Recently launched Abilene Hindu Temple (AHT), also known as Vishveshwara Swamy Temple, was reportedly built according to ancient Hindu scriptures and architecture. Main objective of AHT is “to propagate Hindu religion and to perform Hindu rituals”. “Devotees must be on strict vegetarian on visit”, its website states.
AHT opens daily at eight am, holds arthi twice everyday, and organizes weekly pujas to Hindu deities Vishnu, Rudra, Rama, Krishna, Durga, Ganapathi, etc. It performs various worship services, including “Annadanam” for $1000 and “Vahana (vehicle) Pooja” for $50. AHT also provides home visit priest services for devotees who wish to have worship services at home.
Meanwhile, Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada today, commended efforts of temple leaders and area community towards realizing this Hindu temple.
Rajan Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, further said that it was important to pass on Hindu spirituality, concepts and traditions to coming generations amidst so many distractions in the consumerist society and hoped that this temple would help in this direction. Zed stressed that instead of running after materialism; we should focus on inner search and realization of Self and work towards achieving moksh (liberation), which was the goal of Hinduism.
Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about 1.1 billion adherents. There are about three million Hindus in USA.
Abilene in West Texas, incorporated in 1881, is home to three lakes and seven colleges. Prominent people associated with Abilene include singer-actress Jessica Simpson, Olympic gold-medalist sprinter Bobby Morrow and country musician Lee Roy Parnell.
Reciting from Brahadaranyakopanishad, Rajan Zed plans to say “Asato ma sad gamaya, Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya, Mrtyor mamrtam gamaya”, which he will then translate as “Lead me from the unreal to the real, lead me from darkness to light, and lead me from death to immortality.” Reciting from Bhagavad-Gita, he proposes to urge Aldermen to keep the welfare of others always in mind.
Zed is a global Hindu and interfaith leader, who besides taking up the cause of religion worldwide, has also raised huge voice against the apartheid conditions faced by about 15-million Roma (Gypsies) in Europe. Bestowed with World Interfaith Leader Award; Zed is Senior Fellow and Religious Advisor to Foundation for Religious Diplomacy, Spiritual Advisor to National Association of Interchurch Interfaith Families, and on Advisory Board of The Interfaith Peace Project, etc.
Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about one billion adherents and moksh (liberation) is its ultimate goal. There are about three million Hindus in USA.
Rockford, chartered as a city in 1852, on the banks of the Rock River, is the third largest city in Illinois. It is known for Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps; Mendelssohn Club, claimed to be the oldest music club in the nation; Cheap Trick rock band; etc. Lawrence J. Morrissey is the Mayor.
NAKHON SI THAMMARAT – An ancient Hindu phallic symbol believed to be more than 1,000 years old has been found at a local temple in Tha Sala district.
A ‘shiva linga’ with flowers carved in relief on its base was discovered at Wat Nang Tra in Tha Sala district of Nakhon Si Thammarat on Wednesday. Nutjaree Rakrun
Anat Bamrungwong, director of 14th Regional Office of the Fine Arts Department in Nakhon Sithammarat, said Thursday the shiva linga or Hindu phallic symbol is believed to be about 1,300-1,400 years old.
Hinduism thrived in Surat Thani and Nakhon Si Thammarat around the 10th-12th centuries, Mr Anat said.
He was speaking as he was inspecting the stone sculpture and other artefacts found at Wat Nang Tra in Tha Sala district.
The shiva linga has a base which is about 47cm wide and 1 metre long. Its base has flowers carved in relief which in the Tawaravadee style, Mr Anat said.
The sculpture was in good condition with beautiful flowers on it, he added.
“It is a treasure trove of the South,” he said.
Phra Kru Supakittayaporn, the abbot of Wat Nang Tra, said he hired a contractor to improve landscaping in the temple’s compound in preparation for construction of a religious tower.
In the process, workers used a backhoe to dig down about three metres and found the symbol, an ancient jar and 20 Buddha coins on Wednesday.
Phra Kru Supakittayaporn said he was alerted of the discoveries by a foreman overseeing the work.
The abbot said he had inspected the discoveries in the field and brought them to his quarters for safekeeping.
He contacted the 14th Regional Office of Fine Arts Department in the province to alert them of the discoveries and asked the department to examine the findings at the temple.
A group of believers reportedly flocked to the temple to observe and worship the ancient symbol.
The phallus has been regarded as a symbol of power and fertility by many cultures around the world, including Hindus who worship it.
