Posts in category: Press Coverage

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