BRIEF HISTORY OF LEEDS HINDU TEMPLE

Manhar A PateI

 

Nearly 35 years ago in Leeds there were 35 to 40 Hindu families. One such family was that of Mr. N. K. Khanna whose son's Mundan caused Mr. Khanna to realise that if the Hindu community had a common community place he could have made this occasion more pleasant and memorable for his family and friends.

 

He felt the need for a common community place for Hindus in Leeds. He conveyed his thoughts to his friend Mr. N. D. Misra who met the writer. The trio together canvassed and convened a meeting.

 

2nd October 1966 (Gandhi Jayanti) the first meeting took place. There were 41 people present and Mr. Mansukh Upadhyaya was in the chair. A committee was formed of 11 members to set about achieving a common community place for the Hindus in Leeds.

 

The committee undertook to celebrate the first coming event of Diwali as a public event.

 

On the 13th October 1966 the Hindu community in Leeds celebrated their first festival in style. Nearly 350 to 400 people participated. A good number of Hindu students from the University of Leeds contributed to make the event successful. Among them was a noteworthy Maharashtrian student Mr. Anand Wagh.

 

The joyful event lasted 3 hours, the programme was very colourful. Marathi Lavani, Gujarati Garba-Ras, Punjabi and Hindu songs and a drama were a few of the items performed, the event concluding with Arti and Prasadum.

 

That event attracted some new elite people into the committee these included Dr. K. P. Hardas, Dr. S. P. Gupta, Kamlesh Sharda. Shri. Kamlesh Sharda was himself a dedicated Sangh worker. He brought with him a new group of volunteers to join this activity.

 

Until this time the committee was functioning as an ad hoc Hindu cultural society. The idea of a long term vision was slowly taking place. The purpose was to have a Hindu community centre (temple). So far funds were very low hence the drive for collection renewed. The committee was always ready to inspire more new people to join in. In those days a good number of new families had come to live in Leeds for good from East Africa.

 

In June 1967 a  sad  event  happened. One Hindu fellow named Kanji Mulji Luhar went to London airport to receive his wife and his child who were coming from the small village of Kutch. Shri Mulji met his wife after a period of 12-14 years separation, he was very happy at this re union.

 

He was looking forward to a happy life with his family in the U.K. On the way back from London he suddenly collapsed and died from a heart attack. His wife and child were taken off the train and the authorities brought them to Leeds. The body was kept in a mortuary.

 

His wife and child reached their home which they had never seen before. Alone in a foreign country she could not understand a word of English. Luckily some Indian families recently arrived from Kenya were living nearby. Among them were Shri and Shrimati Purshottam Parmar who rushed to comfort the bereaved widow and child. They approached the committee members.

The committee members, with the help of other people, arranged the funeral and care for the family. This event sparked the need for togetherness.

 

In September-October 1967 with the help of social service minded people like Mrs. Maureen Baker, efforts were made to draft a Constitution. Simultaneously efforts were made to expedite the collection of funds from outside Leeds.

Some volunteers travelled to Manchester, Liverpool, Bolton, Newcastle, Bradford, Dewsbury, Wakefield and many other places to collect funds. Drop by drop and penny by penny the funds now reached a sum of £1,038.

 

On 5th November 1967 with the co­operation of University students, the second Diwali programme was celebrated in one of the University Halls. The items included Indian

classical music played by the All India Radio star Dr. Mrs. Godbole and another lady doctor Dr. Moorjani who presented Indian classical dances.

There were many other wonderful items. On the funny side the expenses were over £80 and the collection was less than £20.

The deficit was shared equally by the four organisers with a view to saving the society from financial debt.

 

On 3rd March 1968 a General meeting took place. Besides other business, the draft Trust Deed was read and discussed, clause by clause, which was passed with some amendments, sixteen Trustees were named.

 

They were (1) Dr. K.P. Hardas (2) N.D. Misra (3) Manhar PateI(4) D.P. Divecha (5) CM. Ana rid (6) V.M. Chopra (7) B. D. Vij (8) Isvar Parekh (9) A. P. Sekhri (10) N.K. Khanna (11) M.R. Parmar (12) Ved Prakash Sharma (13) Govind Parmar (14) Kamlesh Sharda (15) Balbir Dutta (16) Ratilal Patel.

 

On the 14th July 1968 a sponsored walk (Pad Yatra) was organised with a view to raising funds and to popularise the activities of the Trust. A good number of young and not so young took part.