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Srinagar: A representative body of displaced Kashmiri Pandits has asked Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti, to push for reopening of Sharda Peeth, a revered place of Kashmiri Hindus in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK), for pilgrims from Jammu and Kashmir and beyond.
“While she has been bating for enhancing tourism between India and Pakistan through Jammu-Sialkot route she should not forget that Kashmiri Pandits have been denied the right to travel to PoK for pilgrimage to ancient and historic Sharda Peeth temple located in the village of Sharda in PoK ‘even as other local Kashmiris are being issued travel documents to visit their relatives and pilgrimage centers there,” the All Parties Migrants Coordination Committee (APMCC) said in a statement in Jammu on Tuesday.
To visit Sharda near Muzaffarabad to pay obeisance at one of their most revered religious places and important, ancient seats of learning has been a cherished dream of many Kashmiri Pandits.
A senior government functionary in Muzaffarbad, Sardar Sayyab Khalid, had told this correspondent way back in November 2004 that it would not only throw Sharda open to Kashmiri Pandits but also facilitate their visit. Another, the then PoK’s minister for tourism and archaeology, Mufti Mansoor, who represented Sharda in the area Assembly had said, “If they (Kashmiri Pandits) can wait for some time they might even use the bus route once the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road is reopened.” Nothing tangible followed.
Sharda is about 150-kms from Muzaffarabad and is a breath-taking green spot at an altitude of 1981 meters. Shardi and Nardi are actually the two mountain peaks overlooking the valley, named after legendary princesses Sharda and Narda. It has a captivating landscape with numerous springs and hillsides covered with thick forest. Over the right-bank, opposite to Sharda, the river Neelam (known as Kishan Ganga on the Indian side of the LoC) is joined by the Surgan mountain stream along which a track leads to the Noori Nar Pass and through it to Kaghan valley. In Sharda, the ruins of an old Buddhist monastery and a fort are located. It was also an important learning seat of Kashmiri Hindu and the old script of Kashmiri language Sharda has derived its name from the place having the historical background.
Reacting to the recent statement of Ms. Mufti that she wanted to create a historic monument at Jammu-Sialkot border, the APMCC said that she must also create history like her father by pushing for reopening of Sharda Peeth in PoK for Kashmiri Pandits. It added “She must emulate her father in providing healing touch to all the sections of the society particularly Kashmiri Pandits”.
Taking up the matter of reopening of the Sahrdha Peeth yatra through Uri-Mzafarabad with the concerned authorities would serve a major Confidence Building Measure (CBM) for Kashmir Panits paving way for their dignified return and rehabilitation in Valley, it asserted.
Asal Uttar is a village of memorials. There are all sorts — big ones, small, by the roadside, in the fields. These, apart from the occasional dilapidated bunker, are probably the only signs that Asal Uttar, a village 12 km from the international border with Pakistan in Punjab’s Tarn Taran district, was the battlefield where Indian and Pakistani armies fought one of the fiercest tank battles of the 1965 war.
This is where Pakistan’s 1 Armoured Division was stopped in its tracks after a decisive battle with the Indian forces, thus earning the village and its surrounding areas an entry into the official history of the 1965 war as the place where the ‘Battle of Asal Uttar’ was fought.
Early in September, the Pakistani Army had captured Khemkaran town, 5 km from the border and 7 km from Asal Uttar. But as they moved towards Asal Uttar and neighbouring villages, the Pakistani troops were pushed back by the Indian 4th Mountain Division and later decimated by the 2nd Armoured Brigade of the Indian Army in a decisive battle between September 8 and 10. The Pakistan Army lost 97 Patton tanks, its showcase US-made hulks, in this encounter.
A war memorial at Asal Uttar, the site of one of the fiercest tank battles of 1965 (Source: Express photo by Jaipal Singh)
Abdul Hamid, Param Vir Chakra
Fifty years later, it’s hard to imagine this as the theatre of war where the Pakistani Pattons and the Indian Shermans kicked up dust and fear in equal measure. Asal Uttar and its neighbouring areas have their share of war stories — of how Pakistani tank crews fled with the engines of the Pattons and how an entire armoured Pakistani regiment surrendered to the Indian Army.
After the war, the captured Pattons were displayed near Bhikkiwind, a town that’s about 10 km from Asal Uttar, and the place briefly came to be known as ‘Patton Nagar’.
On the outskirts of Chima, a village neighbouring Asal Uttar, lies the final resting place of Company Quartermaster Havildar Abdul Hamid who was awarded the nation’s highest gallantry award, the Param Vir Chakra, for shooting down three Pattons. He was killed barely 100 metres from where his grave now lies, when he was taking aim at a fourth tank.
