Community and congregation in London Hindu temples: Divergent trends

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Abstract
Temples are often usefully described as being of intrinsic social and cultural, as well as religious, value to Hindus in Britain. However, generalisations about the role of Hindu temples as ‘community centres’ may obscure fundamental differences between a variety of Hindu groups who are characterised by contrasting regional backgrounds, religious orientations, and histories of migration, settlement, and community development. Here, three temples in London (predominantly Gujarati in Balham, Punjabi in Southall, and Indo‐Caribbean in Brixton) are compared in terms of patterns of use and the ways these reflect the nature of the local Hindu population. It is demonstrated that the ‘community’ use of Hindu temples in London, including the degree to which this use is ‘congregational’, is marked by at least three divergent trends.