Hinduism thriving in the country of Guyana

Georgetown (Guyana), Apr 8: If Hinduism is thriving anywhere outside India, then it has to be Guyana with thousands of Hindu temples of every imaginable God and Goddesses of Hindu mythology dotting the skyline of this South American country.

''It is stunning and I can say with confidence that at the moment Hinduism is more stronger in Guyana than even urban India," said Pundit Hari Shankar Sharma, the only genuine Pundit from India in the whole of South America.

He is in great demand and a car and a bungalow have been gifted to him for his use, Pundit has to race against time to go to many temples under him and pass on the genuine ''karmas'' to the devotees seeking divine blessings.

Nobody could speak Hindi in these temples but they can chant Sanskrit shlokas for hours together, keep fast for nine days during Navratri and make sure that colourful flags fly on the premises of every Hindu household here.

''We go to temple thrice a week and perform all the pujas as per the Hindu calendar. None of us know Hindi but we follow what the Pandit say and get it translated to English. Sanskrit shlokas are written in English for easy chanting'' said Bisnoodei Rambaram happily chanting eight hours of shlokas in a purple colur tights and blue jeans.

The dress code is different, language is English, temple ''prasad'' also contains Cokes, but Hinduism is thriving and most admiringly the new generations are looking up to Hinduism and India for solace in life.

''I have spent 32 years of my life in New York. I ran a travel agency sending mostly Indian peoples to pilgrimage, while my husband was into construction. Both of us decided to leave everything and come back to Guyana and live here the rest of our life. We are going to India for our seventh pilgrimage and this could be the last'' said Mrs Bharati Persud.

The only living link between motherland India and Gyanese Indian is the Pundit who is originally from Etwah in Uttar Pradesh.

Through the Sangh Praivar's Sanskar Bharati he landed up in South America four years ago to devote five years of his life to spread Hinduism.

He is not so off target as the huge Guyanese Hindu population has embraced him with some one ''original''. ''There are many Brahmins here but as most of these Guyanaese Indian descendant and migrated to Guyana in 18th century to work in Suger cane plantations, they had lost links and touch. So naturally most of the ''Karmas'' of a Puja were not correct. So I have tried to help them and bring in more correct ways making it more enjoyable,'' said Pundit Sharma.

His mobile does not stop ringing. So is the e-mail flooding with invitations. He juggles the entire request and make sure that every devotee is satisfied. He has already set up bases in Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, Surinam besides Guyana, where the Sanskar Bharati is a registered body now trying to uplift the Hinduism. With such large number of Hindu population visible in every populace, he could not be wrong.

''We are also trying to spread Hindi through the temples.

We are holding free Hindi learning lessons. The result is not very encouraging but the people have great wish to learn'', he said admitting than he too has limitations.

He, however, laments one thing. It is the Indian cinema. ''They are destroying the image of India in abroad. If they think by showing extra martial affairs, sex, violence and western culture they are doing a great service all over the world, they are wrong.

These people are already exposed to all these. They look up to Indian movies to find family values but when they see the same thing they simply follow that'', he said.

He is happy that Gyanese Indian is still maintaining the value system of great Indian family. ''It is loosening and there is no doubt that but still there is something here than most of the Western countries as well as Northern America,'' he said.

With more than 40 per cent of 7,50,000 population of Guyana are Hindus, the Pundit has to be very busy and anything Indian is fashionable in Guyana. It is nice to listen Hindi songs everywhere.

Every television channel shows Hindi movies of eighties and nineties running here but most interestingly none of them understand the language. But each of them can sing any Hindi song.

With President Bharat Jagdeo at the helm of the affairs and his statesmanship at such young age impress both locals and foreigners, Hinduism is bound to thrive more under his stable leadership.

UNI