Paiara Singh is the caretaker of Hamid’s grave and of a memorial the Army set up to honour the soldier. “My brother used to look after this grave and now I do and after me my son will do the same,” he says, adjusting the chadar on the grave. The green chadar that flutters in the wind bears the formation sign of the Army’s 7 Infantry Division which is responsible for the defence of the area.
“Had the Pakistanis not been stopped by ‘them’ here, they would have had a clear run till Amritsar,” says Paiara, reverentially referring to Hamid in third person. Piara gets Rs 5,000 a month for his job and an occasional dole of rations from the Army.
Lt Col Nagindar Singh (retd), a former commanding officer of the Indian Army’s 3rd Cavalry who took part in the Battle of Asal Uttar as a young captain, says that everyone was highly motivated to take on the enemy and stop them in their tracks. “Our regiment was at the forefront with three squadrons deployed there in Asal Uttar and a fourth one in Rajatal near Attari,” he recalls. The regiment won several gallantry awards in the battle along with a Mahavir Chakra for the Commanding Officer, Lt Col Salim Caleb.
The town of Khemkaran remained under Pakistani occupation despite attempts by the Indian Army to retake the town. An attack mounted by the Indian Army in the dying hours of the war failed and Lt Col Anant Singh, Commanding Officer of 4 Sikh, and his troops were captured by the Pakistan Army.
Residents of villages near Khemkaran say they fled their homes when the Pakistani troops moved in and only returned several months after the war.
But 50 years later, people in these villages, even those of the post-1965 generation, have run out of war stories to tell. At Rattoke Gurdwara, a village that was occupied by the Pakistani Army, Niranjan Singh and Jagir Singh would rather talk about the poor drainage in the village and the erratic electricity supply than about ‘threats’ from Pakistan. “Come with us and see how we live in unhygienic conditions. No government official or politician bothers about us,” says Niranjan.
Battle of Haji Pir
Haji pir Pass served as a vital link between Pakistani infiltrators in Poonch and their bases in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. India’s 19 Infantry Division along with the 68 Infantry Brigade launched a pincer movement (two sides of simultaneous troop movement closing together behind enemy forward positions) to annihilate the enemy.
Operation Bakshi, the Northern pincer, consisted of the advance of 1 PARA from Uri to Sank and further to Lediwali Gali in order to reach Hajipir Pass. 19 Punjab was to take the Bedori approach to the Pass. Operation Faulad, the Southern pincer, was to be undertaken by 93 Infantry Brigade of 25 Infantry Division. It was essential to capture these intermittent features to open the axis to Haji Pir Pass.
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The task was daunting, as even while being under heavy enemy fire with constant threat to life, the Indian soldiers had to climb steep mountains. The assault was carried out in pitch darkness, made worse by the non-stop rain which made the terrain slushy and slippery.
Undaunted, Haji Pir was captured on August 28, 1965. Major Ranjit Singh Dayal of 1 PARA, who launched the final assault on the Pass, advanced from an unexpected direction and caught the enemy by complete surprise. He was awarded the Maha Vir Chakra for displaying outstanding courage and leadership.
Battle of Dograi
On September 12, India’s 54 Infantry Brigade was ordered to plan an advance up to Ichhogil canal astride GT Road, which involved the capture of Dograi. The main Pakistan defences were along the Ichhogil canal and Dograi. On September 21, 3 Jat carried out extensive patrolling at Dograi which was to be attacked that night. They found that the Pakistanis were well-entrenched, “some huddled over machine guns in pill boxes and others tucked into the buildings of Dograi behind light machine guns and rifles, with piles of ammunition and grenades to hand”. The forming up place was just 400 metres from the nearest enemy trench, and to reach it, 3 Jat had to pass through the minefields in a single file. Suddenly, the Indian forces were subjected to intense fire, setting off a fierce battle along the east bank of Ichhogil canal. The company charged the bank undaunted by the enemy minefield. Grenade and hand to hand fighting took place inside the enemy defended locality. The price paid by the Jats was heavy, the survivors were only one officer and seven men but the enemy company was completely wiped out.
Officers from the Cultural Heritage Preservation Center (BPCB) discovered on Thursday a Mahakala statue and the foundation of a building at a temple excavation site in Gunung Wijil, Giriroto village, Ngemplak district, Boyolali, Central Java.
