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The second temple of Congregation Beth Israel from 1908-1925, which later became the New Day Temple. The Grove at Discovery Green is located at this site today.
The second temple of Congregation Beth Israel from 1908-1925, which later became the New Day Temple. The Grove at Discovery Green is located at this site today.
Photo: Bill Clough, HC Staff
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Temple Beth Israel in February 1938, at Austin and Holman. Congregation Beth Israel worshiped there from 1925 until 1967, when it moved into its current temple on North Braeswood.
Temple Beth Israel in February 1938, at Austin and Holman. Congregation Beth Israel worshiped there from 1925 until 1967, when it moved into its current temple on North Braeswood.
Photo: Houston Chronicle
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Priest emeritus Rajarathna Battar walks around the exterior wall of the Sri Meenakshi Temple in 2006 in Pearland. ( Kevin Fujii / Chronicle )
Priest emeritus Rajarathna Battar walks around the exterior wall of the Sri Meenakshi Temple in 2006 in Pearland. ( Kevin Fujii / Chronicle )
Photo: Kevin Fujii, Staff Photographer
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Several young Hindu men leave the temple after worshipping at the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir.
Several young Hindu men leave the temple after worshipping at the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir.
Photo: Johnny Hanson, Staff
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Hindu priests gather inside the new Sri Guruvayurappan temple during the installation of the deities ritual in 2015 in Houston. ( Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle )
Hindu priests gather inside the new Sri Guruvayurappan temple during the installation of the deities ritual in 2015 in Houston. ( Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle )
Photo: Brett Coomer, Staff
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A Buddhist Temple sits in the background while children play dodge ball in the courtyard of the Thai Xuan Village in August 2015, in Houston. A Catholic priest and Vietnamese refugee sought to create a refuge for Vietnamese escapees in the 1970s, and with community support, purchased this complex in the 1980s creating a Vietnamese village where about 1,000 Vietnamese residents live. ( Gary Coronado / Houston Chronicle )
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A Buddhist Temple sits in the background while children play dodge ball in the courtyard of the Thai Xuan Village in August 2015, in Houston. A Catholic priest and Vietnamese refugee sought to create a refuge
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Photo: Gary Coronado, Staff
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Sasidharan Pillai rides a decorated Asian elephant during Kavacham Adorning Day on Dec. 8, 2007, at the Sri Meenakshi Temple in Pearland. It is tradition to have a procession with three elephants walk around the temple three times then present silver armor to the dieties. Devotees who give armor will receive blessings and protection. ( Nick de la Torre / Chronicle )
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Sasidharan Pillai rides a decorated Asian elephant during Kavacham Adorning Day on Dec. 8, 2007, at the Sri Meenakshi Temple in Pearland. It is tradition to have a procession with three elephants walk around
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Photo: Nick De La Torre, Staff
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Two young Zoroastrian children rehearse for a production at the Zarathushti Center in Houston in 2000. (E. Joe Deering/Chronicle).
Two young Zoroastrian children rehearse for a production at the Zarathushti Center in Houston in 2000. (E. Joe Deering/Chronicle).
Photo: E. Joseph Deering, Staff
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A Zoroastrian man leads the sacred flame service at the Zarathushti Heritage and Cultural Center in Houston before the Seventh World Zarathushti Congress in 2000. (E. Joe Deering/Chronicle).
A Zoroastrian man leads the sacred flame service at the Zarathushti Heritage and Cultural Center in Houston before the Seventh World Zarathushti Congress in 2000. (E. Joe Deering/Chronicle).
Photo: E. Joseph Deering, Staff
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The first location of Congregation Beth Israel on Franklin Street was vacated in 1908. They moved to a location at Crawford and Lamar. Today the Beth Israel Temple is on North Braeswood.
The first location of Congregation Beth Israel on Franklin Street was vacated in 1908. They moved to a location at Crawford and Lamar. Today the Beth Israel Temple is on North Braeswood.
Photo: Houston Chronicle
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A statue of Quan Yin, the goddess of mercy and guardian of Earth, greets visitors at the gate of the Texas Guandi Temple in Houston in 2001.
A statue of Quan Yin, the goddess of mercy and guardian of Earth, greets visitors at the gate of the Texas Guandi Temple in Houston in 2001.
Photo: Betty Tichich, Staff
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The Chung-Mei Buddhist Temple in Stafford, shown here in 2001, is part of the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist order, headquartered in Taiwan.
The Chung-Mei Buddhist Temple in Stafford, shown here in 2001, is part of the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist order, headquartered in Taiwan.
Photo: John Everett, Staff
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The Houston temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opened in 2000.
