NEW HAMPSHIRE, USA, May 15, 2008: Since the only Hindu temple in New Hampshire was shut down in January, a group of immigrants from India has been trying to rent a place in Nashua that can accommodate about 100 people. The group has about $1,500 a month to spend, after more than a dozen Nashua residents and businesses committed to supporting the temple with $100 donations for each of the next 12 months. “It’s very difficult to find what we are looking for because we are not looking for a house, [and] we are not looking for an office,” said Doraswamy Subramony, president of the temple organization.
There are 4,508 people from India living in the state, according to the 2006 American Community Survey, an increase of about 40 percent since 2000. Today, Indians outnumber immigrants from any other country except Canada, said University of New Hampshire professor Ross Gittell, who coauthored a forthcoming report on the state’s foreign-born population.