All posts by : HMEC

Washington: On August 1, on the occasion of Bhumi Pujan for the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya, online national prayer will be organized in Hindu temples of North America. Religious groups gave this information. The Hindu Temple Executives Conference (HMEC) and the Hindu Temple Priests Conference (HMPC) issued a statement on Friday, calling for a national prayer to be held simultaneously across the US on the occasion of “Shri Ram Mandir Bhoomi Pujan” to be held in Ayodhya.

Hindu temples in North America will hold a virtual national prayer to celebrate the foundation laying ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, religious groups have announced.

The Hindu Mandir Executives’ Conference (HMEC) and the Hindu Mandir Priests’ Conference (HMPC), in a statement on Friday, called for a virtual collective national prayer across America to rejoice the upcoming “Shree Ram Mandir Poojan” at Ayodhya.

On the auspicious occasion, the temples across the US, Canada and Caribbean Islands will join in offering seva (service) in the “Lotus feet” of Lord Rama on the eve of the Ram Mandir reconstruction poojan (prayer), the statement said.

“For a joyful global Hindu community, the historic ceremony on August 5, 2020, marks the ushering of a new era. We should cherish and celebrate this day as a festival now, and forever in the future,” said Pandit Krishna Kumar Pandey, founder, president and  of the Shiv Durga Temple in Bay Area, California.

Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America said it is organising prayers to mark the August 5 ceremony in Ayodhya, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be laying the foundation stone of the temple.

A collective chanting by priests in North America will be held, followed by a devotional song by playback singers Anup Jalota and Sanjeevani Bhelande.

A virtual national prayer will be held at the Hindu temples in North America to celebrate the ‘bhumi pujan’ ceremony of Shri Ram Temple in Ayodhya on 5 August, Hindu religious groups have announced, reports Times of India.

In a statement on Friday (31 July), the Hindu Mandir Priests’ Conference (HMPC) and the Hindu Mandir Executives’ Conference (HMPC) called for a virtual collective national prayer across America to celebrate the Shri Ram Mandir Bhumi Pujan at Ayodhya.

On the auspicious occasion, the temples across the US, Canada and Caribbean Islands will join in offering seva (service) in the “Lotus feet” of Lord Rama on the eve of the Ram Mandir reconstruction poojan (prayer), the statement said.

“For a joyful global Hindu community, the historic ceremony on August 5, 2020, marks the ushering of a new era. We should cherish and celebrate this day as a festival now, and forever in the future,” Pandit Krishna Kumar Pandey, founder, president and Acharya of the Shiv Durga Temple in Bay Area, California was quoted as saying.

It should be noted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be participating in the Ram Mandir Bhumi Pujan ceremony in Ayodhya on 5 August.

Vishwa Parishad of America said that it will be organising prayers across the North America to mark the historic occasion. A collective chanting by priests in North America will be held, followed by a devotional song by singers Anup Jalota and Sanjeevani Bhelande.

Hindu temples in North America will hold a virtual national prayer to celebrate the foundation laying ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, religious groups have announced.

The Hindu Mandir Executives’ Conference (HMEC) and the Hindu Mandir Priests’ Conference (HMPC), in a statement on Friday, called for a virtual collective national prayer across America to rejoice the upcoming “Shree Ram Mandir Poojan” at Ayodhya. On the auspicious occasion, the temples across the US, Canada and Caribbean Islands will join in offering seva (service) in the “Lotus feet” of Lord Rama on the eve of the Ram Mandir reconstruction poojan (prayer), the statement said.

“For a joyful global Hindu community, the historic ceremony on August 5, 2020, marks the ushering of a new era. We should cherish and celebrate this day as a festival now, and forever in the future,” said Pandit Krishna Kumar Pandey, founder, president and Acharya of the Shiv Durga Temple in Bay Area, California. Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America said it is organising prayers to mark the August 5 ceremony in Ayodhya, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be laying the foundation stone of the temple.

A collective chanting by priests in North America will be held, followed by a devotional song by playback singers Anup Jalota and Sanjeevani Bhelande.

Washington: Hindu temples in North America will hold a virtual national prayer to celebrate the foundation laying ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, religious groups have announced.

The Hindu Mandir Executives’ Conference (HMEC) and the Hindu Mandir Priests’ Conference (HMPC), in a statement on Friday, called for a virtual collective national prayer across America to rejoice the upcoming “Shree Ram Mandir Poojan” at Ayodhya.

On the auspicious occasion, the temples across the US, Canada and Caribbean Islands will join in offering seva (service) in the “Lotus feet” of Lord Rama on the eve of the Ram Mandir reconstruction poojan (prayer), the statement said.

“For a joyful global Hindu community, the historic ceremony on August 5, 2020, marks the ushering of a new era. We should cherish and celebrate this day as a festival now, and forever in the future,” said Pandit Krishna Kumar Pandey, founder, president and Acharya of the Shiv Durga Temple in Bay Area, California.

Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America said it is organising prayers to mark the August 5 ceremony in Ayodhya, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be laying the foundation stone of the temple.

A collective chanting by priests in North America will be held, followed by a devotional song by playback singers Anup Jalota and Sanjeevani Bhelande.