The statue, suspected to be a relic of the Hindu Shiva era of the 9th century, was found just 30 centimeters under the ground’s surface. The discovery is not far from the location where a Nandeswara statue was discovered at the end of March.
“We suspect that the building is a temple,” Muhammad Junawan, the head of the center’s excavation team, said.
The statue has been taken to the BPCB headquarters in Prambanan, Central Java, for further examination.
Junawan said a thorough investigation of the statue would be conducted only after the BPCB had completed its excavation of the site. He said the concrete brick-made foundation and the Mahakala statue indicated that the building was an archaeological remnant of the ancient Hindu Mataram era of the 9th century. In Hindu Shiva culture, Mahakala was the protector of a temple gate.
“Currently, the excavation process has reached the temple’s leg, which is 25 square meters in width, and 1.5 meters in height. It is likely there are two temples at the site. The first temple is the main temple and the other one is a companion temple. They stand face to face,” said Jumawan.
Jumawan said Boyolali was an area that may contain many ancient objects from the Hindu period. It was probable that the latest discovery in Ngemplak was related to previous discoveries in several areas across Boyolali.
“What I can tell you is that the use of concrete bricks as the main structure of temple buildings was common in the era after Mataram civilization moved to East Java,” said Jumawan.
A Ngemplak resident, Tego Dwi Widadi, said the temple site was found on land set to be used as a residential complex.
Apart from the Mahakala statue and the concrete brick-made foundation, several other archaeological objects have been found at the location, including a large stone with the shape of an animal followed by Hindus.
“We support the BPCB’s move to excavate this site. I hope this can bring benefit to the local people living in the area around the site,” said Tego (ebf)
Hindu Americans Ask California Government for Fair Equality and Justice and Dignity of their Hindu Heritage
Hindu Americans of all types converged on Sacramento yesterday to voice their concerns about the California Department of Education Instructional Quality Commission’s (IQC) plans to accept problematic edits made by a small group of South Asian studies faculty. These proposed edits would have largely removed references to India and Hinduism, and replaced them with the terms “South Asia” and “ancient Indian religion,” respectively.
Some of the proposed edits included removing mention of Hinduism’s acceptance of religious diversity, re-linking Hinduism with caste, and removing mention of the contributions of Hindu sages of different backgrounds, such as Valmiki and Vyasa.
The IQC voted to reject some of the proposed changes after public awareness campaigns, including letters from professors of religion and history, disputed the faculty group’s assertions. During the public comment period, the Hindu American Foundation (HAF), other Hindu organizations, and community members, as well as non-Hindus, testified about both the inaccuracies in the proposed edits and the last-minute process by which they were initially uniformly accepted – after prior recommendations from numerous academics were rejected. They argued that edits would erase their religious and cultural histories and urged the commission to reject the changes. Moreover, they asked the commissioners to adopt a more inclusive and culturally competent frameworks document.
California is home to the country’s largest Hindu population, with roughly one million of diverse cultural, racial, and national backgrounds.
In addition, Hindu American school children from across the state spoke out about the impact of inaccurate and culturally illiterate content on their lives. Academics such as Barbara A. McGraw of St. Mary’s College of California, an award-winning scholar and former American Academy of Religion president, and Sofia University philosophy professor Kundan Singh also testified.
For Hindu American youth, the frameworks adoption was about ensuring that their identities wouldn’t be minimized or presented in a way that adversely reflected on them. Some pushed back against the faculty’s suggestion that Hindu history was patriarchal, and expressed that their lived experiences were being ignored.
“Having studied the Vedas, I proudly wear my sacred thread as a symbol of my earnest study and scholarship, as did my mother and foremothers before her,” said 12-year-old Vaidehi Dandekar, a 7th grade student from El Cerrito, CA. “As a young woman, I am proud that my enthusiasm and achievement in studying the Vedas is simply reflective of the long tradition of scholarship and oral storytelling by women….and men…..in India’s rich history. The accurate portrayal therefore in our classroom, of women in India’s history as leaders, sages, scholars, and often spiritual authority figures for families and communities is incredibly important for all members of my learning environment.”
While HAF and other groups believe progress has been made, concerns remain about the way in which the edits were accepted.
“Our concerns remain with how many of these edits were accepted, particularly in the commission’s apparent privileging of one group of scholars over the views of many others,” said Murali Balaji, HAF’s Director of Education and Curriculum Reform. He noted that the commission had previously ignored a virtually identical set of proposed edits by the same group when it was submitted by one individual scholar, but then accepted it after the submission was rebranded as the “South Asia faculty group.”
