GHHF Ghar Waapasi in Tamil Nadu – 57 Christians Belonging to Fisherman Community returned to Hinduism in Chengalpet District.
Acharya Peter Wilberg (1952 - )
“From a Hindu perspective, mediation of a ‘Murti’, whether in the form of an image, symbol or three-dimensional idol, no more negates an acknowledgement of God’s formless or invisible omnipresence in all things than does carrying round and studying an artefact of paper and ink in the form of a Holy Book such as the Bible or Koran. On the contrary, precisely by virtue of its tangible, material form, the Murti makes it easier to experience the presence of the divine in all things, to understand that things are just as much symbols of the divine as words are..”
Global Hindu Heritage Foundation is very happy to announce that we have employed two people in Tamil Nadu to engage in Ghar Waapasi. Mrs. Jayalakshmi and Mrs. Jyothi joined our team to participate in the Ghar Waapasi program. About two months ago they distributed Food as a part of a humanitarian effort to help the needy who were in desperate need. In December, they welcomed 25 Christians belonging to Fisherman Community back to Hindu Dharma.
Global Hindu Heritage Foundation has been consistently working to preserve and protect our Sanatana Dharma for decades. Last August, we started Ghar Waapasi to welcome those converted Christians back to Hinduism. As of today, we have 26 Pracharaks conducting Ghar Waapasi in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Assam, and Tamil Nadu
Many people across India have been calling to find out how we are organizing Ghar Waapasi and what it takes to organize in their respective States. Many IT people who are following our efforts have been spreading the news to their friends and slowly reaching to many places. One such incident happened recently. Sridhar is one such friend who is following our efforts reached our office in Visakhapatnam and decided to help organize the Ghar Waapasi program in Tamil Nadu. It is through his help we have appointed two Pracharaks who are doing a tremendous effort
On 16th February 2022, 57 Christians belonging to the fisherman community in Kadalur village, Chengalpet District of Tamil Nadu came back to their ancestral religion Hinduism. These people came from 9 families. They were previously converted to Christianity on false pretexts and had been practicing Christianity for close to a year. GHHF hired Jayalakshmi Ji as its Pracharak in this village in November 2021. She has a good rapport with many of the fishermen's families in this village, previously having worked as an RSS Pracharak here. She immediately swung into action and focused on six out of the 50 families that had converted to Christianity over the last several years. With constant discussions with women folk of these families, she convinced them about the greatness of Sanatana Dharma and the important place it has in the spiritual life of all Indians, regardless of caste, creed, or color. Within a matter of 3 weeks, these families agreed to formally come back to Hinduism. Single-handedly she arranged for Ghar Waapasi of these families at the local Amman Temple. This required quite a bit of logistical work to get done in less than a week - from arranging for temple gurukula/priest to perform the Ghar Waapasi rites to arranging for flower garlands, to buying new dresses for the families, framed pictures of Hindu gods/goddesses, etc. The program happened exactly as planned, at the temple premises in the presence of Goddess Devi. The temple Gurukula welcomed back all the families, gave a primer on Sanatana Dharma, and taught them a short Ganesha Sthuthi to be chanted every day. The event ended with a lunch for all the families.
They have conducted lamp pooja in the Temple promise in that village to signify the return of these Christians back to Hinduism. Four lamp poojas have been conducted by Mrs. Jayalakshmi of GHHF at 4 different villages in Chengalpattu district in the last 15 days. 2 of them understand the supervision of Ramkumarji and 2 of them are under the supervision of Jayalakshmiji. Lamp poojas are typically conducted in the village temples as a way of bringing the Hindu community together in a village and are conducted either on Amavasya, Pournami, or Krithika days of a month. GHHF has plans for covering 2 villages a month with lamp pooja and repeating in the same village every 3 months. This has seen tremendous reception with ladies and attendance is at least 50 ladies at each event. This lamp puja is meant to awaken the villagers about the richness of Hinduism and slowly inform them about the differences between Hinduism and Bible.
They were given a saree set for all the ladies and a photo of a Hindu God as a symbol of returning to Hindu Dharma. RSS leader in that area, Mr. Saravananji, was a chief guest at the occasion and instructed the returnees to never deviate from the path of Dharma. GHHF wants to express appreciation to Mrs. Jayalakshmi for her dynamic leadership in arranging the 2nd Ghar Waapasi program in two months and we wish her continued success.
Every community has its distinct character, customs, and traditions. In Tamil Nadu, if you want to welcome back, offering garland is considered respectable and a sign of welcoming back home. That is the reason you will find out these former Christians are taken to the Temples, offered garland, and performed puja where they received Arthi.
Sri Sridhar from Bangalore and Satish Shanmugan, Omaha have coordinated the efforts and also by raising enough funds to make the food distribution possible. GHHF is grateful for their kindness and their passion to help these flood victims.
WE NEED YOUR HELP
We appreciate it if you can help in hiring more people who can go to these villages to do Ghar Waapasi. We have employed twenty-six (26) people so far. More people we hire more villages can be covered to welcome them back and also create Chaitanya (Awareness) among the students and villagers.
1) Donate any amount to help the Dharma Pracharaks to work at the ground level.
2) Sponsor one Pracharak: In order to expand our base and hire one Pracharak, it would cost approximately $3000.00 - $3500.00 per year. We have five anonymous donors who sponsored 9 Pracharaks
DONATIONS
PayPal Method: To donate visit our website: savetemples.org. Click on the Donate button, then press the Purpose category, and select the General Donation category.
By Check: Or you can send a check payable to: GHHF, . It is tax-deductible.
By Zelle: ghhfusaorg@gmail.com
By Rupees, please contact us by either phone or email.
For more information, call Prakasarao V Velagapudi or in India at 8309643979; Email: ghhfusaorg@gmail.com