USA, July 31: The reverberations of August 5, 2020, foundation laying ceremony of Sri Ram Mandir at Ayodhya in Bharat, are visible in the far-off USA. Here the Hindu Mandir Executives’ Committee (HMEC) and Hindu Mandir Priests’ Conference (HMPC) have organized a virtual collective national prayer across the USA to rejoice in the historic “Shree Ram Mandir Poojan in Ayodhya”.

A joint press release issued by HEMC and HMPC said that invitation to all the Mandir Executives and Mandir Priests across the USA, Canada, and the Caribbean Islands are invited to take part in VIRTUAL Samuhik (Collective) Chanting and offer our Seva at the Lotus feet of Prabhu Shree Ram on the eve of Shree Ram Mandir reconstruction poojan.

The HEMC and HMPC offered pranams to Dharma Gurus, all the devotees whose tyag and tapas and the grace of Shree Ram have brought this Dharmic Movement to a historic milestone – a dream come true.

The program includes Collective chanting of Ramraksha stotra and Sri Ram Naam chanting by priests in the USA, Canada, and the Caribbean Islands followed by Bhajan by renowned playback singers Sanjeevani Bhelande & Anup Jalota. Meanwhile, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America (VHPA) will make llive telecast of the August 5 program of foundation laying of Shree Ram Mandir which will be performed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Several members of Hindu Students Council’s National Leadership team attended and spoke at the recently concluded Hindu Mandir Executives’ Conference (HMEC), in Indianapolis. The annual conference, which spanned the weekend of September 17- 19, is organized by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America (VHP-A) and aims to help mandirs connect with each other and dialogue on several important issues. This year, the theme of the conference—the Digital Mandir—lent itself crucially to a strong youth presence, and HSC members spoke and participated in dynamic ways.

Treasurer Sohini Sircar and General Secretary Parth Parihar, along with members of the Coalition of Hindu Youth (CHY), helped to coordinate youth sessions related to bettering the ways in which mandirs can harness social media to better reach a youth demographic. Today, in many mandirs, the faces that populate the worshippers are often those of the first-generation that arrived here decades ago. Their children have grown disconnected from their Hindu roots. HSC leader Riddhi Patel underscored that even when younger children attend, they often do so at the behest of their parents, and don’t have an inherent stake in the mandir or the community.

Here, HSC plays and can continue to help play a crucial role. This is precisely the topic that HSC President Ravindra Jaishankar addressed in his plenary talk on Saturday, calling on mandir leaders to diversify programming and services to attract youth. Jaishankar proposed SAT tutoring, classical dance and music, along with a host of other programs that could be harnessed to deliver what the Hindu youth of today is looking for, transforming the mandir into a community hub.

As Parihar pointed out, HSC’s presence on social media remains a vital connection for youth throughout the country, as it is the Hindu American organization with the largest reach on Facebook and is transitioning into other fora like Instagram and Twitter. The presentation Parihar delivered on the misrepresentation of Hinduism in Western education was in the form of a YouTube video to make content generated through HMEC easily accessible to participants outside the venue. Sircar helped formulate a ‘Digital Guide’ for mandirs that is a user-friendly list of “do’s” and “don’ts” that will help shape the ways mandirs reach out to a youth base.

HSC leaders Venkat Ganesh and Riddhi Patel helped shape the discussion during the youth session and enthusiastically networked with others throughout the duration of conference. Said Ganesh of his first HMEC experience, “HMEC 2017 was a memorable first for me. I had the opportunity to meetup with many like-minded, young followers of Dharmic traditions (and celebrate Ravi’s birthday with my HSC friends!). Representing HSC at the event, it gave me a platform to share the work that our organization was doing across different campuses in the country. I enjoyed discussions at the youth session where one of the topics was – how to engage the youth to be more involved in temple activities and leverage social media platforms to stay connected with the local temple. It was pleasing to see active participation and good suggestions put forward by the young group. Also having Aarti at the HTCI temple and subsequent live music-dance performances gave a nice touch to the event. Overall, the event was well planned out and I look forward to attending it next year”.

Through its pool of dedicated leaders, Hindu Students Council hopes to continue to have a strong presence at future HMEC’s and contribute to this very noble effort to uplift Hindu dharma for the next generation.

More than 55 pundits, adults, and youth delegates representing temples and Hindu organizations across the nation attended the fourth Hindu Mandir Priests’ Conference (HMPC), an initiative of Hindu Mandir Executives’ Conference (HMEC) that was hosted by Hindu Temple of Minnesota (HTM), Maple Grove, Minnesota, May 15 through 16. Its four sessions on role and relationship of priests, sustaining Hindu temples, community links and Hindu-American youth viewpoint. Professor Anant Rambachan from St. Olaf College, Minnesota, delivered the keynote address on the second day.

Following lamp lighting and Vedic chanting, HTM religious committee chairman Raj Suryanarayanan delivered the welcome address and set the conference goals and objectives. Chief priest of Ram Mandir of Mississauga, Canada, Pundit Roopnauth Sharma, delivered the keynote on “Hinduism for the new age” that highlighted the need for consistency in communication by the priests and for congregational temple worship.

HTM founding trustee Dr. Shashikant Sane summarized the session by emphasizing the need to establish educational programs in temples, learning from positive communication practices, interfaith dialog and fundraising.

Vishal Agarwal shared the teaching curriculum used for 350 students of Hindu American Temple School (HATS) over the past five years and displayed all the teaching materials to be made available soon in e-book format.

