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Our Cultural and Religious Heritage:
Culture and religion survive only when they are practiced,
nurtured and passed on to subsequent generations. Whenever this
process did not or could not materialize, the culture of a society
came to an end, only to become a subject of interest to the
anthropologists and archeologists.
Whenever people migrated from one part of the earth to another,
they always carried with them the tools of their religion and
culture and implanted them in their new surroundings. Examples of
this phenomenon are visible throughout the world and in the history
of mankind. Hindus of India are no exception.
Our ancestors exported Hindu culture to different lands,
extending from Burma to Indonesia, China and Japan in the East and
to Persia, Afghanistan and beyond in the West. In fact, traces of
Hindu influence, both religious and cultural, are manifest in the
religious rites of many lands. Hindu philosophy earned many seekers
throughout the ages, and in many countries.
The Need to Preserve and Propagate our Culture in the West:
Some maintain that we came here, in this melting pot (or tossed
salad, if you like!) of cultures, to become one of them. How can we
achieve this if we keep on talking of our own culture? Such are the
questions that crop up. And obviously, there are no easy answers.
Many shut their eyes to the problem, ostrich-like, fearful or
unwilling to face the realities of the situation. But the answers
are right in front of our eyes; one can see them only if one opens
them!
Other Communities have Preserved their Cultural and Religious
Heritage: we can too!
Adherents of Judaism are a classic example! They have very
successfully preserved their religious and cultural heritage while
blending into the mainstream of the society. The Wandering Jew had
been chased out of every country in the world except of course our
homeland, Bharatvarsha. After having been driven out of 'their'
homeland for some 2,000 years, they managed to live and thrive as
part of the 'Diaspora' and as true Jews, without losing the
essentials of their religion and culture. In the United States,
they form a solid and constructive element in every facet of the
national life.
Such was not the case with the unfortunate 'slaves' that were
brought in all the way from far away Africa. Their roots were
severed, religions were supplanted, dignity destroyed. But the need
was there for many of them to seek their roots, to 'find'
themselves; they hungered for their own history, the history of
their own unfortunate forbears. Such was also the case with many of
our own compatriots, who were forced or seduced, to settle down in
countries like Guyana and Trinidad, Fiji and South Africa, Kenya
and Uganda, and so on and under extremely difficult conditions.
They succeeded in preserving their Hindu roots in great measure in
spite of incredible difficulties. But for today's Afro-Americans,
it was even more difficult. This was proven beyond the shadow of a
doubt when Mr. Haley took upon himself to discover his true roots.
And we know this like any other American by virtue of the fact that
this sad tale was projected on the screen for all of us to learn
from.
It was quite clear to all who saw Mr. Haley's work that truly
unfortunate are those people who do not try to preserve and
therefore lose their heritage, handed down by their forbears, from
time immemorial! Hindus have been successful, more or less, in
preserving their culture and religion in foreign lands. And in
this, our temples had a great part to play. Our temples tend to
fill the void that we feel when left to ourselves, after work and
other mundane obligations. When left to ourselves, we hunger for
our homeland which is very far; it is our temples and all the
cultural and religious activities that go with them, fill the void,
cement our people in a bond like in our homeland.
It is true that modern communication has made it easier for us to
keep in close touch with our folks in India. Many of our ancestors
who were forcibly moved over to distant lands, did not have that
advantage! It was even more necessary for them to find the solace
and peace of mind in a surrounding that only the homeland could
provide and in the absence of the homeland, they had to build all
the prerequisites that help to bring about the essence of the land
of our birth. The Hindu temple is, therefore, a vital element in
the preservation of the spiritual link with our past, the past of
our ancestors. The temple stands there as a rock that does not move
unless we make it irrelevant by moving away from it, and that at
great peril to ourselves and our future generations.
Our Temples are a sine qua non to instill Hindu heritage into our
future generations:
Physical and emotional ties are necessary to maintain and foster
a close relationship among our people, to perpetuate and propagate
our faith and culture. How can one do that without the presence and
maintenance of our temples, the indispensable elements that add
meaning to our religious precepts, charm to otherwise abstruse
rites, decor to an otherwise empty stage!
It has, therefore, become absolutely necessary that we, the more
fortunate when compared to earlier Hindu immigrants in the US, look
after in an adequate fashion our temples already built, build new
temples where there are none and help one another both financially
as well as with encouragement, so that an onerous duty becomes a
pleasant and enjoyable pursuit, for the community.
Temples built in the true Hindu fashion, such as Sri Meenakshi
Temple of Houston or the Temple at Pittsburg, truly disseminate our
culture and heritage much more easily and gracefully, to the non-Hindu American public,
than say with aweinspiring preaching and
leafletting. Stories from our mythologies with great moral
teachings, engraved in the temple walls can not be surpassed by any
other means. Our ancestors had discovered that a long time ago and
we must not lose that practice of spreading the message of Hinduism
and that of the entire gamut of Hindu Commonwealth of Religions,
Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism, the practice of the Arya Samajists,
etc., in short all religions that were born on the soil of India.
America has a lot to learn from Hinduism and we must not shy away
from the great opportunity to present our great faith from an
advantageous position. And in this nothing can beat a properly
built and maintained Temple!