Jain Centre, Leicester

A converted Victorian chapel refaced with carved stone, and unusual in housing shrines of several Jain traditions under one roof.

The building began as a Congregational chapel and was rebuilt through the 1980s by the Jain community of Leicester, with sandstone and marble carved in India by craftsmen who then travelled to install it. The interior columns and ceiling work are of a quality rarely seen outside western India.

What makes it notable beyond the carving is the arrangement: Svetambara, Digambara and Sthanakvasi shrines share the building, together with a Shrimad Rajchandra shrine. In India these traditions almost always maintain separate premises. A community small enough to need one building produced something the homeland does not have.

Worth knowing

• An active community centre as well as a temple; parts of the building are in regular use for teaching.

For opening times and access, check the temple's own announcements — they change, and we would rather list nothing than send you to a closed door.

Written for Jain Times. Corrections are welcome — see sources and licences.