HTM religious committee trustees and past chairs Raj and Anandi Balasubramanian coordinated the two sessions dedicated to the priests. All the HTM priests presented along with several from other Minnesota temples. HTM chief priest Pt. Ronur Murali Bhattar emphasized that priests should be tolerant toward devotees and conduct worship with utmost devotion.

Young mother and devotee Vallabha Tantry expressed the need to inspire the younger generation to choose the profession of temple priest. Pt. Gowtham Narayan described the role of Vedic chanting in temples and gave a practical demonstration. Parthan Gomadam elaborated on similarities between Sanskrit and Tamil in Vaishnava worship. Bhattar’s wife, Nagalatha Murali summarized the shared experiences of the wives of the HTM priests in balancing their religious lifestyle with the American cultural environment. She praised the support that priest families receive from devotees.

“Challenge our new generation of Hindus may face is not so much attraction toward other religions but becoming less interested in their own traditions,” said Rambachan in his second-day keynote.

Expressing joy at her adopted son from India attending HATS, Annette Kurek demonstrated how stories told thorough puppet shows can deliver powerful moral messages to children attending temple youth programs. Padmakumar of Sanskrit Bharati, California, spoke in Sanskrit and highlighted its significance and the value of learning the language. Attorney Harsh Voruganti of Hindu American Foundation, Virginia, spoke of temple safety and security requirements and shared HAF’s published guidelines.

The conference established the precedent of honoring distinguished senior priests for dedicated service to the Hindu community for more than two decades, by conferring the title of “Archaka Bhushana” (Priestly Ornament). Koteshwaran Gurukkal from Ganesh Temple, Nashville, Tennessee, Krishnarajan Devarajan from Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago, Lemont, Illinois, and S. Venkatacharyulu of Sri Venkateswara Temple, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, were the recipients of the 2015 award. Kandamangalam Gopala Deekshidhar was recognized for his service to HTM.

Sanjay Mehta of Pittsburgh concluded by summarizing actionable items: mechanism for constant communication amongst temple management and priests to share experiences and best practices; English language and communication workshops for priests; a short manual of common consistent answers delivered by priests to temple visitors; and a think tank to define and build a forward-looking priests development program.

HMEC provides leadership to Hindu-American communities by encouraging temples across North America to protect and sustain Hindu Dharma. HMPC is an initiative of World Hindu Council of America (VHPA).

9th Hindu Mandir Executives’ Conference (HMEC) – 2014

September 26, 2014

PRESS RELEASE, For Immediate ReleaseOver 200 adult and youth delegates representing over 85 Mandirs (Temples) and Hindu organizations, from across the world, attended the ninth annual Hindu Mandir Executives’ Conference (HMEC) that was held from September 19 through 21, 2014 in Orlando, Florida. The 9th HMEC was co-hosted by a record 47 Hindu temples and Hindu organizations from across the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. The theme of the conference was: “The Role of Temples in Hindu Education.”

The program consisting of 22 sessions with 115 speakers and moderators was meticulously composed by a national program committee assisted by a team of over 25 experienced and committed Temple executives and youth delegates. A message to the Hindu community was delivered by Rick Singh on behalf of the Mayors of Orlando and Orange county. Says Pandit Amar Seeprasad from Trinidad, “I was blessed to be present at HMEC 2014, I think it was really great and extremely encouraging for all those who were present. I thought that great and valuable amount of information and knowledge was shared, and answers for many of the problems and challenges we face were given.”

Mandir issues were at the forefront of the discussion. The Hindu community in North America has always sought effective ways to deal with the challenges of a Western / American society. The participants discussed how the temples, through community involvement,  can contribute to the American society in many ways such as, coping with and reducing stressful situations through traditional practices, and by referrals to the right resources available via local city, county, and federal agencies. The panelists felt that the benefits of offering such services are enormous for all members and their families and for the growth of the temple. A special session was organized to discuss Mandir etiquette and best practices. Hinduism is a culture of respect, acceptance and gratitude. It values purity (saucha) and dignity (maryada): observance of propriety, politeness and good taste in conduct or appearance. Ways to sustain and further foster these values were discussed. Experts and teachers from a mix of Hindu traditions shared their perspective on the educational challenges facing various Hindu communities and how to handle them.  Pandit Ravi Persaud talked about the challenges faced in schooling for Hindu children in Guyana. “It was absolutely my learning pleasure and privilege. I am glad to be an instrument in this great initiative,” Ami Patel a youth delegate from Toronto, Canada who scribed the conference proceedings.

A special session was dedicated to teaching Hinduism in Universities.  With the increasing academic awareness of Hinduism, many universities and colleges offer courses on the subject which are often taught by non-Hindu practitioners. This session was aimed at gaining an understanding of the perspective and experiences of the professors. Swami Sadasivanatha Palaniswami of Hinduism Today presented practical proposal on “Mandirs’ Educational Model.”

During three different and exclusive sessions, organized and executed by youths many innovative suggestions were made on how the youth can contribute in the sustaining of Dharma and become future leaders.  Displays by various organizations generated lot of interest and exchange of ideas among delegates. Bhavesh Lad said, “Length of rituals is not a problem as long as devotees are emotionally connected.” Sohini Sircar wished, “Mandirs should offer Gita classes to help modern day Arjun (youth) to overcome his/her dilemma.”