“I think we all support free and vigorous academic discourse and diverse views on how religions and cultures evolved,” Balaji said. “But giving esteem to one group over the views of many other distinguished academics is troubling. Moreover, academic battles shouldn’t necessarily be fought in a 6th and 7th grade curriculum document. Such battles can impede upon teachers’ ability to provide accurate and culturally competent instruction to their students, which in turn will adversely impact both Hindu and non-Hindu California students.”
The IQC will publish its revised set of recommendations two weeks before the May 11 State Board of Education hearing. HAF will continue to work with both community members and educators, along with various officials, to ensure that the Board adopts a document that is inclusive of Hindus and a better resource for teachers across the state.
Please direct media inquiries to HAF’s Senior Director, Samir Kalra, Esq., atsamir@hafsite.org.
Participants, organizers and volunteers at the Vedic Fair – 3 held on Saturday, March 1.
Click here for photo collage
By Malay Vyas KATY: ‘Ashirwad A Blessing’ organized the third Vedic Fair at the Cinco Ranch High School on Saturday, March 1. ‘Ashirwad’ translates into “Blessing” and the temple’s mission is to preserve age-old Spiritual knowledge and impart the same to the next generation”. The Vedic fair went a long way in further enhancing the strength and value of the mission that Ashirwad is built on. The idea of a community outreach event based on the ‘Veda’ and ‘Puranas’ – the ancient scriptures of Hinduism is unique to the Ashirwad temple and its founder Geeta Ravulu. Hosting an event like this in a suburban high school speaks volumes of Ashirwad’s commitments to its own mission.
Winner Ruthvik Jonna
The Cinco Ranch High school was a calm setting as one drove into the parking lot. Hindustani Classical music wafted out of the single speaker set at the entrance. After appreciating the banners that invited the visitors, one couldn’t stop and wonder how the grand rotunda of the school was converted into ‘Kailash’ Mountain , abode of lord Shiva. Visitors including young children stopped in front of the faux and yet impressive replica of Kailas Mountain to take pictures with ‘live’ Shiva and Parvati seated in the middle of the diorama. Aptly called “Kool Kailash”. The physical structure of Kailash and Mansarovar was built by IACHF architects Sachin Sharma and Sukhi Kohli. Where did they draw their inspiration from? Sachin said “When Geetha and Sri narrated the theme of Vedic Fair-3 to us, we started to visualize Mahadev’s abode and started thinking about how many of us ever dreamt of visiting Kailash. That is when we decided to take on this mammoth task to replicate Kailash and bring it to Houston community”. Sukhi added” It is over 6 months of intense hard work at Sachin Sharma’s house, working most of the weekends, resulted in over 15 feet of magnificent work of art. It was at this Kool Kailash that young Vamshith Kundoor shared her experience of visiting 18 shakthi peetas along with archana kumkum (vermillion) with many visitors.
Winner Anika Ravishankar.
Going past the main rotunda, the left hallway hosted numerous food booths serving fresh vegetarian food. There were tables lined up for convenience of the visitors and it was refreshing to see all three generations of same families sitting down for a hearty meal after enjoying the fair. You could see youngsters in deep conversation with their grandparents on the significance of ancient Hindu scriptures. The hallway to the right accommodated the various vendors that have been supporting the Ashirwad temple for a long time. From little toys that would entice small children to traditional Indian jewelry and even Lengha-Cholis for girls and women were available for purchase. The bookstalls carried books on varied topics in Hindu religion, philosophy and ancient scriptures. It was encouraging to see young visitors to the Vedic Fair stopping and glancing through various books at these bookstalls. In total there were more than fifty exhibitors at the Vedic Bazaar. At 4 PM India Exhibit Presentation Competition began where 50+ diverse presentations on Gods, Temples, Places, Festivals, Lifestyle, Yoga, Health, Languages, Rivers, Dance, Music, Kings Scientists were excellently presented by young generation of Indo-American descent. Divena Donthi was winner and Anika Ravishankar was runner up in 10 and above category. Ruthvik Jonna and Vishnu Nataraja were winner and runner up in 9 and below category. Cooking Competition winner was Manjari Guturu for her dishes: Cranberry Fiber Rice and Quinoa Veggie Delight (Salad)) and Renu Ahuja was runner up for her dish Dahi Gujia.