The Houston temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opened in 2000.
Photo: Carlos Antonio Rios, HC Staff
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Sculptures adorn the walls at the Sri Meenakshi Temple in Pearland. Houston Chronicle/ Sharon Steinmann
Sculptures adorn the walls at the Sri Meenakshi Temple in Pearland. Houston Chronicle/ Sharon Steinmann
Photo: Sharon Steinmann
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Ornate gates form the entrance to Sri Meenakshi Temple in Pearland, shown here in 2001. The temple compound houses several Hindu deities and is dedicated to the goddess Meenakshi, consort to one of the most powerful deities, Lord Shiva. (Smiley N. Pool/Chronicle)
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Ornate gates form the entrance to Sri Meenakshi Temple in Pearland, shown here in 2001. The temple compound houses several Hindu deities and is dedicated to the goddess Meenakshi, consort to one of the most
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Photo: Smiley N. Pool, Staff
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Women walk in and out of the Meenakshi Temple during Kavacham Adorning Day on Dec. 8, 2007, in Pearland, when the Sri Meenakshi Temple Society celebrated Kavacham Adorning Day for the first time. The dieties are adorned with silver armor or kavachams, and devotees will receive blessings and protection. ( Nick de la Torre / Chronicle / Chronicle )
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Women walk in and out of the Meenakshi Temple during Kavacham Adorning Day on Dec. 8, 2007, in Pearland, when the Sri Meenakshi Temple Society celebrated Kavacham Adorning Day for the first time. The dieties
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Photo: Nick De La Torre, Staff
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A woman walks and prays to different dieties before the Kavacham Adorning Day celebration on Dec. 8, 2007, at the Sri Meenakshi Temple in Pearland, when the Sri Meenakshi Temple Society celebrated Kavacham Adorning Day for the first time. ( Nick de la Torre / Chronicle / Chronicle )
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A woman walks and prays to different dieties before the Kavacham Adorning Day celebration on Dec. 8, 2007, at the Sri Meenakshi Temple in Pearland, when the Sri Meenakshi Temple Society celebrated Kavacham
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Photo: Nick De La Torre, Staff
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A woman prays at the Buddhist Temple in the courtyard of the Thai Xuan Village.
A woman prays at the Buddhist Temple in the courtyard of the Thai Xuan Village.
Photo: Gary Coronado, Staff
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Worshipers gather outside the new Sri Guruvayurappan temple during the installation of the deities ritual on April 23, 2015, in Houston. ( Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle )
Worshipers gather outside the new Sri Guruvayurappan temple during the installation of the deities ritual on April 23, 2015, in Houston. ( Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle )
Photo: Brett Coomer, Staff
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A man walks in line with temple members and volunteers during the American Bodhi Center Opening Ceremony on May 2, 2009 in Hempstead. Photo by Mayra Beltran / Houston Chronicle
A man walks in line with temple members and volunteers during the American Bodhi Center Opening Ceremony on May 2, 2009 in Hempstead. Photo by Mayra Beltran / Houston Chronicle
Photo: Mayra Beltran, Staff
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Devotees walk into Sri Saumyakasi Sivalaya Hindu Temple, dedicated to Shiva, at the Chinmaya Praba Mission on July 10, 2011, in Houston. ( Mayra Beltran / Chronicle )
Devotees walk into Sri Saumyakasi Sivalaya Hindu Temple, dedicated to Shiva, at the Chinmaya Praba Mission on July 10, 2011, in Houston. ( Mayra Beltran / Chronicle )
Photo: Mayra Beltran, Staff
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Photo: Bill Clough, HC Staff
The second temple of Congregation Beth Israel from 1908-1925, which later became the New Day Temple. The Grove at Discovery Green is located at this site today.
The second temple of Congregation Beth Israel from 1908-1925, which later became the New Day Temple. The Grove at Discovery Green is located at this site today.
Photo: Bill Clough, HC Staff
Temples of the gods: Houston's religious diversity reflects community
Houston may be best known for its massive Christian megachurches, but the city's first non-Christian settlers arrived soon after the Allen brothers landed on Buffalo Bayou's swampy banks back in 1836.
In 1844, a small band of Jewish settlers bought land for a cemetery, and 10 years later they opened Congregation Beth Israel - the first synagogue in Texas - in a converted house.
For more than a century afterward, Houston remained primarily Christian, with most immigrants coming from Europe. The signing of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, however, which abolished the existing quota system that had previously defined America, changed all that and helped create the Houston of today.
