Our History

Shree Krishna Mandir was established by a network of Gujarati families, who in the 1960s and 1970s migrated from India and Africa to West Bromwich, Tipton, Wednesbury and surrounding industrial towns.

In 1968, a simple shrine of Shree Ambe Mataji became the focal point of worship during Navratri celebrations at Lodge Road Primary School, West Bromwich. These annual celebrations motivated the community to find a more permanent place of worship.

In 1971, our community purchased the former Ebenezer Church (built in 1839) on Old Meeting Street and converted it into a Mandir. The old school building next door became our community hall.

In 1973, the Birla family in India donated our Shree Shree Radha-Krishna murtis, along with another pair for Shree Sanatan Mandir in Leicester. These deities along with murtis of Shree Ganeshji and Shree Hanumanji were installed on 22nd June 1974.

With few other Mandirs in the area, Shree Krishna Mandir became an important focal point for Hindus across the West Midlands to worship, celebrate festivals and mark rites of passage, such as weddings. Notably our Mandir and community hall were instrumental in establishing the Mandhata Hitwardhak Mandal (UK). In 1988, the Mandir was granted ‘Grade II listed building’ status.

Tragedy struck our community in the early hours of Tuesday 8th December 1992 when our Mandir was destroyed in a fire. Three fire engines attended the blaze which destroyed the fabric of the building, including the total collapse of the roof and floor, rendering the structure unsafe.

Miraculously, the Shree Shree Radha-Krishna deities survived the fire completely unharmed and this motivated the community to re-build a new Mandir.

On 16th January 1993, our community launched the Shree Krishna Mandir Appeal, with the support of MPs, local inter-faith leaders and the Hindu community across the UK and the world.

Since the launch of the appeal in 1993, Hindus across the country and our well-wishers in the wider community have contributed to raising funds for the new Mandir. Over the years, we have seen a variety of fundraising initiatives such as: Bhajan-Satsangs, aluminium can collections, ‘Buy-a Brick campaign’, Garba and other cultural shows, catering services, merchandise stalls, fetes and sports events. We have witnessed a whole host of sponsored activities from walks and silences to sky-diving.

Until 1996, the deities of Shree Shree Radha-Krishna still stood in the old Mandir. The entire shrine area was boarded up, with a small opening to allow access. By now, the Mandir was de-listed and approval was granted for demolition and Sandwell Council approved the rebuilding project. In June of that year, Tattvanyas (Chalan) Vidhi was performed to remove the Prana (Divine life) of the deities and move them to a safe location to allow demolition.

In June 1997, the rituals of Bhumi Puja (seeking permission and forgiveness from Mother Earth) and Khatmuhurat (ground breaking) were performed. The ‘Shilanyas-Vidhi’ (foundation laying ceremony) was then performed where conscreted foundation stones and Nidhi Kumbh (sanctified pot) were placed directly beneath the position of the presiding Radha-Krishna deities. After several revisions of the Mandir design, work for the foundational plinth finally started in March 1998.

For almost a decade, the community worked hard to continue fundraising activities. Gradually containers of stone arrived from India and the project continued; albeit punctured by a number of brief gaps and minor delays. Our team of skilled craftsmen from India and dedicated volunteers braved the cold and wet British weather to carry out the painstaking task of assembling hand-carved stone transported from India.

In June 2009, the Shilanyas rituals for the Ganapati, Surya, Ambaji and Shiva shrines were completed.

Our 2009 Diwali and New Year celebrations marked the completion of construction of the Mandir exterior, where the final stone on the Shikhar, the ‘Amalsaro’, was blessed and anointed. This was followed by installing utility connections, underfloor heating and marble flooring. The highlight of this phase was assembling the marble ‘Prabhasans’ or thrones for the deities in each shrine. Landscaping, erection of the ‘Toran’ entrance and the new ‘Peacock’ wall also took place in this final phase.

The Mandir was opened and Pran Pratishta of all our deities took place on Monday 30th August 2010, the culmination of a grand 9 day festival.