We last took a look at the institutions and individuals that keep our culture alive in Atlanta. Another personal and highly defining factor of our immigrant lives here is our religious institutions. One only has to imagine the void we would have without them to understand the impact they are making…
It was hardly a couple of decades ago when the religious scene in the Bible belt of the South was dominated by the Baptists – making it uniformly dull and singular. Who could have imagined that in a short span of about twenty years the area would be lit by a spectacular diversity of temples, mosques and ethnic churches along with their panorama of spiritual practices, customs, and traditions.
Mainstream institutions, have appreciated and acknowledged this rich diversity of religion. On February 24th, the Atlanta Regional Assembly had gathered a diverse group of religious leaders to discuss religion’s role in public life. While the meeting had been arranged even before Sept 11, it gained an added significance after the catastrophe. The influence of religion in life can hardly be overstated. For a spiritually grounded culture such as India’s, religion has played a central and compelling role in its history.
Tracking our religious heritage here, we find that as with many of our institutions here, it was at area universities that the initial religious affiliations first took shape. Many young adults of Indian American origin are also actively involved in rediscovering their roots and identity when they move to college. This has led to the formation of the chapters of the Hindu Student Council at Emory University as well as Georgia Tech.
The chapter at Emory opened in the spring of 1997 when Jaydeep Bhatt, then a freshman, and some of his other friends decided to create a forum for students dealing with questions about religion, and other issues of concern for the Indian and Hindu community. Jaydeep says, “We initially started by having discussions on various aspects of Hindu philosophy and as we got more established, we had people of all faiths coming to learn more about the Hindu faith. We also received a lot of support from the Department of Religion, and the Office of Religious Life.”
The Hindu Student Council co-sponsored speakers invited by the Department of Religion, and authors invited by the Department of Asian Studies. Discussions ranged from a study of ancient texts, to concerns of the community at how Hinduism was portrayed in the American media, as well as a lot of interfaith dialogue. “The thing that put us on the map was the visit of the Dalai Lama in 1998,” says Jaydeep.
“Our agenda was diverse. One year we talked philosophy and another year we talked about community and cultural issues,” he continues. Jaydeep strongly feels that organizations like HSC aid in developing a person’s cultural identity. “That’s the reason why I got involved. I grew up in a white Christian community, didn’t have that many Hindu friends during those years and most of my exposure to my Indian roots came from my family. That gave me a certain perspective about Hinduism and Indian culture, but left a lot of questions unanswered, and my identity partially unformed. It was in college that I came across a lot of Indians and I found myself talking about similar issues and situations we faced in high school and I felt it would be great to organize a forum to discuss these things. College is definitely the time to explore and develop your identity fully and organizations like this really help especially in the case of students belonging to minorities.”
The same need is now spurring students at Georgia Tech to actively revive their Hindu Student Council. The chapter thrived in the nineties, and was a role model for the HSC chapter at Emory. It has however been languishing for the past two years after the students who were initially involved in it, graduated. Now Apurva Modi a PhD student at Georgia Tech and Janak Patel are working hard towards reviving the Council. They are focusing on inviting scholars from other religions to teach the students about their faith, and how to co-exist in harmony but at the same time maintain their own traditions, principles and values. Says Patel, “Our aim is to provide opportunities to learn about Hindu heritage through various activities, events, and projects.”
One person who has single handedly preached and made the ancient art of yoga available to a large section of the community is Dr. Sudhavana Char. Dr Char who has been practicing yoga for over four decades says, “Yoga has been very much an integral part of our ancient Indian culture for over 2000 years, and teaches us the tenets of good health and discipline which was so much an intrinsic part of the lives of our revered saints.” Dr Char who has taught yoga in several states and colleges as well as the Hindu temple of Atlanta, feels that yoga is a must for people to remain close to their cultural roots and live a meaningful, stress-free life.
