ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a detailed timeline of the arrival and spread of Jainism in North America. It describes the chronological details of Jains in America, saw glimpses of Jain diamantaires, and other Jain initiatives in America. Working with the American organization, Friends of Nonviolence, the Jains co-founded the Ahimsa Society in 1960. In line with American Hindu temples, the non-sectarian Jain temples prevalent in North America, where Jains of all different sects come to pray, is a unique phenomenon that has not been taken up in India. In 1988, Jains in North Texas purchased a former Christian church and transformed it into a Jain Center. In 2014, Jains established the graduate-level program in Jainism at Claremont School of Theology, the parent institution of CLU. In the early 1970s, Jain diamantaires from Mumbai and Gujarat, e.g., the Kotharis, Parikhs, Shahs, and Mehtas, established offices in New York.
