Jains or the followers of Jainism do not fall into one single community. There are Jains whose background and cultural differences are so great that to put them all in one compartment may do injustice to them. However for our purpose of identifying and knowing about the Jains in the U.K. we will refer to them as the Jain community.

Jains living in the U.K. have come from India and many African countries. Those who have arrived here from African countries are also from Indian origin and have migrated here after the independence and some upheavals in the domiciled countries.

Population

There are approximately 25 to 30,000 Jains living here in the U.K. Majority of them are living in Greater London area. Some 75 to 80 percent of total Jains here have come from East Africa (Like Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania); some have come here from Aden (Yemen) and something like 20% have directly come from India. Majority of all Jains here are Shvetambara Jains (Jains are by and large are either Shvetambaras or Digambaras. Monks in Shvetambara sect wear white clothing whereas monks of Digambara sect go ‘sky-clad’ ) Again in Shvetambara Jains we find some Jains who believe in Temples and idols whereas some Jains do not believe in temples.

Language

As regards Languages, most of the Jains living here have their roots in the state of Gujarat in India. Therefore the language they speak in their homes is Gujarati. There are about 10% other Jains whose language is either Marwari, Hindi or Punjabi. The new generation born and brought up in this country speak poor Gujarati (or Hindi or other languages) which is a worrying, factor for many devout Jains. Festival

There are two main festivals

» Mahavir Jayanti- All Jains celebrate the birthday of Bhagvan Mahavir (A last and 24th Ford-maker, enlightened one 599-527BCE). This event falls in late march or early April.

» Paryushana- Eight to ten-day celebrations of religious activities. This festival falls during the end of August or early part of September.