Hinduism is primarily based on transference of knowledge from one generation to the next. Doing so requires developing proper ‘content’ taking into account the current needs and future requirements. The content so developed by collective endeavor should be ‘inclusive’ of commonly acceptable concepts, teaching and practices. This big challenge necessitating the support of modern day techniques of knowledge management was discussed in a session called Developing Common Content Collectively.

The need to invest time to locate authentic and reliable Hindu-centric information from search engines was discussed. It was agreed that there is a need to establish infrastructure of authentically rated Hindu centric knowledge base in succinct form. The infrastructure would include authenticity ratings, peer reviewers, networked libraries at temples, technology know how’s, databases of writers, publishers, producers, artists, availability of courses, degree programs, and business plan for information clearing house.  In a session titled Developing Common Infrastructure Collectively Robert Arnett spoke about creating a Hindu Library Digital Network.

Surabhi Adesh and her group gave a beautiful performance during the Saturday evening Gala Dinner program. The Science and Sanatan Dharma Scholarship for Youth winners were announced at the program by Harsh Dave.

The ninth HMEC passed the following resolutions:

1.  All the temples in North America should appoint a teacher on a regular basis; good scholars who can talk about Hindu Dharma and spiritual texts and connect the second and third generation with our religious tradition.

2.  Develop plans and strategies for the libraries of North American Hindu temples to share resources among each other and the libraries and other repositories across North America and worldwide.

3.  Encourage and facilitate participation of North American Hindu Temples in variety of projects in India initiated by NGO and the Government initiatives such as Save the Ganga and Air Pollution Reduction projects.

4. Form a task force at the temple management level for dispute resolution. HMEC shall form a task force to help in mediating and counseling in resolving disputes at national level. The goal is to minimize the number of legal disputes involving temples.

5.  Temple facilities such as community halls or fund raising events should be consistent with charter and values of temple and Hindu Dharma. This includes not serving alcohol or non-vegetarian food or selling Bollywood movies.

6. HMEC should establish an endowment fund to create self-sustaining source of fund to meet its ongoing operational needs.

Welcoming HMEC’s resolution of participation of North American Hindu Temples in ‘Save the Ganga’ project, Honorable Central Minister of India Uma Bharti ji conveyed, “With your (HMEC) cooperation we will do it even better.” The concluding thoughts were delivered by Shri Narayancharandas who emphasized the principle of “Dharmo Rakshati Rakshitah” – collective sustenance of Dharma.   A temple tour was organized for the interested delegates on Sunday morning.

Contact Details:
Utsav Chakrabarti – Director, Relations;  A special message was socialmedia@vhp-america.org  Tel: 443-6910759

The vision of HMEC is to be the network of Hindu Organizations for effective leadership generation to generation In North America. Representatives from Hindu temples meet to deliberate and solve issues collectively. This conference provides a great opportunity to community leaders to learn from each other and ultimately grow as one community. The World Hindu Council of America (VHPA), founded in 1970 and incorporated in the state of New York in 1974, is an independent, nonprofit, tax- exempt and volunteer-based charitable organization serving the needs of Hindu community in USA. It aims to build a dynamic and vibrant Hindu society rooted in the eternal values of Dharma and inspired by the lofty ideal of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, i.e. the entire creation is one family.  For more information on VHPA, please write to media@vhp-america.org or visit www.vhp-america.og

Hindu Mandir Executives’ Conference · An Initiative of VHP of America www.myhmec.com · P.O. Box 611, Iselin, NJ 08830 · (508) 875-0432· gs@vhp-america.org

Over 350 adult and youth delegates representing over 102 Mandirs (Temples) and Hindu organizations, from across the world, attended the seventh annual Hindu Mandir Executives’ Conference (HMEC), from August 17 through 18, 2012 in San Jose, CA. The Seventh HMEC was hosted by the Fremont Temple and 22 other co-hosts temples from around the Bay Area in California. Participants came from all across the United States, Canada, India, Trinidad and New Zealand. Addressing the participants by video-conference, Swami Dayananda Saraswati said, “This get-together is bound to create better bonds and good networking among the people connected to the Hindu Mandirs in America.”

The conference was a result of over ten months of preparation by a national team and an enthusiastic host team in the Bay Area led by Dr. Umesh Shukla, Dr. Romesh Japra and Rajesh Verma. The program consisting of over 25 sessions and 100 speakers & moderators was meticulously composed by a national program committee led by Sant Gupta and Govind Pasumarthi.

“I would like to commend HMEC for conducting perhaps the best seminar of its type that I have ever attended,” says Robert Arnett, author of India Unveiled. “Speakers provided a wealth of information on a wide array of subjects that were both informative and useful. But what impressed me the most was the spirit of unity and harmony that prevailed throughout the entire conference. Everyone seemed keen on supporting each other’s goals, rather than the usual in-fighting and personal agendas found at most conferences. I actually was sad to see the conference come to an end, and know that I left having made several friends for life.”

