When the British occupied Hong Kong in 1841, they brought along Indian soldiers, who were the first South Asians to arrive here. Indians continued to serve in the military and police force, while others were lured to Hong Kong by opportunities to trade with China in cotton, silk and opium. The earliest traders were Parsees and Bohra Muslims, followed by Sindhis and Gujaratis beginning in the 1920s and ‘30s.
As the community grew, in 1928, the government allotted land to the Hindus, initially for burials and then amended to allow for the construction of a temple.(The cemetery has only a few internments as Hindus prefer to cremate the dead.)
The Temple’s foundation stone was laid on 15 February 1953, and Hindusmade donations to cover the building costs of about HK$120,000. Seven months later,the opening was celebrated with Bhajans followed by Aarti and the sounding of gongs and bells.
“The completion of this temple is the fulfillment of an old dream. We have been discussing it for 27 years and now at last we stand here, in this gracious hall, in the presence of the religious spirit of our forefathers,” said FT Melwani, President of the Hindu Association, at the opening on 13 September 1953.
It was apt timing as the 1950s saw another influx of Indian immigrants to Hong Kong, particularly Sindhis. The partition of India after World War II was a catastrophe for Sindh province, which was allocated to the new Muslim state of Pakistan even though the majority of Sindhis are Hindus. Many Sindhis fled to trading hubs across the globe.
“Trading is in our blood,” says Lal Hardasani, President of the Hindu Association, describing how Sindhi traders acted as middlemen for local factories and often completed the English paperwork for them and their buyers. “We are part of Hong Kong’s growth, and it has become our home now.”
Today, The Hindu Temple in Happy Valley remains the largest of its kind in Hong Kong and serves as a thriving religious, cultural and social center for about 120,000 Hindus, hailing from across India, Nepal and the Indonesian island of Bali.