A “Religion” Defined by Context:
Interview with Praveem Sharma, a Past Temple Trustee
Introduction
In general, the term Hinduism describes a culture, as well as a religion. In most circumstances, the ethnicity associated with the practice of Hinduism is Indian. Essentially, this religion is extremely diverse, and mainly focuses on the best way to achieve Moska, or liberation, by living according to the Dharma. Additionally, prayer is extremely important in the strife to achieve Moska. Hindus believe that everything they do, whether it is speaking, singing, working, or thinking, is considered a prayer to the Lord. This is due impart to the belief that all human capacities are “God Given,” and not authored by human fellowship. Hindus also believe that God is universal, and present in everything and everyone, therefore the “the first and foremost value of a Hindu is non-violence (Ahimsa)” (Staten Island Hindu Temple Prana Pratistha Souvenir 88). As you can see, Hinduism forces an individual to associate their lives with their religion in every instance, in order to achieve liberation, and satisfy their soul. Hereby, forcing it to become apart of an individual’s culture, and overall life. Now, this is an extremely general idea of what the religion of Hinduism entails, both as a religion and a culture. It does not in any way shape or form describe the influence of a nuclear community’s cultural beliefs, and how they affect the religion, as well as the culture of Hinduism. Therefore, we will now begin to focus on Hinduism, and its relationship with the community of Staten Island, New York.
Essentially, the immigration and migration of Indian Hindu’s, both inside and outside of the United States, is directly correlated to the steady increase in the population of individuals who practice at the Staten Island Hindu Temple. As more people, who practice Hinduism, begin to migrate or immigrate to Staten Island, the larger the population will grow. This is mainly because this is the only Hindu temple on Staten Island. Additionally, those who practice Hinduism in other places can feel at home in the nuclear Hindu community in Staten Island. The values of the nuclear Hindu community in Staten Island, education and social justice, are deeply rooted in many of the core beliefs of Hinduism. Therefore individuals who practice the faith elsewhere can feel a sense of companionship with other Hindus from the Staten Island community. As research illustrates, Staten Island is home to an emergent, and vivacious Hindu community.
The History of How Shree Ram Mandir Began
As you drive down Victory Boulevard, on the right hand side you will see an ornate, brick building with red lettering. Incredibly, this building is the home of worship for all Hindus located on Staten Island. However, this structure did not exist a few years ago. Instead, a house occupied the lot. Essentially, a long, and strenuous process began with the day the first bylaws for the temple were signed into existence, on January 26th, 1998. The next very big step for the very first devotees was to decide the location for the temple. They met first at 188 Burgher Ave. to discuss where the temple would be built, as well as to discuss, what would be the presiding deity. They decided that the presiding deity would be Lord Rama, and that the location for the first Hindu temple would be on 1318 Victory Boulevard. However, it was not until March 26th, 2004 that the house, which occupied the lot, was to be knocked down to make way for the enormous temple to be built. After the temple’s construction, the first inaugural puja (or prayer service) was given on March 25th, 2006. However, at this period in time, the temple was mainly just a shell. It was not until the Temple actually received the deities’ that it became powerful. As the Indian community within Staten Island began to grow, more and more Indian Hindu’s decided that it was time for a temple to be built in Staten Island, instead of having to travel to Queens to worship, as many of the first devotees did.
The temple or Devasthaana is known as the home of God. Compared to the temples in India, Shree Ram Mandir (which is also known as The Staten Island Hindu Temple) is relatively small, according to a very passionate devotee; its mailing list consists of about 400 families in total. However, the temple is a very important for Staten Islanders that practice Hinduism because it offers them a communal place to pray, chant Mantras, Sahasranamas, Stotras, and Bhajans. These songs, or prayers, create a peaceful environment within the temple, and are important because they fill the devotees minds’ with joy and Bhakti. Also, the temple is filled with many elegant statues and vivid, eye-appealing paintings. The statues represent certain deity’s. Essentially, these statues have been filled with the spirits of these deities’, who arrived with the Prana Prathista Mahotsav celebration that occurred on August 24, 2007. This celebration solidified the finalization of the long awaited temple, and culminated a long, strenuous process of the creation of the temple, with a spectacular dance performance by members of a blind school in Banglore, India. These deities’ are especially important because they are there to help those who pray and make offerings to them.