Spiritual Guidance
A record fifteen sadhus and sadhvis (initiated monks) attended the gathering. The conference was inaugurated by Swamini Svatmavidyananda Ji who effortlessly weaves humor into her speech calling Hindu Dharma the Universal Dharma. She said, “it (Hindu Dharma) is there in every heart, regardless of whether we went to Sunday school, balavihar, or whatever, it is there.” The editor of Hinduism Today, a prominent Hindu magazine, Paramacharya Paliniswami extolled the tolerance of Hindu Dharma when he told the audience that, “Hindus are intolerant of one thing, we can’t tolerate intolerance.” Sadhvi Bhagawati said that, “Dharma is not like fossils or ancient archeological remains, Dharma is not history, it’s alive it is in the present.” Swami Nikhilanand of Radhamadhav Dham, Austin, shared his thoughts on the educational curriculum for mandirs and also his Kirtan. Swami Brahmswarupanand ji apprised the delegates about the progress and strength of Hindus in Caribbean countries and stressed the need to integrate them with Hindus in North America.

Temples and Temple Administration
Mandir issues were at the forefront of the discussion. Swami Mukundananda of J.K. Yog, emphasized the mission of mandirs, “It is important to educate about spiritual greatness and Vedic knowledge. It’s mandir’s responsibility to instill pride.” HAF’s Sunil Shukla charged the temples to be more relevant to the Hindu community and to all communities, whereas, Senthilanathaswami urged the temple trustees to resist contention amongst themselves. A special topic covered legal liabilities that can impact mandir executives and how to ensure that the executives are protected. Fred Stella, representing the Self Realization Fellowship emphasized the virtues of saatvik, organic food and advocated for better treatment of cows, saying, “Mandirs should take the opportunity to have relationships with local organic farms and educate the community on treatment of cows.”

There was a special emphasis on the role of priests at the conference. Pt. Murali Bhattar, the chief priest from Minnesota Hindu Temple, wowed the audience with his techno-savvy presentation and live demo of Vedic chants from his iPad. Pt. Ram Hardowar, Surya Narayan Mandir, NY, stressed that the priests should not be viewed as merely religious leaders but as community leaders. He also announced his temple as the host of the 2013 Hindu Mandir Priest’s Conference.

Swami Vidyadhishananda, from the Self Enquiry Life Fellowship, presented ten years of research that led to collection and preservation of spectacular, extremely rare pictures of pauranic mandirs. The presentation was unique because it connected the temples to the puranas and ancient Hindu history. Stephan Knapp urged the executives to envision temple’s “content architecture” beyond “empty rituals” and cited his newly published book “Spreading Vedic Traditions Through Temples” as a reference handbook for this process.

Youth
Members from Coalition of Hindu Youth (CHY) and CHERISH (Fremont Temple Hindu Youth group) played a prominent role in organizing the conference. The youth session’s topic was “Igniting the flame within – redefining the Hindu-American youth identity”. This session comprised of three portions: Q&A with Sadhvi Bhagawati, a break-out discussion session, and a creative hour done by the local youth. During this time the youth discussed what it meant to be Hindu AND American and how others see us and our identities. “We have an identity. We are 100% Hindu and 100% American. They are not mutually exclusive.” This successful youth session ended with group summaries of what it means to maintain our combined identity, and a presentation of each group’s discussion and resolutions. The California youth then showcased the different activities and insights of their mandir youth group.

Mihir Meghani of Hindu American Foundation urged the temples to involve the younger generation in the leadership positions in temples and Hindu organizations. Meghani charged the temples to become “centers of activism, not just centers of rituals.” Swami Vidyadhishananda drew applause when he told the mandir executives that the,”Youth participation in mandirs should go beyond ‘organizing the shoes’ – a deeper involvement is needed.” Youth representative and graduate student in Sanskrit, Varun Khanna explained how Sanskrit language and Samskriti (culture) are inseparable.

Advocacy
The Seventh HMEC presented an excellent opportunity for Hindu community leaders to present their activities and thoughts advocacy of issues pertinent to the Hindu community.

Dr. Rahul Jindal of Walter Reed Hospital spoke of the success of HMEC blood donation drive in which 77 temples participated, whereas, a booth at the conference enrolled bone marrow donors. Other featured seva projects included Support-a-Child (SAC), SNSOS and Ekal Vidyalaya. Ajay Shah, representing American Hindus Against Defamation (AHAD) spoke about the defamation and denigration of Hindu culture, customs, symbols and images in mass media and art. Speaking of Hindu hate group Dot-busters, Shah said, “We are going to connect the dots, but we’re going to connect them in such a way that they spell ‘Dharmo Rakshati Rakshitaha (those who protect dharma are protected by it).”

The very first born and practicing Hindu contesting to be member of US Congress, Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, shared her inspirational life story and received a standing ovation. Gabbard said that, “I am looking forward to taking the oath of office on the Bhagavad Geeta.” Community activism is not merely limited to political advocacy.

Publications and Announcement
Parmacharya Paliniswami announced availability of the booklet, “Visiting Hindu Temple – A Beginner’s Guide” at the conference. HMEC announced publication and availability of “The Hindu Prayer Book – For Patients, Caregivers, and Chaplains.” This book will fulfill a unique void and help hospital counselors and families in grief. Recognizing the importance of Hindu Chaplains in the community, HAF and HMEC seek to formalize the education of Hindu Chaplains via a newly announced initiative called Hindu American Chaplaincy Program. Sanatana Dharma National Scholarship was announced at the conference. This scholarship will be awarded to students ranging from elementary school to college. The next volume of Samskar book is planned to be released in 2013.

