Followers of Jainism first came to Leicester from India, Kenya and Uganda. In 1973 they formed an executive committee to establish a place of worship in the town. In 1979 they purchased a closed United Reformed Church on Oxford Street which had been constructed in 1865. The building was renovated with the addition of a marble frontage and rich interior stone carvings in the traditional style. It was completed in 1988.
The Jain Centre Temple is the largest Jain temple in the Western world and was the first to bring together all the main sects of Jainism in one building. It functions as a modern European centre allowing Jains to work together to promote their doctrine.
From the guide to the The Jain Collection, 1951 - 1993, (De Montfort University Archives and Special Collections)