Often these deities’ are represented by stories, which emit certain values that Hindus should practice in their everyday life. Essentially, the values of education and universality are extremely important to the religion of Hinduism in general, and to the culture of Hinduism specifically practiced in Staten Island. Indian children born into the Hindu religion, in the Staten Island area, are taught from a very early age to appreciate the values of education. When they are old enough, they attend Purna Vidya classes that are conducted from 5:00 pm to 7:30 pm on Sundays. These classes teach them stories, pujas, and moral values that depend upon the sacred Hindu scriptures and puranas, such as Ramyana, Mahabharata, and Bhagwat Purana (Staten Island Hindu Temple Prana Pratistha Souvenir 35). As for the value of universality, Hindus must regard everything around them without prejudice or judgment. If they hurt an individual, by using a thought, word, or deed, they are hurting an aspect of the Lord who is in everyone, and everything.
Through the Eyes of a Devote Hindu Woman
In search of further information, as well as an additional analysis of how the temple (as well as Hinduism in general) affects its devotees, I stopped by the temple one afternoon, and I had the opportunity to briefly speak to a lady. “I came from India to the United States because I followed my husband around 30 or 40 years ago. A few people got together and got the idea of forming a temple or a group [related to the practice of Hinduism].” Essentially, she was apart of the creation of this vibrant Hindu community within Staten Island. Her role as one of the first devotees was to encourage many of the trustees that there was a large enough congregation to go ahead and create The Staten Island Hindu Temple. Before the temple in Staten Island was built, she, like many of the first devotees, sometimes travelled all the way to Queens to pray within a temple. “When we first started this [project The Staten Island Hindu Temple] was a small house, but people persisted, and then we decided to make this temple slowly.” She described in detail the creation process of the temple, and the steps it had to go through in order to become a fully distinguished Hindu Temple, including the most important part, the Prana Prathista Mahotsav. Additionally, she was able to analyze the steady influx of new devotees over the last few years. She suggested that “the congregation has always been there, and has steadily increased over the years, as people continually migrated from India.” Essentially, the woman describes a tenacious Hindu community that has been present throughout the last thirty or forty years. Additionally, she mentioned that many of the people of the temple are of the Indian ethnicity, many of whom, migrated from India over the course of the last few years. She suggested that, “the recent immigrations might be due to an increasingly steady influx of highly educated Indian immigrants who came to New York City in search of a career from either India, or another state over the course of a long period of time.” Essentially, her belief that the growth of the congregation was dependent upon the steady influx of Hindus who immigrate from India to Staten Island is supported by the general trend among the immigration of Hindus’ from India to the United States.
The Man of the Hour: Praveem Sharma
On May 19th, 2014, I travelled to the Staten Island Hindu Temple to meet with a man known as Praveem Sharma. Praveem was an extremely smart man. “After immigrating to the United States from India in 1994,” Praveem explained, “I attended the College of Staten Island in order to receive my Masters in computer science.” Praveem was very proud of his education, and emphasized that he was one of the first individuals to begin to study computer science almost twenty years ago. “When I was graduating from a University in India, very few people knew about computers. Now there are many languages [in regards to computer programming].” He seemed eager to tell me about his experiences as a pioneer as a computer programmer. He even mentioned a specific contrast within computer programming from the past to today, suggesting that he was proud of the success the industry has made. Aside from Praveem’s acute technological abilities, he was a tremendous advocate for the creation of The Staten Island Hindu Temple. Praveem was on the original board of trustees that signed the temple into existence on January 26th, 1998. His role as a trustee included raising funds for the creation of the temple, deciding where the temple would be located, and personally, he travelled to India frequently to determine what deities should be brought to the temple in Staten Island. Most importantly, he was able to explain the importance of the Shree Ram Mandir (otherwise known as the Staten Island Hindu Temple) to the nuclear society of Hindus within Staten Island. Praveem provides further insight into the home practice of Hinduism; “Every Tuesday and every Saturday we pray, and every morning we have a prayer, so we have a practice.” Essentially, he is extremely devoted to his Gods’ and to his beliefs. He makes sure to pray every morning, and he also holds open prayers services