Emory University’s Department of Asian studies has and continues to contribute tremendously not just in educating the Americans about Asia, but also students of South Asian origin about their heritage. According to Joyce Flueckiger, the director of the Department of Asian studies, courses at Emory offer a major in Asian Studies as well as a nationally ranked graduate program in West and South Asian Religion. “Atlanta is filled with temples, mosques, Indian businesses and restaurants, and Indian community organizations that offer our students important fieldwork opportunities and enriching programming,” she says. By Fall 2002 Emory College will offer a full course sequence through four years of Hindi and Sanskrit.
Emory directs two “study abroad” programs in India, one in Jodhpur (administered jointly with the University of Virginia) and another in Dharamsala. The Jodhpur program focuses on Hindi and Indian culture. Emory University regularly supports India-related extracurricular initiatives on campus, including South Asian film festivals (in the spring of 2002, one such film festival will be cosponsored with the High Museum of Art), music and dance concerts, and art exhibitions. An annual public lecture “The Sheth Lecture” features distinguished scholars or leaders from the Indian community. The 2002 Sheth Lecture will be delivered by author Amitav Ghosh, later this month.
There is also a support and advisory group, drawn from the Atlanta metro area, to promote India Studies at Emory University, called “Friends of Emory- India Studies”. The group serves as a liaison between the university and the Atlanta community, and has established an Enrichment Fund to support student scholarships to study language or conduct research in India as well as for lectures, music and dance performances, and films on campus. The long-term goal of the Friends of Emory India Studies is to begin a campaign for an endowment to support a named chair in India Studies.
Fluckeiger says that a lot of people from other ethnic groups are involved in studying about South Asia due to an increase in inter-racial marriages. South Asian American students also take these courses to help in identity formation. She also adds that often when South Asian students are exposed to the methodological and intellectual manner in which Emory approaches the study of these subjects, they are surprised to discover that the study of Hinduism may be entirely different from what their mother or aunt may be practicing at home. “They sometimes find the transition hard to make,” she adds, pointing out, “My primary experience was Hinduism as it was practiced in India, but from my students and our community here I am learning how Hinduism is changing its shape in America, and that makes it all the more interesting.”
The constructive proliferation of our religion has, for some time now, extended far beyond the campuses of Universities. Even the remotest of our religious and spiritual groups now have firmly established networks and organizations, with many having grand temples and mosques that cater primarily to our people in the area. It is quite heartening to see how our communities have worked tirelessly to keep the flame of our religious heritage burning brightly.
The Christian Heritage: “Not only a Western religion”
The South Asian Christian community has grown from a handful of families to a large number, with a focus on preserving their cultural and religious heritage. Norma Charles who came to this country in 1980, was visiting Atlanta when several people approached her to work with the Atlanta community after discovering that she had received seminary training. “Initially all South Asians were considered to be either Hindus, Muslims or Sikhs. We had to educate the mainstream that though we are a minority, there is a segment of the Asian community that is Christian. Part of my job with the Georgia Baptist Mission was also to educate Americans about South Asian Christians so they could relate to and serve their needs better.”
The need for South Asian Christians to have their own church was soon felt strongly, especially as American churches, though embracing the South Asian Christian community very warmly, could not fully satisfy their cultural needs.
Mrs. Charles also started a radio program “Jeevan Jyoti” to spread the gospel in Hindustani, and supplied bibles and bhajans on audiocassettes in different regional languages to the people upon request.
Pastor Younis Farhat heads the First Asian Baptist church of metro Atlanta. It comprises of both Pakistanis and Indians. “It was nice to see that initially the women who came clad in jeans switched to saris and salwar kameez and felt at home after seeing my sister, wife and my daughter in our traditional attire,” he recalls. The pastor who admits to being relatively conservative, says the church has grown tremendously along with the growth of population after the Olympic Games put Atlanta on the map. He is very proud of the fact that they hosted a farewell banquet for the Indian Olympic team in 1996. “Over 600 people turned up for the banquet,” he states. The church had also held a very well attended special memorial service for Mother Teresa.
