Conversion of non-Hindu places of worship into temples

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]

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]

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.

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]

• Saffron Terror
• Religious intolerance
• Religious persecution