At 6 PM Vedic Fair 3 Talent Showcase started with Sloka-thon recitation of Vishnu sahasranama slokas without seeing by Ashirwad’s students Rhea Bhat, Shreya Sarathy, Pritam Hegde and Saanika Halapeti. This was followed by classical music performance by Swarasudha Music Institute students and a flamboyant Bho Shambho dance performance by Abhinaya School of Performance Arts students choreographed by Guru Indrani Parthasarathy. At 6:30 PM Ashirwad’s Vedic Walk a colorful show case of Shiva Puran Icons by 25 kids (4 to 10 years) was cheerfully applauded by the audiences. During the course of the Vedic Fair, there were numerous workshops hosted for the benefits of the participants – the ‘How To’ workshop aimed at explaining little nuances of Hinduism such as basic puja to complicated procedures such as ‘conducting a Hindu wedding. The Sanskrit workshop was another popular workshop that was well attended by the young and old alike. Other informative “how to” workshops covered subjects such as Yoga, Classical Dances, Styles and Ways of Wearing Sarees, Meditation, Importance of Ayurveda, how to adorn a dhoti, drawing a rangoli as well as Dandiya. The highlight of the evening was the play “I am Shiva – The Mahadev”. In tune with the tradition that has been followed every year, Ashirwad puts one particular Hindu diety in focus for every Vedic Fair. Vedic Fair 2 saw the theatrical presentation of “Arjun the Chosen”. “I am Shiva – The Mahadev” was a dance – drama created and directed by Geeta Ravulu. She was also an actor in the play. Before the play opened, there were recitals and bhajans inside the auditorium. Chants of Hare Rama Hare Krishna echoed through the highschool hallways. The play with a cast of 46, opened with creatively set screen backdrop with tranquil scenery and calm music. This year’s play was even more interesting because it was on ‘Shiva’ – the Mahadev. Often misunderstood as the “destroyer” or the “angry god who chopped off his son’s head”, this play showed the human side of the “Neelkanth”. Geeta Ravulu and her onstage cast as well as the back stage crew ensured that the play including the audio visual part of the show went off without a hitch. The Vedic Fair is also a brain child of Geeta Ravulu – she has been teaching Hindu Spirituality and Puranas for over ten years now. The challenge was to get the kids to retain more of the heritage knowledge and information imparted to them. Just teaching them from books wasn’t helping. The Vedic Fair helps the children from the Ashirwad Temple School learn and present on various topics of heritage and spirituality. It enables the older children to work one on one with the younger children benefitting both the age groups. The Ashirwad temple school started with six children – now there are over a hundred students. “We want to involve people of all ages – little kids to senior citizens but the idea behind hosting the Vedic Fair in a highschool is to involve middle and high schoolers” adds Geeta. As was evident from the Vedic Fair attendees, there were a lot of young volunteers working enthusiastically to make sure that such a spiritual event was a success. Geeta explains that the initial challenge was to explain to the community what the Vedic Fair was about. Once she and her excellent organizing committee overcame the ‘reaching out’ challenge, Vedic Fair 2 and 3 were well attended. Infact, Geeta added “we are already planning for Vedic Fair 4 in March 2015. Next year along with India exhibits and Workshops, they will show case the diorama of GOLOK and the prime time play will be “KRISH – The Blue Man” . The Ashirwad Temple school along with Geeta Ravulu and Sri Ravula, are very thankful and appreciative of the support provided to them by their sponsors and volunteers. Sponsors such as Shri Sita Ram Foundation, IACHF, ISKCON, Hindus of Greater Houston, Mandap Creations, Katy Indian Cultural Association, Frontier Consulting and Voice of Sanatan Hinduism ensured that the Vedic Fair was a success. It is because of such sponsors that a sense of competition is generated amongst the participants. The winning presentation amongst more than fifty exhibits this year won a handsome prize of $1001. As the Vedic Fair wound down, parents were amazed by the enthusiasm of their children towards the various events. As R. Ramalingam of Katy explained “my teenage daughters rushed out of the LEGO movie to get here on time”. It is probably inherent amongst Indian parents to pass on the legacy of spirituality to the younger generation. The Vedic Fair is a unique event on the Houston Calendar – it is an independent event that has seen success because of the participants and the organization. The Ashirwad Temple firmly believes in enriching the community by spreading the knowledge of Hindu Spirituality. The belief of Ashirwad Temple is “One-ness of God” and the Vedic Fair shows us how. Houston now looks forward to Vedic Fair 4 where the theme is Golok (land of the sacred cows) with “Krish-The Blue Man” as the main play. For updates visit FB page facebook.com/VedicFair or AshirwadABlessing.org.
