டல்லாஸ் கோவிலில் யுகாதி கொண்டாட்டம்

யுகாதி புத்தாண்டு கொண்டாடும் இந்துக்களுக்கு மனமார்ந்த வாழ்த்துக்கள்

Some Hindus to celebrate a new year with Ugadi
Some Hindus will celebrate new year as religion strives to organize
12:00 AM CDT on Saturday, April 5, 2008
By MARY JACOBS / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News

For some Hindus, Sunday will mark the beginning of the new year.


Photos by REX C. CURRY/Special Contributor
Rangarajan, a Hindu priest, administered a ceremony last weekend at Sri Ganesha Temple in Plano. Attendees at the temple's services include followers of the Sikh faith (background). The celebration, called Ugadi, "is seen as a time to wipe the slate clean and make a new start," said Kailas Nathan, chairman of the board of trustees of the Hindu Temple of North Texas in Plano, which will mark the occasion with a special service and feast.

But that's not the only new year celebrated at the temple. While some Hindus (generally those from southern India) celebrate Ugadi Sunday, those from other regions will mark the new year in mid-April, in celebrations called Puthandu or Vishu. (Those from northern India, however, consider Diwali, the festival of lights, as the new year, and it takes place in October or November.)

"Really, there isn't such a thing as a Hindu new year," says Ishani Chowdhury, director of public policy for the Hindu American Foundation, whose headquarters are in the Washington, D.C., area. "Hinduism can be confusing."

The complexity of this 3,000-year-old religious tradition may help explain why Hindus – the richest and most educated religious group in the U.S., according to a recent Pew Forum survey – haven't been nearly as organized as other religious minorities, such as Jews and Muslims.

The Hindu American Foundation gives a rough estimate of 2 million Hindus in the U.S.; other estimates range from 1 to 1.5 million. The Dallas-Fort Worth area has numerous Hindu temples – among them the one in Plano, which is also called Sri Ganesha, and others in Plano, East Dallas, North Dallas, Irving and Grand Prairie.

Presenting a unified voice of Hinduism is problematic. The tradition has multiple deity-like figures and holiday observances, varying among sects and regions.

But most Hindu Americans agree on one thing: The majority of Americans don't understand Hinduism.

"Hinduism is not just 'caste, cows and curry,' as the media often conceptualizes it," Ms. Chowdhury says. "We've needed a voice to portray Hinduism more accurately." The Hindu American Foundation, founded in 2003, aims to do that.

The foundation cites several common misconceptions about Hinduism:

• That the religion is polytheistic. In fact, "Hindus worship one supreme being through many different names," according to the foundation.

• That the Bhagavad Gita is the "Hindu Bible." It's a sacred text but not read as authoritative advice on living.

• That Hindus worship idols and cows. Murti, which are not idols, are revered as symbols; cows are not eaten; neither is worshipped.

• That dowry payments for a bride to a bridegroom's family are part of Hinduism. The system was a social practice in India, occurring across religions, and was outlawed in 1961.

• That karma is equated with "fate" or "luck," over which there is no control. It's closer to the idea of "whatever you sow, you will reap."

Efforts to organize are making headway, as Hindu groups are beginning to get equal time in public forums. In July, Hindu chaplain Sri Rajan Zed recited opening prayers in the U.S. Senate, representing Hinduism for the first time (and drawing some protests). The Hindu American Foundation sued the state of California – and won in 2007 – after discovering what it called pejorative portrayals of Hinduism in public school textbooks. The lawsuit outcome will enforce open meeting laws, ensuring that Hindus can offer input on textbook materials, as Jewish and Muslim communities have long done.

Currently, the foundation is tackling laws relating to R-1 religious visas, which the group says discriminate against Hindu priests and temple workers by using Judeo-Christian language to define eligibility with terms such as "liturgist" and "catechist."

Ms. Chowdhury says the foundation is staffed by second-generation Hindu Americans, who see the need to organize.

"Our parents came here and basically focused on establishing themselves," she said. "The first generation was very good at building temples. The opportunity for the second generation is to enter the arena of public policy.

"We want to allow future generations of Hindu Americans to have a strong voice, much like the Jewish and Muslim communities have done for decades in the U.S."

religion@dallasnews.com

VISIT the Web sites of Dallas-area Hindu temples.

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