More Information
BY THE NUMBERS
Houston's religious community
Protestant
46 percent
Catholic
31 percent
None
18 percent
Other religions
5 percent
Source: Kinder Institute for Urban Research
"What we've been watching … is a transformation in the representation of the world's religions in Houston," said Rice University sociology professor Stephen L. Klineberg. "America is now increasingly made up of all the world's ethnicities and all the world's religions. Nowhere is that clearer than in Houston."
Believers of religions from every corner of the globe now call Houston home.
"You can find any flavor of any major religion here," said Matt Kahn, associate director of interfaith relations at Interfaith Ministries of Greater Houston.
Indeed, Bahai'i, Buddhists, Christians, Christian Scientists, Hindus, Jains, Jews, Mormons, Muslims, Pagans, Sikhs and Zoroastrians call Houston home. Most recently, a small group of Yazidi immigrants from Iraq has brought their faith here as well.
The city contains at least 37 megachurches, with a combined attendance of more than 600,000, according to a report from the Hartford Institute for Religious Research. But during the last 35 years, the area's population of believers in non-Christian religions has tripled, Klineberg said.
Many immigrants settled here to work in the tech or medicine industries, said Elaine Howard Ecklund, a Rice University sociology professor and director of the school's Religion and Public Life Program.
"When people come to work, they bring their religions with them," she said.
Jews
Congregation Beth Israel left its original home on Franklin Street in 1908 for a Romanesque temple at the corner of Lamar and Crawford, and stayed there until a new temple was built in 1925 at Austin and Holman.
In 1967, it moved to the current temple on North Braeswood.
Local Jews now worship at more than 40 synagogues, from Humble to Galveston and Victoria.
By 2001, an estimated 47,000 Jews were living in the Houston area, and those numbers are expected to have grown when an up-to-date count is published in November, said Lee Wunsch, executive director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston.
The Church of Jesus Christof Latter-day Saints
Houston's Mormons were among the city's oldest religious devotees, arriving in the city by 1918.
The first branch here was organized in 1921, and the area's first meetinghouse was dedicated in 1933. Today, more than 50,000 Mormons call Houston home, according to the church's official estimates.
The LDS church constructed a temple – the most sacred of Mormon structures – in 2000.
Buddhists
The city boasts a thriving Buddhist community, which had established itself here by the late 1970s. Among the first local temples was the Buddha Light Temple, in 1984. The area is also home to the Texas Bodhi Center in Waller County; the 512-acre site is one of the largest Buddhist developments in the nation.
Muslims
The city's Muslim community began to flourish nearly a century after Houston was established, when local Muslims began gathering at a local barbershop in the 1950s. They eventually formed Houston Masjid Al-Islam, later renamed Masjid Warithuddeen Mohammed.
The demographics of the Muslim community changed with the influx of immigrants from Indonesia, Turkey, the Middle East, Africa, Pakistan and India. Today, the region is home to about 250,000 Muslims, according to Rodwaan Saleh, executive director of the Islamic Society of Greater Houston.
The society - the largest Islamic society in North America - operates 22 centers in the Houston area.
Hindus
A Hare Krishna temple - ISKCON Houston – was built in 1969, and by the 1970s, the city's Hindu community had begun expanding dramatically.
At first, devotees met in each other's homes; now, mandirs are sprinkled throughout suburban Houston, most notably in Pearland, Stafford and Sugar Land.
The community has now swelled to more than 120,000 people, according to Vijay Pallod, a spokesman for Hindus of Greater Houston, who immigrated here in 1980.
Sikhs
When Kanwalkjeet Singh arrived in Houston in 1972, there were just a handful of Sikhs in Houston. They met every 10 days in each others apartments to worship. Singh and his friends built their first gurudwara, (the Punjabi word for temple or church) in 1972 - The Sikh Center of the Gulf Coast Area. Now, seven gurudwaras dot the region for the estimated 7,000 to 10,000 people.
Zoroastrians
Adherents of Zoroastrianism first arrived in the Houston area in the 1970s, as Indian and Parsi immigrants practiced their monotheistic religion in local homes. The number of Zoroastrians in Houston has grown from just over a dozen in 1975 to about 650 now, most of whom have come from India or Pakistan, according to Nazneen Khumbatta, who came to the Houston area 30 years ago.
In the 1990s, the group constructed its community center, the Zarathushti Heritage and Cultural Center, in southwest Houston. Construction of a fire temple - Zoroastrians' traditional place of worship - should be completed within two years.
Jains
The Jains - one of the oldest religions in India - became active in Houston in the 1970s.
Today, about 1,000 Jain families call the city home, according to Swatantra Jain, chairman of one of the area's two Jain temples. The Jain Society of Houston's temple is on Arc Street in west Houston; the Jain Vishwa Bharati is in far west Houston.