LONDON, ENGLAND, July 28, 2005: The statues at the Shri Venkateswara Balaji Temple in Tividale at the center of England are hand-carved. After eight years and getting on for US$13.2 million, the battle to transform a desolate West Midlands industrial site should soon be won. For the team behind what will be one of Europe’s largest Hindu temples there is a new addition to the long list of daily tasks — fighting government immigration policy. Former Home Secretary David Blunkett introduced the English language rules to ensure priests “can speak to and for their congregations.” Anil Bhanot, general secretary of the Hindu Council, says Hindus have been caught up in what he believes to be a policy aimed at tackling radical preachers. The Balaji Temple’s rituals are the same as those that have been performed in India for thousands of years — which means that only traditionally trained pujaris can work there. The chances of finding a suitable priest raised in the UK are considered remote as British schools would not provide such dedication to one subject. The lack of these scholarly pujaris has left many at the temple feeling “uncomfortable” and efforts to change ministers’ minds have been underway for some time. As scholarly pujaris perform only rituals and do not preach, argues Mr. Bhanot, they should be exempt from the tests. Immigration Minister Tony McNulty has met Balaji Temple chairman Dr. Narayan Rao to discuss the issue and the Home Office says it “takes seriously all the concerns of the faith community.”
A daily summary of world news for Hindus and non-Hindus alike