Namaste (Hello) 🙏

As you may know, many people, especially Hindus, are quite religious, and often have shrines (like home mandir) to pray/meditate/do devotional activities in house.

Many of these mandirs include murtis and pictures of different gods and goddesses.

I am Hindu, but I have never been to India, and I would love to know where pious Americans purchase these religious items in America and how much they cost.

I also want to know where Christians in your country purchase devotional items. Christian devotional items include rosary beads, Bibles, icons, crosses, incense, Christian books etc.

Thanks. 🙏

39 comments

  1. There are specialty religious stores that sell that sort of thing. My grandparents lived pretty close to a catholic one, I remember them taking me there to buy like rosaries and candles and stuff.

  2. PS: Didn’t realise that the post said I’ve never been to India. I meant I’ve.never seen a devotional store on my trips to the US.

  4. I think you can buy a Bible and other religious texts almost anywhere that sells books. I’ve also been given Bibles at church and school when I was growing up, as well as rosary beads. Beads were also given to me by family. You can also buy crosses and religious figurines at a lot of places or online.

    My grandmother is the only person I know who kept an actual shrine. It was to the Virgin Mary. She had an old painting of the Black Madonna passed down from her grandparents, candles that you could buy anywhere, a cross figurine that she probably got at a tag sale, and an old Bible that she’d turn to her favorite passages.

  5. Find any Indian community in the US and there will be Indian stores that sell items that you can’t get elsewhere. You’ll find the first generation immigrants going there for food, spices and other supplies such as religious items.

  7. There’s definitely Indian stores in LA and NYC. I’ve been to buy spices and other food stuff that I can’t get in my regular supermarkets. They’ve always had a section for religious items.

  9. I haven’t noticed a store dedicated to the Hindu religion, but I have been in Indian grocery stores around the city and most of them have a little bit of everything.

  10. I buy my murtis, diyas, and samagri at the Indian grocery store in my neighborhood. They sell them regularly and then also have other items for particular holidays such as rongoli sand for Diwali etc. Good luck!

  12. There are specific stores for this type of thing. Christian ones are fairly common if you look for them. Often they are run by religious orders or associated with a shrine or cathedral or basilica.

    [here’s an example](http://www.pddm.us/LiturgicalCenter.htm)

    [here’s one in Maine that isn’t associated with a Catholic order](https://theabbeycat.com/)

    For Hindu devotional things you have to look a bit harder because they are less common.

  13. I actually live about a minute from a Hindu temple which has a market. And they have the best food ever.

  15. A lot of people are suggesting Indian stores which are a great option if there’s one in your area! If not, online is a great place to look. I’ve gotten various devotional items like altar cloths off etsy before, if you look into the seller and site you can find reputable devotional item sellers online fairly easily, although they are typically a bit more expensive than Indian stores

  16. Hindu here. I haven’t lived in cities with massive Indian/Hindu communities, where there might indeed be dedicated stores to devotional items, but those would be VERY rare. Across most of the US, as others have mentioned, you’ll find them at Indian grocery stores or at the temples themselves. Or friends who are traveling to India will pick some up to bring back for you.

  17. I don’t see it mentioned yet, but everything seems to be available online anymore. A quick google search for “Hindu religious shop” shows a number of online shops. Plus nearby Walmart and Barnes & Noble stores, for some reason. A search for “online Hindu religious shop” yields similar results, but without the big box stores. No idea if any of them sell what you’re looking for, though.

  18. Do you think NYC is big enough with enough Indians to have devotional Hindu items?

  19. I usually see them in Indian grocery stores. Even if they don’t have them they should be able to point you to the right place

    As for Catholic stuff I would recommend googling Catholic stores and you should find them.

    Best of luck!

  20. Take 7 Train to Jackson Height, NYC or you can buy Bhagwat Geeta, Kamasutra Book, Laws of Manu etc and other Hinduism related stuff from Amazon.

  21. My area has a pretty large Indian population and I believe most of them buy that type of thing from local Indian grocery stores. I know they’re getting them from somewhere nearby because I’ve seen the shrines when I come in their houses and they have all sorts of different things. I’m not sure about christianity though because I’m not religious. My area is mostly catholic but I’ve never seen any catholic religious items being sold in stores (I know they have more than most other Christian denominations. I grew up going to a UCC church and we didn’t use any physical items). Maybe their churches sell them? I’m not sure. I don’t think they have as many as Hindus so there might not be a market for it. Most catholics I know just have prayer beads and that’s it. (And usually a Bible but I wouldn’t really call that a religious item, it’s more of a religious text since the words inside it are more valuable to Christians than the physical book itself).

  22. Ok. So for Hindu items it seems to be the same as in my country – England. Special stores in Indian populated places.

  25. I’ve seen butsudan (shrines for Japanese Buddhist homes) at stores with imported Japanese home goods. Mainly in LA and SF/Bay Area, though.

  27. There’s a chain of stores called Lifeway that sells generically Protestant Christian items. Churches may buy stuff from them but also individuals. They’d have things like movies, music, books, decorations, etc… Like it’d be a place to buy someone a gift that might be religious. Protestants are really into the physical devotional items that sects like Catholicism are save for maybe a crucifix https://www.lifeway.com

    At a catholic store you’d probably get things like a rosary, first communion dress, Virgin Mary teams like a patient or statue, or patron saint stuff.

    I’ve also seen Islamic equivalent of this. It is next to a mosque but I’d assume they sell things like copies of the Quran, prayer rugs and various inspirational writings or books.

    At a carb roll

  29. Oftentimes in big cities or metro areas you’ll find religious stores of most kinds of faiths. Just do a google search of whatever city is nearby

  30. Years ago we had a store in the mall we called “The Catholic Store”. We would go in there once in a while to look around. Although most of my friends at the time and I were raised Catholic, we found many of the statues and art rather creepy.

  31. Amazon baby! Amazon has everything. Otherwise eBay or Indian neighborhoods would have stores that carry this.

  32. There is a shrine at my nail salon. We have Indian stores to buy stuff like that. Bibles are sold in book stores and Amazon. There used to be Christian stores where I live but haven’t seen one in a long time.

  33. We have a pretty decent Indian community in my area in Upstate NY. There are Indian markets where they sell loads of things – though I’ve never been in one myself though I may have to check one out soon! I’m sure you can find Hindu items at Indian markets.

  36. Lot’s of little mixed decor shops with Hindu stuff in Portland, OR. For Christian stuff there are shops near any monastery, and at The Grotto

  37. Sounds like what you’re describing as Christian devotional items leans Catholic. In one small city I lived in there was a place called “The Catholic Store” which was exactly what it was.

    For Indian items, there was a place you could go called “India House” that had a restaurant, bakery, cafe, and a general Indian imports shop. It was pretty big, had a wonderful selection of bulk spices for sale, and they sold tons of religious goods. Not exclusively Hindu from what I recall, but mostly Hindu.

    Bigger cities usually have shops like this, perhaps even more than one or more specifically targeted.

  38. christian devotional items are a lot easier to find and buy. other religions not so much.

  39. My town has a locally owned Christian shop called Love Bookstore. Chicago is about 60 miles away, you’d probably have to go there to find a similar Hindu store.

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