Conversion of non-Hindu places of worship into temples

The conversion of non-Hindu places of worship into temples occurred for centuries, ever since the advent of other Dharmic faiths in the Indian subcontinent. As a result, Muslim mosques, Christian churches, Zoroastrian fire temples, Jain and Buddhist temples were converted into Hindu places of worship. Since the dawn of the 20th century, there is are active movement to convert non-Hindu religious sites into temples, primarily in the West.

Conversion of Islamic Mosques into Hindu Temples
This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

This table lists former mosques with identified original buildings that have been converted into Hindu Temples. It also includes those temples where the original structure of the mosque no longer survives and the temple was built at the site of a former mosque.

Current Name Mosque Name Images City Country Notes
Ram Janmabhoomi Temple Babri Masjid Ayodhya India The 16th century mosque, built under the reign of and named after Mughal Emperor Babur was demolished in 1992 by a mob of Hindu nationalists. In 2019, after a verdict by the Supreme Court of India, the decision to construct a temple at the site of the demolished mosque was accepted by the Indian parliament.[1]
Durga Mandir Jama Masjid of Sonipat [image] Sonipat India The imposing structure is currently being used as a Durga Mandir.[2]
Ram Leela Mandir Jama Masjid of Farrukhnagar Farrukhnagar India The town of Farrukhnagar was founded by Mughal Governor Faujdar Khan in 1732 AD. It was named after the Mughal Emperor, Farrukhsiyar. He constructed the Jama Masjid as the principal mosque of this new town that he has founded, which is now being used as a Hindu temple and Sikh Gurdwara.[3][2]
Bharat Mata Mandir Khilij Jumma Masjid [image] Daulatabad (Aurangabad) India The Jumma Masjid is the earliest surviving Islamic monument in the Deccan region.[2][4]
Bhagwan Danasher Mandir Dana Shir Masjid [image] Hisar India The mosque is built to the west of the courtyard of the Tomb of Dana Shir Bahlul Shah. It is completely built of small bricks and is plastered with fine white stucco.[2][5]

Conversion of Christian Churches into Hindu Temples
This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

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.

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.[6] The sect is headquartered in Maninagar, Ahmedabad. In India, however, the conversion of Churches to temples is more violent.[7]

Current Name Church Name Images City Country Notes
Swaminarayan Hindu temple church name 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.[8]
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.[9]
Udupi Krishna temple church name 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.[9][10]
Swaminarayan Hindu temple St John's Baptist Church[11] [image] Islington, London UK 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.[12] It was also called the Mission Hall of St. John's[13]
Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Bolton Unity Church (Unitarian)[14] Bolton, Manchester[15] UK 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 after demolishing the old structure in 1993.[16]
BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Toronto church name 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.[17]
Lord Swaminarayan abode church name unknown [image] Los Angeles, CA USA In 2012, the Sansthan bought churches in Los Angeles, California and turned it into Lord Swaminarayan abode.[6]
Swaminarayan Hindu temple church name unknown [image] Louisville, KY USA The Sansthan has bought a defunct church, spread over four acre of land, at Louisville, Kentucky.[6]
Temple name unknown St Ninian's Church [image] city name unknown UK In 1982, St Ninian's Church was bought for £200,000 and a temple built on its 2.5 acre compound.[18]
BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Scarborough church name 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.[6]
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.[19]
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[20][21]

Conversion of Buddhist Sites into Hindu Temples

See also Persecution of Buddhists and Decline of Buddhism in India

The desecration, destruction and appropriation of Buddhist stupas, monasteries and other structures by Hindu Brahminical forces has been commonplace since the Mauryan times.

Current Name Buddhist Structure Images City Country Notes
Sri Sanni Siddheswara temple unknown [image] Krishna, AP India Up to 11 Hindu temples have been built on Buddhist sites in the villages of Machilipatnam and Nidumolu, in the Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh. Buddhism flourished during 1st and 2nd Century A.D, but was curbed by the Chalukyas, who occupied or converted into their religious buildings into Hindu temples[22]
Jagannath temple unknown [image] Puri, OR India Faxian (c. 400 CE), the ancient Chinese pilgrim and visitor to India wrote about a Buddhist procession in his memoir, and this has very close resemblances with the Jagannath festivities. Further the season in which the Ratha-Yatra festival is observed is about the same time when the historic public processions welcomed Buddhist monks for their temporary, annual monsoon-season retirement.
Purneshvara Temple unknown [image] Puri, OR India The main temple of this village was either built on Buddhist sturctures, or made of materials derived from them.[23]
Kedareshvara Temple unknown [image] Puri, OR India The main temple of this village was either built on Buddhist sturctures, or made of materials derived from them.[23]
Kanteshvara Temple unknown [image] Puri, OR India The main temple of this village was either built on Buddhist sturctures, or made of materials derived from them.[23]
Someshvara Temple unknown [image] Puri, OR India The main temple of this village was either built on Buddhist sturctures, or made of materials derived from them.[23]
Angeshvara Temple unknown [image] Puri, OR India The main temple of this village was either built on Buddhist sturctures, or made of materials derived from them.[23]
Ram Temple Kushan Buddhist site [image] city unknown Afghanistan? Brahmins seem to have appropriated a Kushana Buddhist site, where a temple with Ramayana panels was constructed during the Gupta period.[23]
Bhuteshwar Temple unknown [image] Mathura, UP India Anti-caste scholars argue that this temple was built on a site of a Buddhist structure.[24][25]
Gokarneshwar Temple unknown [image] Jamubania, OR India Anti-caste scholars argue that this temple, in the village of Jamubania, was built on a site of a Buddhist structure.[24][25]
Ghantai Temple unknown [image] Vidisha, MP India Around 250 km from Vidisha, a Buddhist establishment existed at Khajuraho. This was before it emerged as a major temple town from the 10th century AD, under the Chandellas. Here, the Ghantai temple appears to have been built on the remains of a Buddhist monument.[23]

