CHICAGO: The Hindu Mandir of Lake County in Grayslake, a Chicago suburb, welcomed in two batches students and their teachers from High schools who paid a visit to the temple to learn more about Hinduism and get their knowledge of this religion supplemented.
This visit on Tuesday, April 10 morning in two batches at 8:20am and 10:30am was part of their learning course ‘Religious Diversity Forum.’ More than 120 students from the Lake Community High School, Lake Villa, came to the temple
Dr. Harsh Kumar and Manoj Bhat as temple representatives welcomed the students along with their teacher Eric Vichnick of Social Studies Department. They also arranged a slide show to explain the major concepts of Sanatan Dharma/Hinduism, Om, Swastika, Avatars, Trinity, the role of Gods and Goddesses, plants, rivers, and animals, Yoga, vegetarian food, festivals, languages, and Hinduism per se.
Since both teachers and students of religion class preferred Hindu temples visit in lieu of classroom instruction and to have the first hand feel of religions in practice to gain valuable experience, they planned visit to the temple The students and their instructors also sought cultural immersion through personal interactions.
Pt. Anil Joshi gave them a temple tour and showed them each and every God and Goddess in the temple. He told them that our Supreme God decided on demarcating the responsibilities of managing this universe among Trinity: Lord Brahma as the Creator, Lord Vishnu as the Protector, and Lord Shiva as the Destroyer.
These Gods are supported by Goddesses in executing their responsibilities. Ma Saraswati is a creator of knowledge, art, and music, Ma Lakshmi helps to prosper through finance, business, and agriculture, Ma Gauri provides various powers either to protect good or destroy the bad forces in society.
Touching upon the topic of worshipping animals and plants, Pt Joshi explained that Hindus respect all living creatures including animals, birds, and plants and this can be best attained by getting them as part of our worship and rituals. So all our Gods and Goddesses have different animals as their vehicles.
Pt. Joshi observed that any religious or cultural practice can best be understood by students when they get a firsthand experience in person rather than mere reading about it. So, he asked the students and the teacher to participate in the Maha Mangal Aarti and offered them Prasad along with his blessings for their good luck in their studies and life in general.
Surendra Ullal
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