Fwd: Tamil Nadu temples to preach Hindu scriptures

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meykandar, " tamil netter " <tamilnetter@h...> wrote:

http://in.news./020622/43/1qjox.html

 

Saturday June 22, 1:28 PM

 

Tamil Nadu temples to preach Hindu scriptures

 

By Papri Sri Raman, Indo-Asian News Service

 

 

Chennai, June 22 (IANS) Temples in Tamil

Nadu will soon become venues for

preaching Hindu scriptures and holding

religious discourses for youngsters, an

influential pontiff has said.

 

Jayendra Saraswati, the seer of Kanchi, a

holy Hindu city located 75 km from here,

said: " So far we have never propagated

Hinduism. But it is time we started,

otherwise our people will forget their

culture and tradition. "

 

" Every Sunday, beginning this July,

temples in Tamil Nadu will hold classes

on moral values and spirituality for

schoolchildren, " he told the media here

Friday night.

 

Temples in Tamil Nadu are under

government administration.

 

The AIADMK government of Jayaram

Jayalalitha has made the seer advisor to

the ministry of Hindu Religious and

Charitable Endowments (HRCE), which

administers all temples in the state.

 

There are about 30,000 small and big

temples in this southern state.

 

" Churches have Sunday sermons. Islam is

preached in mosques on Fridays. We

Hindus, however, do not have such regular

preaching of our religion. Convent

schools have Bible classes but we don't

have religion as part of the school

curriculum, " the seer said.

 

His institution, the Kanchi Kamakoti

Mutt, is preparing a syllabus for the

religious discourse.

 

A government directive to the state

education department at the beginning of

this year ordered that moral education

should be imparted in government run and

aided schools throughout Tamil Nadu.

 

" The discourse will not be entirely

religious. We will have 'needi bodhinai'

(moral lessons) and 'bhakti padalgal'

(singing of devotional hymns). This would

be one way of restoring declining moral

values in our people, " the seer said.

 

He added that anyone could attend the

temple lessons.

 

 

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