Resolutions
The seventh HMEC unanimously passed the following 4 resolutions:

1. Expressing condolence for the victims and the families of attack on the Sikh Gurudwara in Wisconsin.
2. Condemned the persecution of Hindus in Northeastern India, especially Assam due to the demographic change in the Assam population resulting from illegal immigration from Bangladesh.
3. Urged the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate the condition of Hindu temples and forcible abduction and conversion of Hindus in Pakistan.
4. By all means support purification of Yamuna River in India – a river considered holy by Hindus that is now infused with sewage.

HMEC Initiative Updates
Sanjay Mehta, Jt. General Secretary of VHPA, updated the participants on the ongoing HMEC projects and announced upcoming activities. Hindu Women’s Network, the Bal Vihar Network and Hindu Mandir Priest’s Network all held their conferences this year. HAVAN, a network of Hindu retirees, announced upcoming conferences at the Cincinnati Hindu Temple and Shakti Mandir of Atlanta.

Conclusion
The concluding program started with a special candle light tribute the victims of violence at the Sikh Gurudwara in Wisconsin. Gurudwaras from the Bay Area participated in the concluding program and addressed the audience. The cultural program depicting Hindu spiritual dances and a skit on the Hindu life enthralled the audience. Dr. Romesh Japra, convener of the seventh HMEC, thanked the Mandir Executives for their participation.

The HMEC concluded with a special address by Shree Ashok Singhal Ji, Patron and Past President of VHP Global. He apprised the delegates about the persecution of Hindus in India, particularly North East India in Assam due to illegal immigration of Bangladeshis. He requested financial help from Hindus in North America in rehabilitating Hindus in Assam. He also urged the need to put a stop to persecution of Hindus and Hindu Mandirs in Pakistan. He also proposed creation of a Global organization of Hindu temples and a conference of Hindu temples from all over the world to be organized in 2014 in the USA. He invited the delegates to a special program from Feb 6-12, 2013 during the Kumbh Mela, the largest gathering of Hindus, in Prayag (Allahabad) from Feb 6-12, 2013.

Dr. Nachiketa Tiwari invited everyone for 2014 World Hindu Congress in Delhi.

HMEC & VHPA
The vision of HMEC is to be the network of Hindu Organizations for effective leadership generation to generation In North America. Representatives from Hindu temples meet to deliberate and solve issues collectively. This conference provides a great opportunity to all of us to learn from each other and ultimately grow as one community. Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council) of America (VHPA), founded in 1970 and incorporated in the state of New York in 1974, is an independent, nonprofit, tax- exempt and volunteer-based charitable organization serving the needs of Hindu community in USA. It aims to build a dynamic and vibrant Hindu society rooted in the eternal values of Dharma and inspired by the lofty ideal of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, i.e. the entire creation is one family. For more information on VHPA, please write to media@vhp-america.org.

Two of our swamis, Paramacharya Sadasivanatha Palaniswami and Sannyasin Senthilnathaswami, are attending the Sixth Annual Hindu Mandir Executives’ Conference (HMEC) in Columbus, Ohio, today. This year, about 250 people are attending, representing Hindu organizations of all kinds from around North America, even one all the way from Australia. The messages here are more mature and relevant than in past conferences. Youth are more seriously engaged, telling us their uncles have been listening and are now giving them full responsibilities in their mandirs instead of orders. There are over 70 youth delegates at the conference this year!

Houston, Texas, Oct 22, 2010 – Over 90 mandirs and organizations from all over North America gathered for the fifth annual Hindu Mandir Executive Conference 2010. Hindu Students Council sent three of its members, Priya Radhakrishnan, President of HSC, Siddharth Jain, Public Relations Coordinator and Arjun Pradeep, an officer at HSC’s UMBC chapter.

The purpose of HMEC 2010 was to promote the development of networking between executives of all Hindu mandirs in North America and to discuss ways of ensuring the sustenance of Hindu dharma.

The three-day event consisted of twelve sessions with multiple presentations for each session. With mornings beginning at 6 AM, attendees had the option of either the devotional singing of Bhajans or Yoga and Meditation hosted by Art of Living. Big names present at the event include Hinduism Today, Chinmaya Mission, Hindupedia, B.A.P.S., Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation, ISKCON, just to name a few.

“Wonderfully put together event with the myriad Hindu groups and temples represented with inspirational words from Swami Nikhilananda and Swami Tattvavidananda. Most interesting was the session for youth discussing the issues impacting young Hindus and how we can work together to forge strong and cooperative leadership for tomorrow while also working towards laying the groundwork for the upcoming years. Overall, a great collaborative performance that showed how important it is for Hindus in America to work together and how successful we can be in what we do,” quotes Siddarth Jain.

Day One of the event began Friday night when the Inaugural Session took place lasting two hours. Swami Nikhilanand closed out the session with a moving address to all the delegates entitled, “All Religions are not the Same.” The speech left listeners with room for thought for the night and set the tone for the rest of the weekend.

Day Two sessions began after the yoga, bhajans and a delicious breakfast. Session topics before lunch were regarding collaboration, project updates, and Festivals. In the collaboration session, moderated by Arjun Pradeep, the Coalition of Hindu Youth (CHY), made their conference debut. CHY’s message was to be the umbrella of unity of Hindu Youth for all temples.

