Avanti Schools Trust}}

[[Krishna Avanti Primary School, Harrow|Krishna Avanti Primary School in Harrow]] is the first state-funded Hindu school in England was approved in 2005,<ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4334330.stm First UK Hindu school in London] BBC News, 12 October 2005</ref> to be run by the [[Avanti Schools Trust]].<ref>{{cite news|title=North London Hindu school will be 'the first of many' |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8486375.stm |publisher=BBC |date=25 April 2020 }}</ref> Construction of the £10 Million [[Krishna Avanti Primary School, Harrow|Krishna Avanti Primary School]] in [[Edgware]], north west London, began in 2008 with the first pupils starting later that year in temporary accommodation.<ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/7440327.stm Hindu state school beginning work] BBC News, 6 June 2008</ref> In total there are 6 Hindu schools in England.

==See also==
{{portal|England|Hinduism}}
{{col div|colwidth=20em}}
*[[Hinduism in the United Kingdom]]
*[[Hinduism in Northern Ireland]]
*[[Hinduism in Scotland]]
*[[Hinduism in Wales]]
*[[Sanskrit in the West]]
*[[Vedanga]]
*[[Hinduism in Vietnam]]
*[[Hinduism by country]]
*[[Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies]]
*[[List of Hindu festivals]]
*[[I-Foundation]]
*[[Hindu Organisations a Survey]]
*[[Religion in England]]
{{colend}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.hinducounciluk.org/ Hindu Council UK]
*[http://www.hinduforum.org.uk/ Hindu Forum of Britain]
*[http://www.hcb.org.uk Hindu Council Birmingham]
*[http://www.chinmayauk.org/ Chinmaya Mission UK - Prominent Hindu Organisation based in Hendon, London]
*[http://www.asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/1173 British Asians: Hindus, ‘Desis’ or What] Atul Cowshish
*[http://www.cuhcs.org.uk/ Cambridge University Hindu Cultural Society] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207032256/http://www.cuhcs.org.uk/ |date=2008-12-07 }}
*[http://www.rathayatra.co.uk/ Rathayatra] ([[Temple car|chariot]] festival) Site
*[http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/English/Collections/Onlineresources/RWWC/themes/1301/1141 Reassessing what we collect website – Hindu London] History of Hindu London with objects and images
*[http://www.bsnl.org.uk/ Brahmin Society North London]
*[http://www.southindianassociation.org/ South Indian Association] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180119022159/http://www.southindianassociation.org/ |date=2018-01-19 }}
*[http://www.mmlondon.co.uk/ Maharashtra Mandal London]
*[http://www.sklpc.com/ Shree Kutch Leva Patel Community]

{{Hinduism footer small}}
{{Hinduism in Europe}}

[[Category:Hinduism in England| ]]

Hinduism in England - Revision history

VictoriaCoward4 at 16:38, 12 February 2026