Indian Community Centre, Belfast
86 Clifton Street, Belfast BT13 1AB
About Us
"Our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and the test of our civilisation"
Mahatma Gandhi
Our Vision
We, at the Indian Community Centre, Belfast, aim to follow the words of Mahatma Gandhi, for an equal and inclusive society, not just in India, but also here in Northern Ireland.
Our mission is to provide support to the Indian community, encourage integration, and develop good relations with the wider communities in Northern Ireland.
India is the world's largest democracy and a secular country which is home to about 1.3 billion people, with diverse, ethnic, religious, and genetic heritage. Land area wise, India is the seventh largest country in the world, and is about 13 times bigger than the UK. As it's culture and population, India is equally diverse geographically as well. In the north, it has the Himalayas, some of the agriculturally most fertile lands and plains called as the Indo-Gangetic Plain, the Thar desert on the west, the coastal plains and ghats in the west & south, and many tropical islands.
Indian Diaspora
Northern Ireland is where we live and belong now, and we continuously feel blessed by such beautiful landscapes and amazing indigenous population which has embraced the Indian immigrant community, whether they came here as entrepreneurs, doctors and nurses, or engineers, recently or 60 years ago, the overall support of the local community, and everyone in Northern Ireland has simply been incredible. As per the last Census of 2011, there were approximately 6157 people of Indian origin living in Northern Ireland, a number which has continued to grow.
The Hindu Temple
The Lakshmi Narayan Mandir, the only Hindu temple in Northern Ireland is located on the ground floor of Indian Community Centre Belfast. Hinduism is one of the oldest surviving religion on Earth with the first of its scriptures i.e. the Rigveda written in approx 1700 BCE. It is the world's third largest religion with over 1.25 billion followers.
Hinduism and Sanatan Dharma emphasise on 'Dharma' which signify behaviours that are considered to be in accord with ऋत i.e. "order, rule; truth", the principle of natural order which regulates and coordinates the operation of the universe and everything within it, the order that makes life and universe possible, and includes duties, rights, laws, conduct, virtues and "right way of living".
The Hindu Temple welcomes anyone from any community, religion or faith and there is no visitors fee.