Indian life in the United Arab Emirates: food, festivals and entertainment

The United Arab Emirates is home to 4,344,008 overseas Indians. Here is where to find Indian food, festivals and entertainment there. For the Indian embassy and NRI services, see NRI services in the United Arab Emirates.

Where to find Indian food and shops

In Dubai, Bur Dubai's Meena Bazaar and the streets of Karama are packed with Indian restaurants, sweet shops, textile and gold shops; Indian restaurants of every regional cuisine are found across all seven emirates, from street-side tea stalls to fine dining. The Chennai chains Saravanaa Bhavan and Sangeetha each have more than a dozen branches in the UAE, among them branches in Karama and Meena Bazaar.

Temples, festivals and entertainment

The BAPS Hindu Mandir at Abu Mureikhah in Abu Dhabi, opened in 2024, is the first traditional stone Hindu temple in the Middle East, and Dubai has a Hindu temple and a gurdwara at Jebel Ali. Diwali brings fireworks, markets and shows across Dubai; see Visit Dubai for each year's events. New Indian films open in UAE cinemas in the same week as in India, and Indian stars perform in concerts through the year.

Overseas Indian figures: Ministry of External Affairs, as of January 2026.