Houston Hindus oppose church on Tirumala Hills

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http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/5967_1434098,001600060016.htm

 

Houston Hindus oppose Church on Tirumala Hills

 

Lalit K Jha (HindustanTimes.com)

 

Minneapolis, July 18. 2005

 

Opposing the construction of a church at the sacred`Tirumala Hills,

as many as 23 Indo-American organizations based in Houston has urged

the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, to ask the Andhra Pradesh

Government to maintain the sanctity of the religious place, which is

a holy shrine for the Hindus world over.

 

Agitated by media reports emanating from India that the Andhra

Pradesh Government was actively considering the application of a

religious society to build a church atop the Tirumala Hills, the

abode of Lord Venkateswara, these Indo-American organizations held

an emergency meeting at Houston on Saturday (July 16) to discuss the

issue.

 

Even though the news has been denied by the Andhra Pradesh

Government that no such thing would be allowed at the Tirumala

Hills, the Indo-American, mostly Hindu organizations, at the meeting

decided to send a representative to Washington D.C. to submit a

memorandum to the Prime Minister during his visit this week.

 

Another representative of these Houston-based Hindu organizations

would be flying to Hyderabad on Tuesday (July 19) to meet the Chief

Minister, Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, to apprise him of the sentiments of

the community in the United States.

 

"We are all agitated and upset following the series of news

regarding the Tirumala Hills which is coming from Andhra Pradesh. We

want to make sure that such a anti-Hindu thing does not happen,"

Geetha Donthi, of Prajna - JET USA, which is one of the signatories

to the memorandum, told the HindustanTimes.com.

 

Donthi would meet Reddy in Hyderabad on behalf of these 23

organizations including Gujarati Samaj of Houston, Vishwa Hindu

Parishad, Chinamaya Mission, Arya Samaj, Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh,

Hindu Worship Society, Kerala Hindu Society, Shri Radha Krishna

Temple, Ashtal Lakshmi Temple, Hindu Student Council, Vallabh Priti

Samaj, Esha Vasyam, Param Shakti Peet, Indian Senior Citizens

Association, India House, Bhakta Samaj, Friends and Family of

Houston, Santhan Hindu Center, LPSH, Houston, Bhram Samaj, Houston

Natya Kala Vrund and Center for Global Studies.

 

"It shocks the conscience of the Hindu-American community of Houston

that the Government of India can so cavalierly demolish a structure

with a history of 550 years, as if it were yesterday's newspaper

being tossed into the rubbish bin," said the petition signed by

these organizations on Saturday, which would be submitted to both

the Prime Minister and the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister.

 

Stating that the Seven Hills of Tirumala, in their entirety, have

been considered to be a tirthasthanam and a devasthanam since time

immemorial, the petition said: "It affronts the sanctity of the

place for the Government to permit the construction of a Christian

church.Consequently, it is incumbent on you, as the Prime

Minister of India, to direct the Government of Andhra Pradesh to

ensure that the sanctity of Thousand Pillar Temple and the entire

Seven Hills of Tirumala remains intact," it said.

 

The organizations said given the fact that the Central and State

Governments, rather than private trusts, controlled the Hindu

structures, they have the solemn obligation to maintain these places.

 

"Despite this, the Andhra Pradesh Government has knowingly permitted

the demolition of the 550-year old Thousand Pillar Temple and was

considering constructing a Christian church on Tirumala Hills," the

petition said adding that this was in direct contravention of the

interests of the worldwide Hindu population, including the Hindu-

American community of Houston.

 

Different countries, including the United States, may be the

homelands for the worldwide Hindu population, only India serves as

their matrubhumi and dharmabhumi, in said.

 

As such, the Hindu-American community of Houston has a vested

interest to ensure that thousands of tirthasthanam and devasthanam

which cover the landscape of India remain preserved and accessible

to devotees from across the globe, the petition said.

 

 

 

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