Virchand Raghavji Gandhi became the first Jain to travel to the United States for the World’s Parliament of Religions, which took place in Chicago in 1893.

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Ethically prohibited from engaging in agriculture, over the years Jains have worked in business and professional trades. Jains have made new communities in the UK, in East Africa (especially Kenya), and in the United States and Canada.

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The first Jain center in the United States opened in 1966 in New York City with twenty families. This center now serves over 400 members, and approximately 100 other Jain centers have been established throughout America.

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While most Jain monastics remained in India, two Jains with monastic experience made the journey to America. In 1971 Muni (a term used to refer to certain Jain monks) Chitrabhanu ceased his monastic life, became a lay teacher, and moved to America. Another Jain monk, Acharya Sushil Kumar, remained a monk, but broke the prohibition on travel and traveled to the United States to teach and found an ashram in New Jersey.... Read more about Jain Teachers in the New World