The walk started from the steps of the Town Hall en route Woodhouse Headingley, Otley Road, Weetwood Ring Road, Meanwood Ring Road turning into King Lane, Scotthall Road, North Street, Vicar Lane, Headrow and finishing at the Town Hall. The walk was for a total of 12 miles.

 

Ever since the first Diwali programme the search for a suitable place was on all the time. There were some differences of opinion regarding the selection of the area. Also there was another constraint; this being the funds. By mid 1968 the funds were only in the region of £1,600.

 

Some members were looking to solve the short term need and expressed preference for a terrace house while some were looking for a bigger property like a disused school or a church.

Some wanted to take the risk of borrowing money whilst some were hesitating to create debt. Money was the main problem.

 

In 1967 about 37 letters were sent to various Estate Agents notifying them of the need for a property which could be used as a community centre. After a while two agents replied and offered 2 properties.

One was within the means but was small and not in a good area. The other was the present Temple at 36 Alexandra Road. The property at Alexandra Road was ideal but the asking price was too high.

While negotiating it was noticed that the property contained a covenant which stipulated that the property could only be sold for charitable purpose. This clause was a blessing in disguise for our needs.

 

After bargaining, the vendors being the Salvation Army, agreed the sale at around £5,500.

There were two schools of thoughts. To avoid controversy an open day was held for Hindu people to come and view the property and to give their individual opinion on the property.

Overwhelmingly the opinion was in favour of buying this property. Public opinion brought about the most needed unity amongst the committee members.

 

In August 1968 moves were made to acquire this property. £3,500 was needed and the Yorkshire Bank in Chapel Allerton was approached. The Bank was not willing to lend money even though the property was a bargain for two reasons.

First, the proposed borrowers were a Trust without any source of income and second, the Trustees did not have the power to borrow money as per the Trust Deed.

A remedy was found and another deed was executed which amended the Trust Deed.

Out of 11 Trustees five volunteered who were home owners. The Bank accepted personal guarantees on homes of these five Trustees and agreed to loan the money.

 

In the beginning of October 1969 the property of 36 Alexandra Road came into the possession of the Hindu community. Here phase one ends as this was a landmark event in the history of Hindu Temple in Leeds.

In the year 2001, looking back at the situation in 1968 when the Hindu community only had £1600 to £1800 on hand the Trustees bought this property.

This property is still in good shape and its present day value is in the region of half a million pounds. This provides a sense of satisfaction.

 

The years between 1970 and 1985 were a period of unease. In the years 1972 and 1973 there were two major fires at the Temple in the main building.

There were Beer-race riots in Burley (Temple area). After one such fire while restoration was taking place Navratri was celebrated by using gas and car battery lights in the main building. The spirit of the people was always high.

After the fires and events of hostility in 1973 a high steel fence was erected on three sides of the Temple compound to strengthen the security of the Temple.

Pride and prejudice among some of the Trustees were causing unhappiness in the community. During this period there were two notable priests.

One was Shri Shastri Amrutpalji and another was Shri Pandya Chimanlalji. Both of them joined when the Temple was going through a turbulent phase and they both were made to leave because of the whims of some Trustees. To do justice it must be said that they were both good at their jobs which involved an element of public relations. A priest is a contact point between God and human.

Mrs. Pandya was good at public relations. She would see every visitor of the Temple as a guest of the Temple.

Despite some drawbacks, the Temple kept functioning and ordinary people of the Hindu community have, during the years, ceaselessly participated and willingly made contributions to keep the temple alive.

 

As for major events, the first major event at the temple soon after it was acquired was a Bhagavad Saptah in 1969 followed by a Rayan Katha.

A Bal Gopal mandal was started under the guidance of of Pandit Panshikar. A newsletter started under the editorship of Ramesh Khetani. This was a monthly magazine  with 8 to 10 pages. The magazine continued under the guidance of the late SPD Master.

From 1970-1985 the late Shri Trimkambhai Bulsara was a guiding force and trouble shooter. He helped the temple until his last breath.

In Leeds, like many other cities and towns, the are some fringe organisations often as Mandals or groups.

One such group is the Punjabi ladies group which has always contributed money and services to the temple. Another such group is the Pragati Mandal. They have provided volunteers to manage events and still do. Groups and Mandals like these have a positive role to play.

In 1985 the period of turbulence came to an end. Lessons were learnt and the whole community showed their faith by uniting. The late Shri Zaverbhai patel and Shri Shantilal Surti managed to put the Temple activities on track again. R.C. Patel was a good organiser and generous in public relations. Things started to move smoothly again.

