How many jains in america

Here, 79, people identify as practitioners of Jainism, a significant difference compared to the population in India. Jainism arrived in the US during the 20th century AD through a number of immigrants to the country. The largest wave of Jain immigrants occurred in the s when Chitrabhanu arrived to give lectures at Harvard University and established a Jain center in New York City.

Jainism continued to grow in the US over the following years and in the s, the Federation of Jain Associations in North America was established. In addition to having the largest population of Jains outside of India, the US also has the largest number of Jain temples outside of India.

Jainism has existed in this country for around a century and is concentrated in major cities: Nairobi and Mombasa. The Jain community celebrates their religion by holding festivals, conventions, and other programs. The fourth-largest Jain population in the world is in the United Kingdom, where around 16, people identify as practitioners of the religion. Throughout North America Jains have formed svadhyaya study groups and invited scholars from abroad to discuss the scriptures.

American Jain communities have invested in religious education, training the next generation with Jain schools called pathshalas places of learning. Read more about Pathshala: The Next Generation. Jain emigration from India to other countries began with Jains migrating to Britain and British colonies.

At the beginning of this century, a number of Gujarati Jains migrated to coastal towns of East Africa and later moved inland, particularly to Kenya, to open businesses. In addition, political turmoil in the East African states forced a second migration of a number of Indians—to the U.

In the early s the World Jain Congress estimated that there were approximately 25, Jains in the United Kingdom, 25, in the U. Shree, who credits Jainismwith helping her conquer post-traumatic stress disorder, is challenging Jain tradition that she feels place a monk's status above a nun's. Shree would not be considered a true Jain nun by many more traditional worshippers, but her voice — and the other new voices — can help the faith become more relevant in today's America, said Sulekh C.

Jain, of Houston, who for nearly five decades has been a leading force among U. In this photo taken Friday, Aug. The ancient Indian religion of Jainism, a close cousin of Buddhism, has a strict adherence to nonviolence that forbids eating meat, encourages days of fasting and places value on even the smallest of insects. Gillian Flaccus AP August 18, The faith's most recent idol lived 2, years ago but Jainism is much older.