From: Venkatachalam Aruna  (Affable)
Subject: Houston's Hindus unite for Janmashtami.
Reply-To: aruna@tree.egr.uh.edu (Venkatachalam Aruna)
Organization: University of Houston
Date: Sun, 30 Aug 1992 22:34:40 GMT

  A verbatim report from Houston Post, 29th Aug.
  All typos are mine.
          Houston's Hindus unite for Janmashtami
          --------------------------------------
          By Steve Brunsman, Post religion reporter.

  In a show of unity,about 7000 Houston Hindus kicked off their shoes
at Sam Houston Coliseum last Saturday to mark the birthday of Krishna,
one of the most popular deities of Hinduism.
  The religious celebration,called Janmashtami,included a colorful opening
procession with children costumed as a young Krishna and his devotees,
a full worship service and prayers, and the popular Raas Garba dance in
which sticks are struck in harmony to drum music.
  Fifteen volunteers tagged and stored thousands of pairs of shoes; the 
only admission requirement was to take them off. It was the third straight
year that several temples and Hindu groups had joined together to sponsor
the event,which planners said still remains the nation's only community-
wide Janmashtami.
  "This is like all of Houston's churches getting together to celebrate the
birthday of jesus Christ", said Dr.G.S.Krishna,an organizer and professor
at Baylor College of Medicine.
  "It is considered a model for Hindus in other cities. We have heard from
people in Austin and some people in California, who are seeking help
to plan their own event", said organizer Beth Kulkarni.
   A key figure behind the joint celebration was Houston engineer Raj Syal,
who "saw the need for Hindus to do something together as a single group",
Kulkarni said.
   About 200 volunteers helped host the religious event at the coliseum.
It began at 7 p.m. and ended at midnight, and included the puja worship 
service, led by priests, children's dances and flute recital,hymns in
Hindi, Telugu, and Kashmiri, and an illuminated prayer service with 101 
traditional lamps.
   Hinduism,one of the world's oldest living religions, describes the faith
beliefs and practices of the majority of the people in India. It has no
sole founder but developed over 4,000 years along with the religious and
cultural movements in the Indian subcontinent.
   The religion has a multitude of sects and a loose ecclesiastical system.
   Krishna, the eighth incarnation of Vishnu, is held in high esteem by most
Hindus. As a young boy,Krishna was the foster child of cowherds whose godly
nature was revealed by conquering demons.His flute playing and dancing with
the milkmaids, or gopis, are viewed as images of the soul's relationship to
God.
   Dozens of exhibits recreated krishna birthday scenes.Temples and special
groups did not identify their handiwork as part of the cooperative plan.
   Houston has 25,000 or more Hindus, event organizers said. There are about
five temples in the region, including Hindu Worship Society of Houston, 2223
Wirtcrest and the Meenakshi Temple Society in Pearland. The worldwide
Vishwa Hindu Parishad group has offices here, too.
   Organizers said Janmashtami shows that Houston Hindus are united in their
diversity. They said the group likely will increase community-wide efforts
in reaction to the 3-year-old success of the religious gathering. A special
clothing drive was conducted at the coliseum this year.
  "The Hindu community is new", said Dr.Krishna. "The time has come to 
bring this community out in the open. There is a lot of talent among Hindus,
and we want to make that known."

--
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(713)-923-7773(h) & (713)-743-4250(w) |
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From: jawahar@hplvec.LVLD.HP.COM (Jawahar-HP India)
Date: Mon, 24 Aug 1992 11:30:04 GMT
Subject: Re: Theme of "vAname ellai"
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