Gulu Hindu Temple Reopens After Decades Following Amin’s 1972 Expulsion

What the report says

More than 1,000 Hindu devotees gathered in Gulu for the reconsecration of the BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir, a temple originally built in 1965 and later left largely inactive after the 1972 expulsion of Asians from Uganda under Idi Amin. The event brought back former residents and worshippers, including Kanesh Patel, who was born in Gulu in 1953 and returned to the town decades after his family was forced to leave.

According to Nile Post, the reopening marked a significant homecoming for people with ties to Gulu’s former Asian community as well as visitors from India, the United Kingdom, Canada and Kenya. The temple had been rebuilt from 2023 with support from contributors abroad and now has space for about 300 worshippers. Organizers said it is intended to serve people of all backgrounds, while local and international guests attended alongside former Chief Justice Alphonse Owiny-Dollo Chigamoi.

The ceremony mixed Hindu rituals with Acholi cultural elements, including a Nagar Yatra procession and Bwola royal dancers. The publication also noted that about 40 Acholi people who embraced Hinduism in the 1960s were remembered during a Friday night gathering, highlighting a little-known part of Gulu’s religious history.

For many attendees, the reopening was not only about restoring a place of worship but also about reconnecting with memories of a more diverse community life in Gulu before forced displacement and later conflict reshaped the region.