Inside the doors of the Mahatma Gandhi Centre

One of the most charismatic buildings in the Uptown area is the Mahatma Gandhi Centre on New North Rd.

Words: Bridget van der Zijpp

Photography: Blink Ltd & Supplied

The vibrant centre had its genesis in 1972 when the Auckland Indian Association bought the old Finlay's Bakery and refurbished it into a Hindu temple and community centre. The centre's original set-up was achieved through donated support from people within the Indian community.

"If you come into the centre you can see our display of all of our honoured donors," says Puspa Lekinwala, President of the Auckland Indian Association, which was first established in the 1920s. "Lately the building is due an upgrade and our board are in the throes of discussing how we can achieve that."

The original vision for the centre was to foster unity and collaboration among the Auckland-based Indian diaspora and to serve as a gathering place for celebrations and events and other forms of community engagement and multicultural exchange. While the centre is the social heart for many within the 200,000 strong Auckland Indian community, others might not be aware of the broad array of activities that happen within.

The core of the site is the Hindu temple where people regularly come to pray and take part in large gatherings. "The Sri Radha Krishna Mandir temple is where we celebrate all of our religious activities, usually around three a month, although in some months of the year it's full on, with something every day. Our most recent big activity was Mahashivratri and we had nearly 1000 people coming through on that Tuesday, so it's widely used," says Puspa.

The community centre is largely run by volunteers with several sub-committees of the Auckland Indian Association organising regular activities aimed at helping to maintain the well-being of the community. The Health and Fitness sub-committee runs exercise classes, including the popular Bollypump, Yoga and Bollyrobics, as well as organising talks from medical professionals on a variety of topics, including such things as cardiovascular health and diabetes. "We like to look after our seniors and there are all sorts of things organised across all of the committees. At least once a month there is something of special interest, which might even include an outing to a garden or other places."

Other sub-committees organise business talks, inviting prominent members from within the community to speak on relevant topics. Some recent talks have covered how to avoid being the subject of scams and helping to improve employment opportunities through better CVs. The women's Mahila Samaj sub-committee hosts charity fundraisers and impactful talks on women's issues. "This month we will be celebrating International Women's Day. Often we have dinners or lunches, but this time it will be an afternoon tea, along with a guest speaker."

On Sunday morning the Gandhi Gruh Gujarati School enables second, third and later generations to learn about their family culture and language. "Our school has been running for a very long time. I was actually a student when I was a child," says Puspa. "Once a week we teach the language, how to speak and how to write Gujarati. We also take the children into the temple and provide some spiritual guidance as well." She says they are now seeing a lot of children with parents from the second generation who are adrift from the language. "There's also been a lot of mixed marriages in later generations and they are sending their children along to learn more about their culture and heritage."

Another vital way of maintaining the heritage is through performance of traditional expressive arts. The Centre for Indian Performing Arts (CIPA) located within the facility creates opportunities to perform and learn traditional and modern dance, vocal and instrumental music, theatre and even innovative and collaborative projects between artists across genres and digital media. "We welcome everybody to these performances."

Weddings are also a big celebratory feature of the centre as it has large 1200- seat capacity venues with onsite catering teams. They are so busy that they are now taking bookings for 2026. "Under the Hindu calendar there are auspicious days to get married, so during these times we are all booked out. During wedding season we usually have one every weekend." 

For new immigrants, the Mahatma Gandhi Centre forms part of an especially vital introduction to their new life. "I'm very proud of the role of this place. It's so valuable for new immigrants. They can come here to temple, which is something they are used to, and pray and meet people so they don't feel so alone." 

While the centre mostly serves the Indian community, other visitors are encouraged, particularly at regular celebrations such as Indian Independence Day, International Yoga Day and India Republic Day. "And then of course, you've probably heard about our Navratri festivities, where we have nine days of dancing, cultural splendour and soulful prayers in October," says Ms Lekinwala. "That's a really big festival and a big fundraiser for us. Our catering team work non-stop for about a month, and we have about 1500 people come through every day."

If you'd like to know more about the centre's many activities, you can keep up to date with the Mahatma Gandhi Centre/ Auckland Indian Association Facebook page or website.

The Mahatma Gandhi Centre/Auckland Indian Association

145 New North Road 

Eden Terrace

Phone: 09 377 2424 

Website: aiai.org.nz

Instagram: @aucklandindianassociation 

Facebook: Mahatma Gandhi Centre/ Auckland Indian Association