Pastor Farhat says he has made a strong effort to inculcate the Christian religion and culture in an enjoyable manner. Bhajans are sung in all languages, the youth and adults participate in Biblical studies, but fun activities are added to make the process lively as well as interesting. On March 10th, for example, the church is hosting a senior adults day where the senior citizens will lead the worship service, reminisce about the good old days and will be honored by the church and their own families.
It is Reverend Palmer Paramadhas who points out the unique significance of having ethnic churches even though our host country is predominantly Christian. “Worshipping in one’s own language in a foreign land is a very special opportunity,” he says. Keeping this in mind, he started the Atlanta Tamil Church in January, 2001. This language based aspect of the Church lends it a unique character. There is at once, both unity and diversity in their worship. The language helps the Catholics and Protestants to worship together in unity.
Dr. Silas Masih who arrived in Atlanta in 1990 said that the first time they arranged a gospel concert at the Clairmont Hill Baptist church almost three to four hundred people turned up. “A lot of them were Punjabis and Hindus and for the first time they heard Indian Christian music. Not only Americans, but Indians too have this misconception that Christianity is a western religion. After that a lot of them wanted to know about Christianity.”
The Hindu heritage: “Sanskriti and Service”
Considering the high number of Hindu immigrants in the area, it doesn’t come as a surprise that Atlanta is blessed with many different associations that cater to the various different streams within the religion.
In terms of sheer numbers, outreach, and impact, the socio-spiritual organization called BAPS (Bochasanwasi Shree Akshar Purshottam Swaminarayan Sanstha) enjoys a visible presence in the Georgia community. It is its formidable contributions to social causes that give BAPS a prominence. Whether it is an earthquake in Gujarat or a catastrophe like Sept 11, BAPS has reached out with huge monetary donations as well as volunteer help. In fact, it has be duly recognized as a leading NGO in the rebuilding of earthquake ravaged Gujarat.
BAPS is a UN affiliated Non Governmental Organization (NGO) which was started in 1907 by Swami Yagnapurudas, and currently has close to seven thousand centers for women, children and youth, and over a million followers worldwide. The focus of this organization is to inspire humanitarian activities and promote peaceful coexistence among all communities, guide the children and youth to utilize their energies and help nourish and sustain the roots of Indian culture.
The Atlanta chapter of BAPS has been a focal point of many social and religious activities since 1980. These range from the weekly satsang for all ages devoted to personal and spiritual development, religious studies and discourses, leadership training, and the Scholastic Aptitude Tests (SAT) classes for youngsters. The temple provides medical and volunteer services, relief work and child care programs.
While BAPS presence in the area as a socio-spiritual organization is compelling, when it comes to defining the modern Hindu ethos and pride, no other organization has worked as tirelessly as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). It has managed to achieve a lot in terms of community participation to revive interest in and appreciation of the religious and cultural richness of India. Since its inception in 1964, VHP’s aim has been to consolidate, strengthen, protect, promote and propagate the ethical and spiritual Hindu values in today’s world especially among Hindus living abroad.
The Atlanta chapter of VHP has been in existence for well over two decades according to Shyam Tiwari who has been actively involved in the organization for close to a decade. Their main focus is on Balvihar where children are taught Hindi and various cultural aspects of India’s heritage through study, celebration of different festivals and a range of other cultural activities. The VHP also holds camps that have a religious and cultural focus, and revolve around different themes. There are workshops, mentoring, fun activities and even joint sessions between adults and youth on issues of mutual interest. According to Tiwari, “The whole camp is set in a holistic environment.”
VHP has a satsang group as well as a newly started youth forum to deal with issues and concerns faced by the youth. Last year’s “Vishwadharma Prasar Yatra” hosted by the VHP was also a grand success. VHP also provides books on various aspects of Hinduism at discounted rates. There is also a SEWA program to help fulfill the needs of members of both Indian and American communities.
ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) is an old timer, having set up one of the first Hindu temples in the area. Founded by Srila Prabhupada in July 1966, the Society grew into a worldwide confederation of more than one hundred ashrams, schools, temples, institutes, and farm communities. The Atlanta chapter of ISKCON started in 1970, and the current temple was visited and blessed by Srila Prabhupada in 1975, according to its current President Balabhadradas who has been in Atlanta since 1972. According to Das, without the support of the Indian community, the temple would not have survived all these years. “Because of that support we have gone to several communities to spread Krishna consciousness.”
Under his leadership, the temple installed the deities of Radha-Krishana and revived the ratha yatra parade. Das also says that Sridayanandadas Goswami who graduated from Harvard in Sanskrit is moving to Atlanta to try and start a Vedic institution here. Their goal for the future is to improve the property, and build a bigger facility. “This temple has touched the lives of thousands of people”, says Das and adds, “This is the only Indian based temple in the central part of Atlanta. I always have felt, due to its central location we can represent the Indian community very well and as we improve the temple, it also improves the perception people have of the Indian community.”
The Hindu temple of Atlanta at Riverdale is also host to several religious and cultural activities, which include dance classes, Tamil and Telugu classes, yoga classes and Balvihar classes under the auspices of the Chinmaya mission. Dr G.V. Raghu and his wife Geetha, started the Balvihar classes in 1994 and have 140 students now.
According to Vasanthi Ramchandran who conducts one of the classes, Swami Chinmayananda conceived this program of teaching children about spirituality and Indian culture from a young age. “We do some japa and meditation. The small children are told stories with a moral. When they graduate we tell them we want them to do some spiritual activity every day and show some character, responsibility and self discipline.”
While some organizations stand out by virtue of their sheer stature, there are others that carry on the work on a smaller scale. The Vedanta Society has had a checkered growth according to its resident teacher, Swami Yogeshananda. The swami, who is American by birth, first arrived in Atlanta in 1981, returned in 1991 and stayed on. He hosts meetings three times a week with interfaith chanting services and discourses, meditation workshops both yogic and devotional, reading from Vedic texts as well as discussions in an open forum. “The message of Vivekananda always draws a crowd,” he says.
The Sadhu Vaswani Mission is a renowned humanitarian organization with its headquarters located in Pune, India. It has Centers all over India and around the world. The Mission strives to serve humanity in educational, medical, moral, social, cultural, and spiritual areas. The Sadhu Vaswani Center of Atlanta was established in 1993 and has participated in several humanitarian activities over the past many years.
Reva Handa who moved to USA after the Gulf War, says that there is a great demand for Devi jagran, where participants chant and sing bhajans for three hours extolling the powers of Goddess Shakti. So great is the demand, that Reva and her colleagues travel all over the southeast on invitation. The donations they receive go to charity. Natarajan Ramesh and his group of devotees have been celebrating Sankaracharya Jayanti with bhajans and discourses, vedic chanting and shlokas, twice a year at the Hindu temple and every month at the homes of various devotees, to keep their religious heritage alive.
Another forum that showcases our cultural heritage is the newly created Bharat Awareness Forum. It was the brainchild of Dhiru Shah and his colleagues. Shah feels that India’s contribution to the world, in all spheres of human activity remains mostly unacknowledged and often distorted. The Bharat Awareness Forum was created in September 1999 and during the past couple of years since its inception it has hosted discussions on various issues, from Hindu temples in Vietnam, to religion, terrorism, the Kashmir problem, the Aryan invasion, the microelectronics revolution in the 21st century and India’s position.
The Muslim Heritage: “A Strong Community Awareness”
The Muslim community in Atlanta has grown and evolved exponentially, according to Dr. Khalid Siddique who has lived here for 24 years. Dr. Siddique recalls how there were only a handful of Muslims initially and how they would gather at personal residences. Prayer services were also held at a rented room in a church, and eventually at the Georgia Tech Students’ Center. Soon a little house was rented, until two brothers Nazir and Tauqir Warsi along with a handful of their friends started collecting funds to buy land and construct a mosque. “The fund raising was a joint community effort. People collected money in shoe boxes, students skipped a semester and loaned their tuition fees for the effort.” The Al Farook masjid was built in 1980 and what started as a 100-strong congregation on Fridays has now swelled to 1200, as the Muslim population rose.
