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16 NEWS
Global News First diwali for White House: Community leaders hail breakthrough for Indians in US
sends his Diwali greetings to you and to the Hindu and Jain communities worldwide."
October 23rd 2003 marked an historic moment for both Jains and Hindus in the United States, with global implications for the two ancient faiths. The White House organised its first ever event celebrating Diwali, inviting one hundred honoured guests who included representatives of civic organisations and prominent government officials. In the tradition of Diwali, a lamp (dipak) was lit by Mr Karl Rove, Special Advisor to President George W. Bush, in front of images of the Lord Ganesha and the Goddess Laxmi, to invoke their blessings for this Festival of Lights celebration.
In the West, Diwali is most widely associated with Hinduism, but it is an equally important part of the Jain religious calendar. Addressing guests in the Indian Treaty Room, where the original UN Charter was signed, Rove said: “I just spoke with the President, who called from Pearl Harbor; he
event was Mr Neil Patel, a political appointee serving in the Office of Vice President Dick Cheney. Leading the invocation was Dr Anant Rambachan, Professor of Religion at St Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota. An active participant in inter-faith dialogue, Professor Rambachan highlighted the significance of Diwali and its relevance to today's global environment. He pointed out that the kingdom of Rama, the establishment of which Diwali celebrates, was the inspiration for Mahatma Gandhi's vision of an ideal community: "It is an alternative political, economic, social and religious order. It is a vision of what a human community should look like." Dr Piyus C. Agrawal, National President of the Association of Indians in America (AIA), described the event
| as “truly an elegant affair." He added: **President Bush deserves our sincere gratitude for creating history by opening the doors of the White House to us."
The event is testimony to the growing cultural, economic and political impact of Indian communities in the United States. Politicians of both parties, Republican and Democrat, are becoming increasingly aware of Indian concerns and courting Indian votes as the community becomes more integrated in American life. The Diwali event was attended by representatives of all major Indian organisations in America, including Jains, Muslims, Christians and Sikhs. The AIA has commissioned a Commemorative Silver Coin struck in honour of the occasion. It depicts the deities Ganesha and Laxmi on one side with the reverse bearing the inscription "First Diwali at the White House, 2003"
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Unique Experiment By Children of London
Ancient Jain Statues Found in
Temple at Kota Sunday, 9 November 2003, saw a unique experiment by the students of Chandana Vidyapeeth (Jain School) in London. Boys and girls, as Centuries' old Jain Tirthankara young as five and six years old demonstrated their abilities in reciting various sculptures of Adinath, Parsvanath Jain verses in front of the elders of the Jain community in London. Shri and Mahavir were recently Chandana Vidyapeeth is instrumental in teaching Jain values to the new
obtained from an under-ground younger generation and is running classes for Jainism.
cellar at Shri Manaksagar ji Recently an event was organised with the help of the Mahavir
Shvetambara Jain temple in Foundation at the Kingsbury High School in London. The event was the Rampura area of Kota on 28 'Sponsored Samayika'. The Jain Samayika was attended by 60 or so young October 2003. One of the idols of children, their parents and other well-wishers. Sutras of Samayika were
Parsvnath is 18" high, made of white recited by some 30 children. They not only spoke the original sutras but marble, and is believed to be 1800 translated them as well. There was a complete ritual of Samayika together years old. The temple itself, from with related story, skit and the slide show. It was heart-warming to see the where these idols were obtained, is children doing all this when many Jain elders even do not know the meaning over 500 years old and the main idol of Samayika.
of Chanda Prabhu is installed here. in Education Intemational 2010_03 For Private & Personal Use Only
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