Sanatan Deevya Mandal

This Hindu Temple was established in 1979 in Redfield, East Bristol in a late Victorian gothic building whose original use had been a Methodist Chapel.

Bristol’s Hindu community by then consisted of several hundred people from varying caste and regional backgrounds. But the core of the community was composed of refugees from Uganda of Gujerati background. Hariprasad Joshi, who was then vice-president of the Bristol Indian Association enlisted the support of the Rev. R. Stevenson The Methodist Superintendent of the Kingswood Area and Tony Benn, M.P., to obtain this building for use as a Hindu Temple. The Hindu community in Bristol solicited financial help from Hindu groups and individuals throughout England. The two day celebration followed the Temple’s opening in 1981 included the Lord Mayor, M.P.’s and eight Brahmin priests from London and Leicester.