Post lunch, Priya Radhakrishnan of HSC had the opportunity to present the topic “Senior Youth mentoring Younger Youth” and discussed how stronger collaborations can be made between youth and mandir organizations. Other sessions also discussed topics of seva, education, making the mandirs and priests more effective, services offered at mandirs, Hindu public policy, women in programs and management, the assimilation of non-Hindus, and most importantly Youth Integration. In the Youth Integration session, several debatable topics where discussed among conference youth ranging from middle school to grad school students.

The cultural program followed the B.A.P.S. catered dinner in which several beautiful bharatanatyam performances from Meenakshi Temple excited the audience. Young high school student Tejas Dave shared his powerful welcome remarks with the conference as he quoted and explained several Sanskrit quotes from the Vedas. His speech awed the audience as only utter silence was heard in the background. Krishna Maheswari, creator of Hindupedia, presented on developing the next generation of youth leadership several eye-catching statistics that caught the attention of the crowd. Maheswari, founder of the Cornell University Hindu Student Council has proven to be a successful role model and Hinduism activist. Maheswari went on in his speech to talk about his childhood and the adversities he faced growing up in an area where Hindus were not common and in a world where Hinduism was always misunderstood. His shared experiences were those of which many audience members could relate to as well, a moving close to the end of the long day.

The final day began at 8am where summaries of the youth and workshop sessions were shared and management and community involvement drew the conference to a close. Swami Parmeshanandji shared his parting thoughts and blessings with everyone and Columbus, Ohio was announced as the host location of HMEC 2011.

Greetings, Medhavis. Namaste! And Jaya Shri Krishna!

This past weekend, I had the great pleasure to attend and even greater fortune to meet Medha Journal’s own Ravi Joshi at the Hindu Mandir Executives Conference, 2009, in Linthicum, MD (USA).  Raviji is a man after my own heart–a deep thinker and a true activist! There were many other great souls in attendance at the conference, too. But I think that in the great order of the universe, the conference was a pretext for me to finally meet Raviji.

So, let me tell you how the conference went. Unfortunately, on account of a literally sleepless overnight journey from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Linthicum Maryland, caused by bad weather and a somewhat careless airline (they lost my bags, so I had to do some shopping), I missed a number of the events and presentations. But I still got to attend many others. At the very least, I got there in time to deliver my own presentation, titled Multiculturalism and Marriage. If you want to read the edited speech and view the slide presentation they are published over at the Samprajña Institute site (click here for the presentation).

I was one of four speakers who addressed the topic of interracial marriage in a two-hour workshop. With regard to our panel discussion, Hindu youth was the conference’s hot topic, and that helped make the workshop a lively event. Basically, the issue that seemed to carry the most concern among conference attendees was that as first generation immigrants in America were retiring, second generation did not appear to be all that interested in carrying on their parents’ traditions and way of life. As one of the guest speakers said in another session in the conference, “When we built these mandirs, we said they were for our own children. But now that our children have shown little interest in them, we are saying the mandirs are for something else, now.” So topics like marriage, youth education, youth involvement–any topic with “youth” in it–was predisposed to generate much interest and participation.

Raviji delivered an excellent presentation on media bias against Hindus and Hinduism in America. Unfortunately, his presentation was part of a panel presentation scheduled near the very end of the conference, when something like half the attendees were focused more on checking out of the hotel before they got charged for another day’s stay than they were. At that point, the organizers were trying to rush things along. Even though several of us stood up to ask the panelists questions, the organizers gave no one a chance to ask questions to the panelists. (I think they may have allowed one person to ask a question, but I cannot remember for sure.) And since the theme of the conference itself seemed to be more focused on youth issues than any other issue, the conference focus might have also contributed to Raviji’s presentation getting less of a hearing than it should have.  In any case, the problem of the media in America vs. the Hindu community here is not going away. For now, we’ll just have to keep our powder dry for the right moment.

Other than that, here are a few other random thoughts that ran through my mind during and after the conference:

The conference organizers, basically, the VHPA, seem to be pretty much in tune with what’s going on in the Hindu-American community. This is interesting because social scientists who study the Hindu-American community think they have some radically unnatural agenda and hence aren’t legitimate leaders within the Hindu-American community. Right now, I’m reading Prema Kurien’s book A Place at the Multicultural Table, which is, basically, the type of book many Hindus feared she would eventually produce–an anti-Hindu screed dressed in academese. Of course, Dr. Kurien would probably characterize her own work as a warning against as the Hindutva radicalization of otherwise innocent Hindu immigrants in America, but her perspective seems to be a party line among her and her colleagues, which to me was quite unrecognizeable among the VHPA organizers. By any reasonable measure, the conference organizers were normal people with the same normal concerns that I think pretty much most Hindus living in America have. And the conference was focused on those normal concerns.

Certainly, many of the issues that concern the conference organizers and attendees concern me, too. But Kurien starts off her work with making what is, practically, an a priori distinction between peaceful Hindus and dangerous Hindutva radicals.

