Hinduism in New Zealand

In 1836 the missionary William Colenso saw Māori women near Whangarei using a broken bronze bell to boil potatoes. The inscription around the rim read ‘Muhayideen Baksh’s ship’s bell’ in very old Tamil script. This discovery has led to speculation that Tamil-speaking Hindus may have visited New Zealand hundreds of years ago.

However, the first noted settlement of Hindus in New Zealand dates back to the arrival of sepoys (Indian soldiers) in the 19th century, with the first communities from the Punjab and Gujarat arriving in the 1890s. Until the 1980s almost all Hindu migrants came from Gujarat. Later they arrived from all over India and from elsewhere, including Sri Lanka, Malaysia and South Africa.[3]

In the 1991 Census, surging migration as a result of the Immigration Act 1987 made the number of Hindus surpass 17,000.[4][5] India's Economic Liberalisation occurred in the same year, increasing the standard of living and allowing more immigrants to come in the future. The 1996 New Zealand Census showed the eased immigration laws resulted in the number of Hindus growing from 18,000 in 1991 to surpassing 25,000 for the first time. This was largely due to the continued success of the Immigration Act 1987.

In the 2001 Census, the population of Hindus was at almost 40 000, meaning that the number of Hindus tripled in the 10 years since the 1991 census. The 2006 census showed the number of Hindus to be 64,557, an increase of nearly 62% from the previous census in 2001.[6] The growth of the number of Hindus in New Zealand then slowed in the years between the 2006 Census and the 2013 Census because of a mixture of events. The heightened violence against Indian Australians(2007-2010) and the 2011 Christchurch earthquake were the main reasons why growth of Hindus declined. The latter was also the main reason why the Census year was moved from 2011 to 2013.[7] The slowdown in long term migration was partially offset by soaring numbers of Indian Students and Skilled Migrants, whose numbers increased rapidly during the Great Recession partly due to costs being cheaper and a better economic outlook.[8][9] The recently conducted 2013 Census showed the Hindu population made up slightly over 2% of the population, with 90,018 adherents. This increased Hinduism's share of the total New Zealand population by 0.5% despite immigration slowing as a result of the events mentioned earlier.

Majority of the Hindus in New Zealand are Asians, followed by Europeans and Pacific Islanders. There are 3,567 European and 1,857 Pacific peoples following Hinduism. Hinduism also has a small following among Maori. There are 858 Maoris following Hinduism [14]

• Thiru Subramaniyar Aalayam is located in 69, Tidal Road, Mangere, Auckland. It is a temple with South Indian style granite deities.[21]
• Bhartiya Mandir is the oldest and the largest Hindu Temple in New Zealand [22]
• Thirumurugan Temple in Otahuhu.
• Sri Ganesh Temple located in Papakura.[23]
• Radha-Krishna Temple' in Eden Terrace
• Ram Krishna Temple in Papatoetoe
• The International Swaminarayan Satsang Organisation runs a Swaminarayan Temple in Auckland.
• BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Avondale, Auckland.

• Kurinchi Kumaran Temple ,located in Wellington[24] in Newlands. It was the first South Indian style Hindu temple to be established in New Zealand, and it features ancient temple architecture.It is located in 3 Batchelor Street Newlands Wellington.
• The Wellington Indian Association run a North Indian style Temple.[25]
• Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple of Wellington (SVWT) is located in Wainuiomata. Sanatana Dharma Paripalana Seva Trust (SDPST) of New Zealand, registered charity in New Zealand established the temple in 2018 with community support and operational from Nov 2019 at 25, Waiu Street, Wainuiomata, Wellington.

• Sanatan Dharam Mandir , built by the members of the Tauranga Hindu community.[26] The trust bought roughly 2150 square meters of land in the suburb of Tauriko for around $400,000.[27] Despite being inaugurated in 2012, work on the actual Hindu Temple did not commence until early 2015.[28] Stage One of the temple was completed by mid-late 2015.[29] The temple is located at 108 Whiore Ave, Tauriko, Tauranga.[30]

• Christchurch's and the South Island's only Hindu temple is the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Christchurch, located in 19 Frank Street in the suburb of Papanui.[31] The mandir was inaugurated on 2011, after a "Mahapuja".[32] The temple was inaugurated after 12 months of renovations, which the 2011 Christchurch earthquake temporarily halted.[33]

• The BAPS Sri Swaminarayan Temple, Rotorua's first Hindu Temple, opened in 2012 making it the fourth "BAPS" temple in New Zealand.[34] It the only Hindu Temple in the central north island.[35]

• The Sri Balaji Temple was opened in March 2015,[36] six years after the founding of the Sri Balaji Temple Charitable Trust[37]

• The International Society for Krishna Consciousness also has a presence in New Zealand, running temples in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch. The Auckland temple is located out of the city, and is built in the Vedic style with a tower over the main shrine.

• Jeetan Patel, former spin bowler for the New Zealand cricket team, the Black Caps
• Roy Krishna, Fijian football player playing for Wellington Phoenix FC as a striker in the A-league
• Dipak Narshibhai Patel, cricket player Tests and one-day internationals for New Zealand
• Jeet Raval, current batsman for the Black Caps Test match team
• Roneel Hira, New Zealand cricketer
• Tarun Nethula, New Zealand cricketer

• Aaradhna Patel, Half Samoan and half Indian R&B artist
• Shailesh Prajapati, New Zealand actor, known for his role as Ernie in Power Rangers MegaForce

• Rohit Kumar Happy, editor of Bharat-Darshan, Hindi literary magazine[38]
• Vanita Prasad, chief reporter, Western Leader
• Rebecca Singh, openly gay news anchor on the New Zealand television station TV3

• Mahesh Bindra,first Hindu Member of Parliament
• Priyanca Radhakrishnan, first Hindu woman Member of Parliament since 2017
• Rajen Prasad, former Race Relations Commissioner and Families Commissioner, and Member of Parliament since 2008
• Anand Satyanand, former Governor-General of New Zealand, appointed on 23 August 2006