Sanatana Hindu Sangha of California is bringing the timeless and rich tradition of Kumbh Mela to the West.
The Maha Kumbh Mela, traditionally celebrated in India, is the world’s oldest and largest gathering of human beings on planet earth. A pilgrimage and a festival, millions of people from all over the world, representing every tradition of Hinduism, come together every three years on this monumental and majestic occasion, promoting brotherliness, joy, faith, peace and prosperity.
In the Maha Kumbh Mela celebrations in India, multitude of Enlightened Beings, carrying positive energy come together in large numbers in a grand procession to take a Snaan (holy dip) at the holy rivers, for the purpose of showering collective positive energy to the whole planet. Deities energized by Enlightened Beings are also brought to the Snaan to energize the river, and the water becomes amruta (nectar).
On February 22, the Sanatana Hindu Sangha will bring the experience, the splendor, the celebration and the tradition of Kumbh Mela to the Excelsior grounds at the city of Norwalk, California.
During this event, the most colorful happening will be the grand procession of Hindu temples and organizations. At the end of the procession, the Ganga Snaan will be performed – the deities from various temples will be immersed in a pool sanctified with water from the sacred river Ganga. The teerta (holy water) is the essence of Kumbh Mela. Devotees receive the teerta to absorb the positive energy.
The highlight of the event will be the the Kumbh Mela message delivered by Mahamandaleshwar (spiritual head) and Swamis of various Hindu traditions. This will be followed by a spectacle of lights, the Ganga Arati (an offering of lit lamps) to Ganga water. The celebration will conclude with devotional music in the form of Bhajans (devotional songs). In keeping with the timeless tradition of Kumbh Mela, free Prasad (energized food) will be offered.
The much hyped Smithsonian exhibit, Yoga: The Art of Transformation, is packing up to move from its primary residence in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in Washington, DC to spring at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco and summer at the Cleveland Museum of Art. My colleague Sheetal Shah and I trekked down to DC to see it earlier this winter. Honestly, we went with fairly low expectations, because of our experiences with the yoga “industry” and also because I served as a community-based advisor of sorts, which in my experience can be a mixed bag. You see, working with academics as a community advisor is a little bit like getting a haircut from a well-seasoned stylist — you know your hair so you tell her what you’d like. She listens, but ultimately cuts and styles it in the way she has always done hair, and the end product is usually about 25 percent of you wanted and 75 percent of what she did. With the yoga exhibit, the experience was similar — I found that some of the concerns I raised during pre-exhibit conversations were taken to heart, while others not as much.
The reason I went with Sheetal is because she is a student of Ashtanga yoga, but more importantly, she is one of my cohorts behind Hindu American Foundation’s Take Back Yoga Project – Bringing to Light Yoga’s Hindu Roots (TBY). TBY is a project the Foundation launched in 2010 after someone at Yoga Journal confirmed that the editors intentionally avoided the term “Hindu” in describing things that were, well, Hindu, because “Yah, you know, Hinduism has a lot of baggage.” The aim of the project is at getting the millions of folks who say they “do yoga” to appreciate that 1) yoga is not just asana; and 2) while yoga does not proselytize or require conversion to reap its physical and psycho-spiritual benefits, it refers to spiritual practices that are essential to the understanding and practice of Hinduism. On the whole, we found that Yoga: The Art of Transformation aligned with the two-fold goal of the TBY.
Visually stunning and simultaneously soothing, the exhibit has a quietness about it. It weaves through time, taking the visitor from a prehistoric era of self-study, that continues to baffle scholars and laypeople alike as to its depth and timelessness, to an age where yoga studios are as prolific as Starbucks. Stone sculptures, silk paintings, photographs, and live video footage offer visitors a feast for the eyes and mind. What was impressive also was the attention paid to providing the rich symbolism of Hindu gods and goddesses and the various aspects of form, a task that too often is exoticized or eroticized by museums (and academics). At the end of it all, one definitely cannot leave without having at least a basic understanding of the deep historical connection between yoga and Hinduism, and the realization that yoga is far more than just asana.
I met the curator, Dr. Debra Diamond, several years ago on a separate visit to the Smithsonian organized by the Interfaith Alliance to connect representatives of different faiths with the Institute to dialogue on how issues of religion could be handled with respect and sensitivity. At the time, the yoga exhibit was still in the planning phase. Debra was familiar with TBY, but seemed to have already formulated an opinion about it. I found her summation to be similar to one we often face with academics — an almost instinctual labeling of “nationalist” or “fundamentalist” to anything vocally or politically Hindu. Accustomed to this, our team decided to continue engaging. Over time, we explained our concerns with the industry’s some times concerted and other times unintentional delinking of yoga from Hinduism, and the cost this delinking has on Hindus who lose the opportunity to have acknowledged one of our civilization’s greatest contributions to the world.
