Jainism in the United States

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The Jains started arriving in significant numbers to the United States in the early 1970s. At the present time there are a number of Jain temples and institutions in the USA, and the number of Jains in America is probably greater than 100,000.

Even before this wave of immigration, there were two events that anticipated the future arrival of Jainism in the United States. The first was the construction of a "Jain temple" at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904-5. At that time, there were no Jains in the USA. After the fair, it was dismantled and rebuilt in Las Vegas, Nevada, only to be taken down in the 1960's. Now that Jains live in the USA, the remains of the building have been acquired by the Jain Society of Los Angeles and it is being reassembled.

The second event was the arrival of Virachand Gandhi, who is considered the father of American Jainism.

Contents

[edit] Chronology

  • 1850 - American Vegetarian Society established
  • 1893 - Arrival of Virachand Gandhi to participate in Chicago's World Parliament of Religions
  • 1904 - Jain Temple at St. Louis World's Fair
  • 1944 - First Jain settlers in USA
  • 1966 - Jain Center of America in New York established
  • 1971 - Arrival of Shri Chitrabhanuji
  • 1973 - Jain Center of Greater Boston established [1]
  • 1974 - Arrival of Muni Acharya Sushil Kumar
  • 1981 - First Jain convention in Los Angeles
  • 1983 - Formal organization of JAINA (Jain Associations in North America)
  • 1990 - Temple Pratishtha, The Jain Sangh Cherry Hill, New Jersey
  • 1990 - Temple Pratishtha, Jain Society of Metropolitan Washington [1]
  • 1991 - Founding of Siddhachalam, the Jain tirtha [2]
  • 1993 - Temple Pratishtha, Jain Society of Metropolitan Chicago [3]
  • 1995 - Temple Pratishtha, Jain Center of Cincinnati and Dayton [2]
  • 1998 - Temple Pratishtha, Jain Society of Greater Detroit [3]
  • 1998 - Jain population in North America estimated to be about 75,000-85,000
  • 2000 - Temple Pratishtha, Jain Center of Northern California (JCNC) [4]
  • 2000 - Jain Vishwa Bharati Orlando [5]
  • 2002 - Jain population estimated to be about 90,000-100,000

[edit] References

  1. ^ Jain Center of Greater Boston
  2. ^ Siddhachalam
  3. ^ Jain Society of Metropolitan Chicago
  • Jainism in America Bhuvanendra Kumar. Benaras, Jain Humanities Press, 1996

[edit] External links

[edit] Jain centers