South Asian Religion in Hong Kong Kenneth R. Valpey - Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies (Oxford, U.K.) South Asian religious life in the HKSAR is characterized by diversity that reflects the rich variety of South Asian communities that have settled there in the course of the last century and a half (estimated to number some 40,000 individuals). It also reflects a pursuit of continuity and connection with established religious traditions, while also adapting to the context of Hong Kong's fast pace, cosmopolitanism, and commercial ethos. The general tendency for specific South Asian diaspora communities to sustain ethnic identities through religious associations and practices is in Hong Kong balanced by more mixed association in some organizations, particularly those that emphasize one or another form of yoga practice and meditation, to which local Chinese and westerners are attracted. Here we provide a very brief overview of South Asian religious groups and activities, focusing mainly on those of specifically Indic origins (hence acknowledging, but not describing here, the presence of an active and sizeable South Asian Islamic community, as well as the existence of South Asian Christians and Jews). We use the inclusive term "South Asian" rather than specifically "Indian" religion, particularly to include those groups - specifically Sindhis and Punjabis - who have migrated from areas now part of Pakistan, who represent largely Hindu and Sikh traditions respectively. Zoroastrianism, though originating in ancient Iran, deserves mention here as the religious culture of the Parsi community of Hong Kong, due to its early presence and considerable influence in the territory despite its small size. The Zoroastrian community of Hong Kong presently claims some 200 members, yet it boasts a tradition of philanthropy in the city dating back to the late nineteenth century, with the public charity of Sir Hormusjee Naorojee Mody. The community headquarters is the Zoroastrian Building in Causeway Bay, where regular religious observances and social gatherings are held (including open-house outreach events). The community has its own cemetery (in Happy Valley). Slightly larger in membership than the Hong Kong Parsi community is that of the territory's Jains, whose similarly ancient religious tradition originated in South Asia proper, as a shramanical (ascetic) rejection of the dominant brahmanical (later Hindu) worldview. The Shree Hong Kong Jain Sangh (established in 1994, in Tshim Sha Tsui) maintains a temple dedicated to the Tirthankar Adinath Bhagavan Murti (having been founded by the Shethambara Murti-pujaka sect of Jainism, which allows the worship of its saints in the form of physical images -- murtis). This temple is supported by some 400 Jain families (largely from Gujarat and Rajasthan) who, significantly, are affiliated with various Jain traditions including others than that of the temple's founding.
A well-established Sikh community thrives in Hong Kong, originating with nineteenth-century Punjabi Sikh members of the British army regiment stationed in the territory. The centre of Sikh religious life in Hong Kong is in Wan Chai, at the Khalsa Diwan (Hong Kong) Sikh Temple, also known as the Sri Guru Singh Sabha, a gurudwara