Conversion of Jain Sites into Hindu Temples

Many Jain temples were converted to Hindu temples by replacing the statues of Tirthankaras with Shiv lingams. Jainism started its decline due to the aggressive rise of Veerashaivism. Since the Babri Masjid verdict, there is a growing demand to reconvert these temples to their original Jain purpose.[26][27]

Current Name Jain Structure Images City Country Notes
Padmakshi temple unknown [image] Warangal, TS India The statues of Tirthankaras engraved on walls are now worshiped as local deities.[26]
Saraswati temple Saraswati Jain temple [image] Basar, TS India A temple dedicated to the Jain avatar of Saraswati in Basar, was converted into a Hindu temple.[26]
Sahasra Lingeshwarelayam Tribhuvanatilaka Jinalaya [image] Vemulawada, TS India A Jain shrine called Tribhuvanatilaka Jinalaya on the Bommalagutta hillock near Kurikyala village, was built during the Chalukya dynasty. It is now a Shiva temple.[28]
Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Lord ParshvanathaJain temple [image] Padmakshi, TS India The oldest temple in the Hanamkonda a Jain site. It was converted into a hindu temple dedicated to Padmavathi.[29]

Conversion of Zoroastrian Sites into Hindu Temples
Current Name Zoroastrian Structure Images City Country Notes
Ateshgah of Baku Ateshgah آتشگاه‎ Baku Azerbaijan The Fire temple at Baku was temporarily converted into a Hindu temple by Hindu and Sikh traders. During this time it was dedicated to Ram, Krishna, Hanuman and Agni. Currently, it is a museum.[30][31]

See also

References
  1. Phukan, Sandeep (2020-02-05). "PM announces Cabinet nod for Ram temple in Ayodhya". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
  2. "Mosques turned into Temples, the other side of history". SabrangIndia. 2020-05-08. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
  3. "Jama Masjid turned Mandir/ Gurudwara of Farrukhnagar". Rana Safvi. 2020-02-09. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
  4. Haidar, Navina Najat; Sardar, Marika (2011). Sultans of the South: Arts of India's Deccan Courts, 1323-1687. Metropolitan Museum of Art. p. 178. ISBN 978-1-58839-438-5.
  5. "Collections-Virtual Museum of Images and Sounds". vmis.in. Retrieved 2020-12-31.
  6. ., TNN. "Swaminarayan sect buys 2 US, Canada churches". The Times of India.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. Ali, Mohammad. "Church attacks not illegal: Hindu outfit". The Hindu.
  8. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/30-yr-old-us-church-to-be-converted-into-temple/articleshowprint/67222108.cms
  9. "50-Year-Old Church Converted Into Temple In US". www.outlookindia.com/. Retrieved 2021-01-06.
  10. "Mangaluru: Udupi seer turns derelict US church into a temple". Bangalore Mirror.
  11. "BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha - History of BAPS in the UK & Europe".
  12. Book of the year 1971. Encyclopædia Britannica. 1971.
  13. "British History Online - Islington: Hindus".
  14. "Shree Swaminarayan Mandir, Deane Road".
  15. https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/50-year-old-church-converted-into-temple-in-us/305994/
  16. "Shree K. S. Swaminarayan Temple Bolton". Archived from the original on 2011-07-28.
  17. Natrajkumar, Nandita. "Portsmouth Swaminarayan Mandir: Here's the 6th temple converted from a church in US". IBT Times.
  18. "Churches are turning into temples in UK and US".
  19. ., TNN. "Church turned into 'temple' after 72 Valmikis reconvert to Hinduism". The Times of India.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  20. "Pastor Beaten and Accused of Forcible Conversion". VOM Canada. 16 November 2005.
  21. "Church Building Converted to Hindu Temple". VOM Canada. 14 December 2005.
  22. Naidu, T. Appala. "Buddhist remains worshipped in Siva temples in Krishna district". The Hindu.
  23. "Buddhist shrines massively destroyed by Brahmanical rulers in "pre-Islamic" era: Historian DN Jha's survey".
  24. Sonpimple, Rahul. "Beyond Hindu-Muslim binary: The Buddhist Claim on Ayodhya". the Federal.
  25. "Ancient Buddhist Sculptures Discovered in Odisha State, India".
  26. V., NILESH. "Andhra Pradesh, Telangana give short shrift to Jain sites". DECCAN CHRONICLE.
  27. Jain, Mahima A. "Ayodhya verdict: Can Tamil Jains reclaim heritage destroyed by Hindus". The Federal.
  28. Dhaky, Madhusudan A. Encyclopaedia of Indian Temple Architecture. American Institute of Indian Studies.
  29. Chatterjee, Saurabh. "Perfect confluence of spiritual and devotional fervor at Padmakshi temple". Telangana Today.
  30. Kumar, Divya. "At this Azerbaijan fire temple, Sanskrit and Punjabi inscriptions find place". The Hindu.
  31. von Eichwald, Karl Eduard (1834), Reise in den Caucasus, Stuttgart.
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