Hindu students celebrate New Year

Last night, from its vantage point in the Bodek Lounge in Houston Hall, the solemn portrait of Henry Houston, Jr. might have thought that it was in a different place. Like a Hindi temple. For Penn's second annual Diwali Puja, or Festival of Lights, the shoes came off and the candles and incense were in abundance as 200 members of the Penn community gathered to celebrate the Hindi New Year. "It's really an event for one of the largest communities at Penn," College senior and event co-organizer Samir Shah said. "For a lot of us who are Indian Americans, it's a chance for us to get together and learn about ourselves." The crowd faced an altar of religious artifacts, many of which had been lent to the event by students. The wide variety of paintings, statues and sacred objects reflected the way in which the students' viewed their gods. Performing the puja ceremony was Harendrabhai Dave, a local religious leader who honored Ganesha, the Hindu god of obstacles; Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth; and Sarasvati, the goddess of wisdom. Ten students were recruited from the audience to make offerings using various objects. "In the English language, OI' is always in capitals, no matter where it is in the sentence," Dave said, explaining a cultural difference. "Hindi says to make OI' small and keep God in the center." Much of the ceremony, sponsored by the Hindu Students Council and the Young Jains of America, was performed in Hindi, with Dave stopping to interpret the proceedings in English. "It's nice to have a priest here who explains himself," College freshman Shefali Samant said. "Many just assume that you know Hindi and can understand them." Besides the puja itself, the night included the chanting of such devotional songs as the "Nakomar Mantra," and the aarti, where the entire audience was invited forward to hold candles to emphasize the unity and omnipresence of God. Hindi Professor Surendra Gambhir spoke on the importance of the event in a place where so many Hindis were away from their cultural roots. "Events like this reaffirm the fact that although I'm away from home, I'm still spiritually connected," first-year Architecture graduate student Shantanu Lal said. "I came in here all alone, but by the end of the ceremony I realized that I was part of the Penn family all along."