In 1985 the bank balance received from the outgoing committee was only about £400 to £500 however, in September 1990 the balance was in the region of £25,000.

In 1985 Shri Ramesh Purohit joined as a volunteer priest. He rendered his services free of charge. He too was very good at public relations. He started a monthly magazine in Gujarati called Dharma Darshan. He would organise short plays and musical events. He served the Temple for five years with great honesty and in a forthright manner. Another helping hand was and still is our Induben Patel. She single handedly ran Gujarati classes for many years and trained young boys and girls for entertainment events.

Even aged volunteers like Shri Harikaka Parmar Chunikaka Dabhi, Shantaben and Dayaljibhai Patel have served the Temple regularly and still do. All those good people who contributed their time and effort deserve credit for they have truly served the Hindu community and the Temple well.

At last in 1990 two surviving old active guards (Trustees) voluntarily decided to leave the stage in order to make way for a new generation. On the 12th September 1990 a General meeting of all Hindus was called and in the presence of 40 people the new management committee under the chairmanship of Shri Suresh Shah was formed and they are still running the show.

In the last ten years there have been many positive developments. The committee led by Shri Sureshbhai Shah took charge of the affairs of the Temple in September 1990. In 1992 and 1993 saints like Shri Rameshbhai Oza accompanied by Swami Chidanand Saraswati and Morari Bapu have graced the Temple and given discourses. In 1994 Swami Satchittanandji of Dantali honoured the Temple. Swami Abyanand of Gangotri has also graced the Temple.

Special Kathas such as Shivpuran by Dayagiri Goswami have been held over the years and many more spiritual leaders have also graced the temple. The Temple joined the Hindu Council of North in 1993. In three successive years the Temple won trophies in the Ras/Garba competition. Of course the Temple has also continued with past traditions and has continued to celebrate all major Hindu festivals without fail.

The committee's first task was to improve existing facilities within the Temple. This included building an extension to the kitchen and dining hall. After this they decided to build a new extension to the existing Prayer hall. This was a mammoth task in itself. The committee had plans drafted and worked out a provisional budget of £150,000. The committee invited public opinion following which it was decided that the new Temple should be a marble Temple. The cost of the project went up to about £400,000.

Further plans were obtained and the work began to raise funds. The committee started the work of raising funds and it is worth noting that all funds have all been raised from within Leeds. Various programmes and events were organised to raise funds. As soon as they had enough funds the construction work started and the building work commenced in August 2000. The imposing and attractive new Temple building is the result of hard work and dedication. The new prayer hall was a vision and it has now come to fruition.

Sureshbhai Shah had the vision of putting the Temple on the map. This he and his team have done so successfully. Sureshbhai has worked hard to see his dream come true. This could not have been achieved however, without the support and help of so many individuals. Over the years many people have rendered their services and have continued to help Sureshbhai.

Some people deserve a special mention here and these include Sarojben Chauhan and Induben Patel who have stood by Sureshbhai throughout the years. Other notable contributions have been from the silent majority which include Mansukhbhai Kukadia, Jyotsnaben Karsan, Jayantibhai Dattani, Amratbhai Parmar, Rameshbhai Chohan and many, many others.

This is by no means an exhaustive list for there are so many other people who have constantly supported the Temple as and when they can and still do. More recently the temple has received support from the Yorkshire Jain Foundation and the South Indian group. The Temple extension itself has come about after careful planning and a lot of hard work. The new temple is built of quality marble specially brought over from India. The architects/sculptors came over from India to complete the Temple. It can now be seen in its full glory. All those who have worked tirelessly to achieve this have the satisfaction of seeing the results of their hard work.

The new five trustees are Shri Sureshbhai Shah, Induben Patel, Sarojben Chauhan, Sandhir Pal and Ranjitbhai Bhagatji. We wish Sureshbhai and his team the very best for the future.

This Temple originally came into being to serve the Hindus community of Leeds and it is pleasing to note that the work done by the current committee has ensured that this Temple will remain a place of worship for many generations to come. May the good work continue.

 Jay Shri Krishna. 24th June 2001

 

Update

In 2007 Mr Niranjan Vakharia was elected as the Chairman of the Leeds Hindu Mandir. With the debut of the Mandir on the world wide web, the Mandir is now internationally recognised. With his team and the excellent support of the local Hindu community, the Mandir now has a new and modern dining hall which saw it’s opening in late 2009.

 

 

 

 

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