Chanda Vyas
Chanda Vyas (born 1952) is a British Hindu priest. She is Britain's first female Hindu priest.
Biography
Vyas was born in 1952 in East Africa and is of Indian descent.[1][2][page needed] She is from a Brahmin family,[3] and her father, grandfather and great grandfather were all Hindu priests.[4]
Vyas is based in Leicester, Leicestershire, England,[5] and worked as a social worker in the Health and Social Care department at Leicester City Council.[6] Her roles at the council included supporting the elderly, those with mental health issues and individuals with learning disabilities.[7]
Vyas became the first female Hindu priest, or purohita, to conduct ceremonies including weddings and funerals, in the United Kingdom; conducting ceremonies in both the English and Gujarati languages.[3][6][8] She has officiated weddings for LGBTQ and interfaith couples,[4][9] including the UK's first Hindu-Jewish lesbian wedding.[10][11][12][13] She has said that: "Hinduism does not talk about body mates. It talks about soul mates."[1] Vyas also conducted funerals online during the COVID-19 lockdowns.[14]
Vyas is training other women to become priests.[15] She has also raised awareness about the history and traditions of Diwali through the BBC Asian Network[16] and tradition, change and the politics of gender at live events.[15][17]
In 2023, Vyas was nominated for the BBC Radio Leicester's Make A Difference Award.[18]
Personal life
Vyas has three children.[6]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Rupera, Prashant (2019-12-19). "UK's female priest having Guj roots booked till 2020!". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2025-11-01.
- ↑ Mosse, Kate (2022-10-13). Warrior Queens & Quiet Revolutionaries: How Women (Also) Built the World. Pan Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-5290-9221-9. Search this book on
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "City's first female Hindu priest". BBC News. 2010-03-08. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 2025-11-01. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Breaking Down Barriers of Sexism and Tradition – Leicester". Pukaar Magazine. 2023-11-08. Retrieved 2025-11-01.
- ↑ "Leicester's First Female Hindu Priest". Hindu Press International. 2010-10-17. Retrieved 2025-11-01.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Vaz, Keith. "Chanda Vyas..." Asian Voice. Archived from the original on 30 November 2024. Retrieved 2025-11-01. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Alam, Sarwar. "A Shining Star - the enlightening story of the UK's first female Hindu priest". Eastern Eye. Archived from the original on 24 April 2025. Retrieved 2025-11-01. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Hashmi, Emb (2013-03-07). "First Hindu Female Priest". Asian World News. Retrieved 2025-11-01.
- ↑ Mahn, Churnjeet; Dasgupta, Rohit K.; Ritu, D. J. (2025). Desi Queers: LGBTQ+ South Asians and Cultural Belonging in Britain. Oxford University Press. p. 141. ISBN 978-1-911723-64-6. Search this book on
- ↑ "How Hinduism is fighting homophobia abroad". The Times of India. 2017-09-10. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 2025-11-01. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Fagan, Ciaran (2017-08-16). "Leicester couple tie the knot in 'UK's first interfaith lesbian marriage'". Leicestershire Live. Retrieved 2025-11-01.
- ↑ "Hindu-Jewish lesbian couple's joy after search for wedding priest". BBC News. 2017-08-17. Archived from the original on 9 December 2021. Retrieved 2025-11-01. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "These women have become the first lesbian interfaith couple to get married in the UK". SBS Voices. 2017-08-18. Retrieved 2025-11-01.
- ↑ Mistry, Mita (2021-06-04). "A spiritual path to coping with Covid". Eastern Eye. Retrieved 2025-11-01.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Sharma, Nikita (2019-02-27). "Female Hindu priest breaks tradition with her modern stance on controversial issues". Leicestershire Press. Archived from the original on 9 December 2023. Retrieved 2025-11-01. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Bobby Friction, Diwali Celebrations Live from Leicester, Hindu Priest Chanda Vyas". BBC Asian Network. 2014-10-24. Retrieved 2025-11-01.
- ↑ "Faith & Gender-Cultural Exchanges Festival". whatsthebigmistry. Archived from the original on 18 January 2025. Retrieved 2025-11-01. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "BBC Radio Leicester Awards 2023: 'Nobody has the right to take your dream away'". BBC Radio Leicester. 2023-07-07. Retrieved 2025-11-01.
External links
This article "Chanda Vyas" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Chanda Vyas. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
- Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from November 2025
- 1952 births
- 21st-century English clergy
- 21st-century English women
- 21st-century Hindu female religious leaders
- 21st-century Hindu religious leaders
- Hindu priests
- English Hindus
- English people of Indian descent
- Indian diaspora in the United Kingdom
- People from Leicester
- Women clergy
