Hindu temples of Gulf countries: more exist than you imagined

Dubai has a temple complex locally referred to as the Shiv and Krishna Mandir. A 2013 news-report says that a Muslim businessman donated five acres of land in Abu Dhabi to build a Swaminarayan temple. It is unclear if the UAE government's allotment of land for a temple in Abu Dhabi during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the country, is the same piece of land referred to in this report.

More than half a dozen temples were built in Aden, Yemen, in the 19th century. The Shree Trikamraiji-Haveli Temple was built in 1862, followed by the 'Sheikh Othman' Hanumanji Temple, Shree Ramchanderji Temple, Shree Hingraj Mataji Mandir and Shree Shankar Hanuman Temple. There is also a Jain temple and a Sikh Gurudwara in Aden.

Indian merchants had build a Hindu temple in Iran in 1890 in the port city of Bandar Abbas. A Gurudwara was built by Sikh traders in Zahedan in 1927.

Even though there is no official record, there is in all likelihood a large Hindu population in Oman. There are two Hindu temples in capital city Muscat: a Krishna temple in Darsait, and a Shiva temple in Muttrah. The Shiva temple is believed to be over a hundred years old, and draws large crowds.

Bahrain's capital city Manama has two temples - an ISKCON temple on Kuwait Avenue and a Guruvayurappan temple in Adliya. Both temples were built by migrants in recent years.