Over time I began to realize that in the United States, Hindutva supporters were becoming the central authority and hegemonic voice that Hinduism had so far lacked, defining Hinduism, Indian identity, Indian history and culture, and the obligations of good Hindus. Thus many elements of the Hindutva discourse were manifesting themselves in the self-definitions and explanations of lay Hindu Indian Americans, even those who were uninterested in or opposed to Hindu nationalism. I also began to see how the American context and the functioning of Hindu organizations within this environment was indirectly responsible for this development. In this way, I was drawn into studying immigrant politics, much the way that apolitical Hindu Indian Americans have been drawn into the Hindutva movement.

Reading and hearing about the death threats and harassment that scholars (many practicing Hindus themselves) who have been critical of the Hindutva movement or aspects of Hinduism have received has made me pause during the course of my research to ponder whether I should stop and turn to a less controversial project, whether I should write a book and thus risk drawing unwanted negative attention to myself and my family or play safe and write articles for scholarly journals (read primarily by other scholars), and whether I should focus on only the more innocuous aspects of American Hinduism.

Prema Kurien, A Place at the Multicultural Table (New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2007) x – xi.

Now, I want to be clear that I am not an apologist for the VHPA, the VHP, or any of the sangh-parivar organizations. And certainly, there are many Hindus who do not identify with the sangh parivar. But to me it is quite clear that she and her ilk tars with way too broad a brush concerns that many many “lay Hindus”, as she calls them, have. It seems to me that practically any Hindu, under any affiliation, who becomes politically active is likely to be tarred in much the same way her intellectual peers have tarred the sangh parivar. If what I have surmised is reasonably accurate, then the problem they have is not as much with political activism in the name of Hinduism but more with Hinduism itself.

With regard to the anti-religious/anti-Hindu stance of a number of social scientists (Christians too in America have taken a good, prolonged whipping from this group), I would like to mention that Ravi-ji and I are conjointly working on a response to a recent article in the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs (GJIA), in which a small group of scholars recommended the ear-marking of Title VI funds for creating alternative, academically vetted supplemental materials about Hinduism and for fighting future court cases, such as the cases surrounding California’s school textbooks.Title VI here refers to Title VI of the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964, which, in the context of the article in question, means defining Hinduism, as it is understood by many Hindus, as a fundamentally unfair, discriminatory, and hence biggoted religion. These scholars seem to have taken great exception to many of the changes that were finally approved of by the State of California, and this seems to be the motivation for their article in the GJIA.

At the conference, I spoke with some other attendees who knew about the article, and we discussed briefly some strategies for dealing with this. A key premise underlying much anti-Hindu scholarship is that politically active Hindus are, fundamentally, considered ethnonationalists. One of the strategies we discussed was that of having more persons who are not Hindu by birth stepping up against them would seriously challenge the ethnonationalist presumptions many of these scholars harbor. At the very least, a successful implementation of such a strategy would keep these scholars off balance if not divide them.

I’ll have more to report later. In the mean time, please contribute some of your time, talent, and money towards our efforts here or towards someone else’s efforts in this vein. At the very least, Raviji could use a new pair of glasses.  Otherwise, there is always the comments section!

More than 300 participants from 113 temples across North America attended the 3rd Hindu Mandir Executive Conference held at Romulus in Detroit, Michigan, Sept. 26-28, 2008.The conference, which was organized by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, sought to further develop and strengthen networking among the executives of all Hindu mandirs of North America. It also highlighted activities of the Hindu Sabha school and its various operations.The event attracted representation from many of the GTA-based Hindu temples. The Hindu Sabha Mandir in Brampton was represented at the conference by Mahendra Gupta, Ajit Pahwa and Sat Malik.Other prominent GTA-based community members in attendance included Dr. Budhendra Doobay of the Vishnu Mandir in Richmond Hill, Roopnauth Sharma from Mississauga Ram Mandir, Anil Goyal from Vaishno Devi Mandir in Oakville, Naveen Tiwari from Datta Yoga Centre, and Dwarka Prasad from Guelph.Participants acknowledged the growth of the Hindu dharma in North America depends to the extent of the youths' involvement in temples.Some the workshops held alongside the conference included Securing a Site for Ash Immersion in Canada, Role of Temples in Positioning and Strengthening Hindu Dharma, Sustaining Hindu Dharma, Endowment Act and Hindu Mandirs, Health Shared Pool, and Antyeshti Sanskar publications.Navratri celebrationsMeanwhile temples through the GTA are gearing up for Navratri celebrations, conducted across nine nights.Both the Mississauga Ram Mandir and the Hindu Sabha, Brampton's biggest temple for the Hindu community, are gearing up to greet the crowds that traditionally converge on the temple for the festive celebrations.Hindu Sabha is also preparing for a jagran (night vigil) Saturday, Oct. 4, with the celebrations to include the ritual burning of a 60-foot effigy to signify the victory of good over evil.Navaratri is celebrated in different ways throughout India. In North India, Navratri is celebrated with much fervor by fasting on all nine days and worshipping the Goddess Parvati in her different forms, including Goddess Durga, with Durga Pooja being among the biggest festivals in West Bengal.In the South Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, Navratri is celebrated by setting up of Golu or Bombegalu (dolls). It is believed that this was a means to invite people home to celebrate the festivities with them.In Karanataka, particularly Mysore, the enacting of destruction of evil (Ravana destroyed by Rama) is displayed with the lighting of dolls representing Ravana and the forces of evil.