Over a period of time as Atlanta grew, smaller facilities mushroomed throughout the suburbs. There are now 20 different mosques or prayer facilities. The community also started a school Dar-U-N-Noor which offers upto Grade 8 and has about 160 students. Apart from the regular curriculum it imparts Islamic education, and teaches Arabic. In the mosque, short courses ranging from discussions on Islam for the new Muslim to an introduction of Arabic are offered routinely. The courses at the mosque also include explanation of the Quran, a weekly lecture on the prophet’s life and his teachings, and how Asian Muslims should live their lives. The highlight of course is the Friday congregation that is widely attended. The mosque also operates a cemetery where people can be buried according to Islamic rites.
The annual “Mushaira” which is very popular among both Muslims and non-Muslims features poets of repute especially from India and Pakistan. Other organizations like PASA (Pakistani American Society of Atlanta) which have been in operation for 25 years holds social gatherings, including celebrations of religious festivals and talks by different speakers – from politicians to prominent public figures, thus generating the much needed social interaction between community members. Dr. Siddique says he is singularly proud of the amount of awareness the community has maintained over the years regarding their religious and cultural heritage, especially among the youth.
The Muslim student organizations too have been very active on campuses. According to Shahzan Akber, who is a board member and Vice-President of the Intercollegiate Muslim Students Association of Georgia, just about every college has a chapter of MSA. “The purpose of MSA is to be a representative body of the Muslim Students on campus and to provide a forum for both Muslims and non-Muslims to learn about Islam.” Some of the activities include lectures, socials events, educational programs, daily and Friday prayers on campus, sports activities, and more. “The preservation of Muslim identity and culture in this society and the proper representation of Islam to non-Muslims, are the major focus of MSA in general,” says Akber. He adds, “By providing a forum for both Muslims and non-Muslims to learn about Islam and interact with each other, a greater appreciation and understanding for Islam and its culture is achieved and bonds of friendship and humanity are formed… and this is evident across all of the MSAs, both locally in Atlanta and throughout the nation.”
When asked if anything had changed after the September 11 attack, Akber said, “One of the major concerns has been to educate people about Islam and its beliefs, especially after the negative image the media has portrayed about Islam. Some of the things that have been done across local campuses include educational programs like the weekly course entitled Islam 101. This class, designed for non-Muslims, is a semester long course on Islamic beliefs and culture at the end of which all students come out with a much greater and deeper understanding of Islam.” Akber also says that there is an upcoming Islamic Awareness Week at various campuses, designed to educate non-Muslims about Islam.
The Sikh Heritage: “The Guru’s message lives on”
The Sikh community has retained their cultural heritage through the Sikh Study Circle, and the SEWA project according to Dr Ranjit Singh who has been involved with both. There were a handful of Sikh families, when Dr Ranjit Singh moved to Atlanta in the early 1970s. “We started organizing some functions like Baisakhi, Guru Nanak’s birthday, Guru Arjan Dev’s shahidi, and Gurupurab in the mid 70s, and then by the 1980s we began monthly gurudwara sessions, sometimes in people’s houses, sometimes renting community halls.” They finally bought land and built their gurudwara in 1990. It now caters to the religious and community needs of about 1500 sikhs in the city.
The second organization which was incorporated in Feb 2001 is called the Sikh Educational Welfare Association, or Sewa. According to Dr. Singh, it focuses on providing a place for harmonious practicing of Sikh religion, revive interest in the teachings of the Sikh gurus. It also educates the members of the community, particularly the children, about the Sikh religious teachings as embodied in the Guru Granth Sahib, serving the religious, educational and medical needs of the community and educating local communities about the Sikh value system.
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Swami Vivekananda once said, “Who makes us ignorant? We ourselves. We put our hands over our eyes and weep that it is dark” There is indeed a vast treasure of culture and religious activity to enrich and educate the community and keep their dreams of passing on their heritage to their children and grandchildren alive. All we have to do is reach out.