User:Noorezamzam/sandbox

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

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.
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.
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.
Swaminarayan Hindu temple	St John's Baptist Church	[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. It was also called the Mission Hall of St. John's
Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Bolton	Unity Church (Unitarian)		Bolton, Manchester	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.
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.
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.
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.
Swaminarayan Hindu Temple	Dunamis Christian Faith Church		Louisville, KY	USA	The Sansthan has bought another defunct church, in the heart of Louisville, Kentucky.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.