Press Release: HSC Supports Temple Entry of Non-Indian Hindus

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font-family: Arial;">PRESS RELEASE (November 16, 2005) For Immediate Release For

further information, contact HSC at hsc (AT) hscnet (DOT) org

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HSC SUPPORTS TEMPLE ENTRY OF NON-INDIAN HINDUS The Hindu Students Council

is deeply saddened by the denial of entry to a devout American Hindu into the

sacred Lingaraj temple in Orissa, India.

font-family: Arial;"> Several newspapers have reported that the temple

custodians have been accused of denying entry to Pamela K Fleig, who is married

to an Indian Hindu, even though she has embraced Hinduism. The custodians allege

that no “foreigner” or “Christian” is allowed entry into the temple. This is a

myopic view of the issue. Some ancient temples in India may restrict entry

into their sanctum sanctorum (“Garba Griha”) to non-Hindus because of possible

desecration of

the consecrated images (“Murthis”) by religious fundamentalists and due to crass

activities that include photography, vandalism, obscene behavior or

insensitivity to the religious sentiments of the Hindu worshippers at the

temple. This reasoning however does not justify the denial of entry to a

practicing Hindu just because she is of a different race. By her own

admission, Pamela Fleig became a Hindu at the Arya Samaj in the sacred city of

Varanasi in June 2005 with full Vedic rituals. Then she got married to Anil

Kumar Yadav of Uttar Pradesh on August 3, 2005 as per to Hindu Marriage act at

the court of the

Additional District Magistrate and Marriage officer in Varanasi. This event

should be proof enough of the fact that Pamela Fleig is a Hindu by her own

volition and should be reason enough to accept her in the warm embrace of the

growing global Hindu population. As Swami Vivekananda stated, self-declaration

remains the basic way to enter the Hindu faith. Sanatan Hindu Dharma has

always been a global religion for ages. While there is no history of Hindu

conversions by violence or financial inducements, the Hindu religion has always

accepted and assimilated anyone into its fold who has voluntarily accepted the

Vedic philosophy and lifestyle. The Vratyastoma ceremony ("vow pronouncement"),

dating back to the Tandya Brahmana of the Rig Veda, has been performed for

millennia to welcome “outsiders” into the Hindu fold. Devala Smriti, another

Hindu scripture, has clear rules for the simple purification of Hindus forcibly

converted to other faiths, or of people from other faiths who wish to adopt the

Hindu faith. Historians and archaeologists have recorded the assimilation of

millions of invaders into Hindu society over the past 2300 years. Hindu society

has invariably converted and absorbed innumerable Macedonian Greeks, Bactrian

Greeks, Scythians (Sakas), Huns and Kushans who came to

pillage India but were instead won over by the Vedic way of life. In 302 BCE,

Helen, the daughter of the Greek general Seleucus Nicator, also embraced the

Hindu religion after marrying Emperor Chandragupta in a Vedic marriage. The

2100-year old Heliodorus column in Besnagar (Madhya Pradesh) has Sanskrit

inscriptions that commemorate the conversion in 113 BCE of a Greek envoy,

Heliodorus who adopted the Vedic religion and the Hindu name ‘Vasudeva’ in the

court of King Kasiputra Bhagabhadra of Vidisha. Furthermore, there are records

of the invading Scythian kings who embraced Vedic Hinduism, adopted Sanskrit

and took Hindu names like Satyasimha, Rudrasena etc while their Scythian armies

merged with the Hindu population.