on Tuesdays and Saturdays for everybody in his family. In general, his devotion to the Gods’ is just as important in the practice of Hinduism at home, as it is in the practice of Hinduism at the temple. He has established a beneficial relationship with his Gods’ and he continually strengthens this bond by praying frequently. However, even though, an alter can be set up at home and used daily by family members to conduct the puja, visiting The Staten Island Hindu Temple occasionally is important for your spirit. Praveem emphasizes, “Whenever you visit the temple you feel peace, you feel that all the negativities goes out of you, you do the meditation, and you recite the montras, which are very helpful and very strong.” The combination of an individual’s prayer life at home, and the peaceful environment of the temple allow a devoted Hindu to completely free their mind and their spirit. Thereby, allowing them to make adequate decisions throughout their daily lives, as they continually search to achieve liberation. In general, the temple is a sacred place that the Hindu community can come together in a peaceful environment to recite mantras, participate in, and/or carry out spectacular festivals, such as the festival of light, which, as Praveem claims, is inspired by the return of Lord Rama to Sri Lanka. “When Lord Rama returns he will have a state to return to [this state is Sri Lanka].” In the festival of light, many fireworks are lit at night, and the houses are cleansed (for example in spring cleaning in America) in order to celebrate the return of this God to his rightful place.
Reflection on the Interview Process
As an outsider to this nuclear Hindu community within Staten Island, my main objective was to learn about the specific history of The Staten Island Hindu Temple, in order to deepen my minimal understanding of the beliefs associated with Hinduism. Additionally, I hoped to gather enough primary information to be able to accurately portray the views and perspectives of those who practice within the temple. Essentially, I was unsure of how the people who practiced at the temple would even respond to my presence. Fittingly enough, upon my entrance to the temple, I was confronted by a woman. At first she was puzzled as to why I had entered the temple, and inquired about my purpose in entering in the first place. After a few minutes of banter she was then able to relay me to a man who woul be willing to conduct a formal interview. Essentially, these two individuals were fantastic resources for information. They were able to offer me in-depth detail about the early developmental stages of the temple, as well as enlighten me on certain Hindu practices, for instance the puja.
In general, I made a few mistakes along my interview process. One of my major faults was asking questions that were too broad to the interviewee. This hindered my ability to gain some of the information that I needed for a specific part of my research. Overall, I thought the process was quite rewarding. I was able to utilize all of my primary sources to accurately document the history of this religious site, and I was able to gather enough information to accurately relay the beliefs of the nuclear community of Hindus on Staten Island to those who may not know much about this specific culture.
Additionally, this research can be furthered in order to assure that the trends I have correlated with the Staten Island Hindu community are 100% accurate. This can be accomplished by interviewing more people from this devote religious community, or by distributing questionnaires to people who practice at the temple.
Conclusion
Overall, the research gathered on this specific religious site can be utilized to distinguish the specific beliefs of the nuclear Hindu community. Additionally, through the research conducted, people outside of this nuclear Hindu community can begin to understand the importance of the main attributes of this specific religion in the Staten Island area. When the term “religion” is correlated with the nuclear Hindu community in the Staten Island area, it can now be defined as follows; the demonstration of a strong dedication towards the principles of education, and social justice. In this religion, one can find growth, strength, and prosperity by striving for human equality, and proliferation of knowledge. Essentially, the definition of the term religion in accordance to this context (the nuclear community within the Staten Island area) is extremely detailed and unique. In general, this is one example of how religion can be defined by context through site research. Consequently, the deepening of our understanding of the term religion may eventually lead researchers to accurately define the term religion by examining specific circumstances rather than relying on a extremely generalized statement. Each contextual definition of religion can then be written down and cataloged for organizational purposes. This catalog could then be updated accordingly, and used efficiently to define religion in every different context. Since the Internet has already been established, universalizing the term religion, based on circumstance, is only a click away from being created.
Written by:
Zachary Diemer
