Adopting Western Trends - also a lesson for VHP
Hey friends - firstly, Happy New Year! I know I’ve neglected Hindu blog for quite long now, partly because I was away on vacation - and you know how vacations can disrupt routine!
Anyway, when I thought of the New Year, which very uniquely to the Roman calendar falls on the 1st of January, it struck me as very odd that we Hindus should celebrate it. But then, it also makes sense in that we have numerous New Years in different parts of India. So, we seem to have just adopted yet another New Year.
The fantastic thing about this is that, nowadays on New Year’s Eve, many temples remain open for the “Midnight Aarti” - something quite exclusive to this day, save Janmashtami and MahaShivaratri. And the temples remain open because people throng them in crowds for blessings for a prosperous year ahead. For the more popular temples, the roads leading towards them remain blocked the entire night!
Not only is this heartening for the way we have adopted a Western festival, but it is also pleasing for Hindus possessing the will to adopt and adapt!
Since the Roman New Year is now celebrated in temples and millions of Hindus throng temples on the Eve of the New Year, VHP is, if not happy, not disgruntled about it. I would think that many VHP members themselves visit temples to partake of the celebrations in a Hindu mood.
One would hope that this would give the VHP an idea on how to tackle other Western influences, the one major bone of contention being Valentine’s Day.
The VHP should start thinking of how to Indianize and Hinduize this Western festival of lovers. Now, some of you may think, wait a minute, isn’t the VHP already doing this rather badly by calling it “Laila-Majnu” day or something? Quite obviously, this is not striking a chord with the lovestruck.
So, more couple-friendly ideas need to be concocted. Along the lines of the New Year’s Eve pooja, one idea is to have a “Lovers’ Puja” in temples on February 14th! VHP, shed conservatism and think bolder ideas.
How about a Valentine’s Garba night - I think it will vibe. Have you any ideas to Hinduize Valentine’s Day?
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Hi Sooraj,
Happy Valentine’s Day! My husband and I always celebrate it but in the British style with flowers,greeting cards, chocolates and dinner.
But WOW! what a great idea! To Hinduise Valentine’s Day! I’m surprised Bollywood hasn’t come out with something totally Hindu.
Here in the Western Hemisphere, we have Hinduised Mother’s Day.
How about something akin to Raksha Bandhan? But something done equally by both genders. Doing a little arati, exchanging malas, and don’t forget the sweets.
We are in the midst of moving to a new home, so we have postponed our own Valentines’ celebration til next week.
I think I will give it a try.