justify;">History shows that Hindu society has always been broadminded and

pragmatic. During the 14th century, in southern India, the Vijayanagara

kingdom’s sage Vidyaranya re-converted the warriors Harihara and Bukka after

their forcible conversion to Islam. In 16th century Bengal, Chaitanya

Mahaprabhu’s egalitarian teachings attracted many former Muslims like Haridas

into adopting Hinduism. In the 17th century, Chattrapati Shivaji, the harbinger

of the Hindu resurgence after centuries of tyrannical foreign rule, reconverted

Balaji Nimbalkar to Hinduism after the latter’s Muslim conversion and gave his

daughter’s hand in marriage to Nimbalkar, thus showing that a convert to

Hinduism was of equal status as any other Hindu. This openness in welcoming

tens of thousands of non-Hindus into Hindu Dharma by Shuddhi ceremonies has

been demonstrated for over a century by the Arya Samaj, the Masurashram (in

Mumbai) and two ashrams in Tamil Nadu -Madurai Aadheenam and Kundrakuddi

Aadheenam. Over the past 150 years, as a direct result of Hindu scriptures,

Swamis and Yogis coming to the West, and of many Westerners journeying to

India, millions of non-Hindus have become Hindu including Sister Nivedita (the

disciple of Swami Vivekananda) and Mother Mira Alfassa (the spiritual successor

of Maharishi Aurobindo, in Pondicherry). The world has witnessed an explosive

growth in the Americas, Europe, Australia and Africa of the Hindu followers of

Swami Vivekananda (Ramakrishna Mission), Swami

Chinamayananda (Chinmaya Mission), Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (Hinduism

Today and Himalayan Academy), Srila Prabhupada (ISKCON), Swami Satchidananda

(Yogaville), Yogacharya B.K.S.Iyengar, Satya Sai Baba, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

(Art of Living) and Mata Amritanandamayi ('Ammachi'). Even the Pandits of

Varanasi have recognized this global Hindu resurgence and have anointed

Vamadeva Shastri (Dr. David Frawley), a disciple of Ramana Maharishi, as the

world’s first Western-born ‘Vedacharya’. Today, there are 80 million Hindus

who live outside India’s borders, constituting nearly 10% of the global Hindu

population. Millions of

these non-Indian Hindus are ‘seekers’ and devotees who have embraced the Vedic

faith after years of learning the Vedic scriptures, practicing Yoga,

worshipping the Hindu way (Bhakti, Pooja, Havan, Bhajan) and undergoing a

formal name change (Namakaran) under the supervision of a Vedic Pandit

(priest). These Western-born Hindus follow a pure Sattvik lifestyle shunning

alcohol, tobacco, meat, illicit sex and gambling – vices that are ironically

becoming increasing fashionable amongst Hindus in India. Tens of thousands

of Indian Muslims and Indian Christians offer worship at Hindu temples like

Sabarimala, Mathura, Tirupati and Vaishnodevi. The custodians of these temples

are progressive enough to open their arms and welcome all devotees,

irrespective of their creed or color. Yet the custodians of the Lingaraj temple

persist in making a big issue over the entry of Pamela Fleig and the color of a

person’s skin as proof of their Hindu-ness. The Hindu Students Council

believes that a simple certificate of conversion, provided by the Arya Samaj or

any other Hindu organization, should suffice as proof of Pamela Fleig’s Hindu

faith and should be accepted by the temple custodians to allow her entry into

the temple. HSC also

appeals to all Hindu Acharyas, Hindu religious organizations, the Government of

India and the Chief Minister of Orissa to take proactive steps to welcome

Hindus of all races and nationalities into all the sacred temples of India, the

birth-place of our magnificent Sanatan Hindu Dharma. Yours in Dharma, Samir

Rawal International

President Hindu Students Council The Hindu Students Council is an

international forum providing opportunities for college students and young

professionals to learn about Hindu heritage and culture, fosters awareness of

issues affecting Hindus and provides Seva (service) to the community through

various activities, events and projects. HSC presents ample opportunities for

self-development at the spiritual and professional level

via campus study groups, seminars, lectures, workshops, conferences and camps.

With 81 chapters in North America and several inspired chapters around the

world, HSC is the largest Hindu youth movement outside of India, with the

participation of over 130,000 youth in our activities. For more information,

please visit www.hscnet.org or email us at hsc (AT) hscnet (DOT) org

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