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System by the British Government. The policy of Africanization pursued by the newly-independent East African states that culminated in the expulsion of Asians from Uganda in 1972 was the major push factor for the Jains as well to get out of East Africa (Ramchandani 1978). Some Jains also immigrated into Britain from Ethiopia, Sudan and Yemen during the 1960s and 1970s due to adverse political situations there. Thus of the estimated total population of about 20,000 Jains in Britain in the mid-1990s, about 5,000 were from India and about 15,000 from East Africa and elsewhere (Shah 1977: 371). By the late 1990s there were 30,000 Jains in the U.K. -- 25,000 in London, 1,000 in Leicester, 500 in Manchester and 500 in Birmingham. Presently, the Jain population in the U.K. is estimated at around 50,000.
Jains' socio-cultural and religious needs in Britain are being looked after by about half a dozen temples and more than thirty associations. Major Jain temples are: Jain Temple, Leicester; Kailash Giri Jain Temple, London; Shree Parshwanath Digambar Jain Mandir, London and Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain Temple, Middlesex. The Jain Temple of Leicester is located at a converted church which was bought by the Jains in 1980 with the blessings of Shri Chitrabhanuji. The pratishtha mahotsav was held in 1988 under the guidance of H. H. Shri Charukeerthi Bhattarak Maharaj of Shravanbelagola. The Temple has the idol of Bhagwan Chandraprabhu as the main deity. A ten feet high idol of Bhagwan Bahubali in a kayotsrga, goddess Padmavati and other Jain idols are also there in the temple. The Temple premises also have three sanctum sanctorums dedicated to the Shwetambar sect, besides a big hall, a school and a library, the boarding and lodging facilities are also available in the Temple complex.
Of the numerous Jain socio-cultural associations in the U. K., the following three are the most important ones: the Jain Samaj Europe, the Oswal Association of the United Kingdom and the Navnat Vanik Association (U.K.). "The Jain Samaj Europe has established a Jain Centre in the city of Leicester. This centre is a major symbol of Jain unity, the first centre of its kind to embody co-operation among Jain groups by including in one building a Shvetambar temple, a Digambar temple, a Guru Gautam mandir, a Sthanakvasi upashraya
96 | Jains in India and Abroad