As the exhibit drew closer to opening, I, on behalf of HAF, was invited by Debra to join an advisory group. While we didn’t have an opportunity to view the exhibit (we saw a slide show and the plans) or the descriptive placards (they weren’t written yet), she mentioned to me that after our initial meeting and several interactions thereafter, she felt compelled to revisit TBY with an “open mind”, and while there were points in our argument that she did not agree with, she had a renewed understanding of the motivation behind TBY and appreciated HAF’s intentions. She resonated with our concerns for both Hindus around the globe facing discrimination and hate because of their religious identity as well as Hindu belief and practice continuing to be widely misunderstood due to exoticized portrayals and “caste, cows and karma” caricatures.
During the small group session with a diverse set of advisors that included yoga teachers, yoga practitioners, yoga researchers, and others, it was indeed interesting to hear the various perspectives of what each sought from the exhibit. Some were curious about the aesthetics and flow, others were interested in the supplementary programming, while others wanted to ensure that the science behind yoga was emphasized. For me, I wanted to drive home three main points: 1) the importance of using the word “Hindu,” as opposed to favored industry codewords like “Indian,” “Indic,” “Sanskrit,” or “Vedic” (none of which are inaccurate, by the way) as a descriptor where appropriate; 2) when it came to describing the unknown — be it origins, dates, or sources — that a certain humility be present in the descriptors, ie. “Some scholars believe…” or “The origins are unknown, but…”; and 3) where aspects of yoga’s history were still contested or debated or differed from emic Hindu perspectives, that the multiples views be honored and given space.
There is no doubt that my first concern was addressed, and to some extent, even the second. The third was, I believe, not addressed adequately. One example of not fully acknowledging an ongoing debate is in the dating of the Vedas. While the conventionally accepted date is around 1200 BCE or the second millennium, these dates, which also happen to be intertwined with the dating of the Indus Valley Civilization, are argued to be much earlier by leading scholars in a variety of fields, including religious studies, linguistics, archaeology, and even genetics. A nod to the ongoing debate would serve visitors well. Another example is with the dating of the emergence of meditation “as a means for transcending suffering at 500 BCE.” There are references to meditation and different states of consciousness in the oldest Upanishads, which most scholars date back to earlier than 500 BCE. There’s also the understanding amongst Hindus that the Rig Veda and Vedas as a whole, were Truths that the ancient Rishis came to through deep meditations.
Another issue we had, in the otherwise well curated exhibit, was the distinct sense of deja vu you get reading the placards on asana — especially if you’re familiar with Mark Singleton’s work on the history of modern postural yoga. He was an academic consultant, so perhaps that should come as no surprise. For those who may not be familiar, Singleton has made the claim that contemporary postural yoga was invented in the 19th century as an “unlikely mix of British bodybuilding and physical culture, American transcendentalism and Christian science, naturopathy, Swedish gymnastics, and the YMCA.” Many scholars have been highly critical of his work saying he has selectively ignored the complex history of classical yoga and the non-textual and rich physical traditions found in India’s visual and performing arts and architecture, all of which were flourishing before being destroyed or suppressed during Mughal expansion and by the Victorian mores of Colonial Britain. Interestingly and contradicting Singleton’s premise, the exhibit itself presents 10 folios from the Bahr al-hayat from the 17th century, which the descriptor claims is one of “the earliest known treatises to illustrate yoga postures systematically.”
Our last point of contention is not so much with the exhibit, but with its catalogue. While stunning and a beautiful addition to any coffee table, its coverage of the four goals of life prescribed in Hindu teachings, or the purusharthas, seems to place a heavy emphasis on the lesser goals of artha (material pursuit) and kama (physical pleasure), and not as much on the higher ones of dharma (righteous living) and moksha (spiritual liberation). As one yoga expert friend put it, “And what happens when you leave off dharma and moksha [from Hinduism]? All you have left is sex, violence, and money.”
I’m glad the Smithsonian provided the platform for Debra Diamond to follow through on her vision and genuine desire to educate the public on something that so many “do,” but don’t fully understand. If you’re in the San Francisco bay area this spring or Cleveland in the summer, it’s definitely worth experiencing.
