POMONA, CALIFORNIA, September 5, 2005: The Hindu community of Pomona gathered together recently to celebrate Acharya Day (a day to honor all Hindu spiritual leaders) at the Sri Ranganatha Temple and involve the community in Hindu culture. Sri Kuchibhotla, a member of the temple’s board of trustees, says, “Back home, we live with our elders or we go visit them and learn from them. Here we don’t have that. But the temple has provided that for the children. They may not have their own grandparents, but they have other elders. It’s like a family for them.” Around 200 people attended the festivities including many young children and teenagers. The temple focuses on reaching out to the community so that they do not lose touch with their religion and culture. Kamali Sundararajan, 14 and a East Windsor, N.J. teen, says, “This time I’ve learned to appreciate my culture more because it’s a lot more complicated then I thought.” When Kamali and her sister recited prayers as part of the children’s program, Kamali’s father said, “I am proud to see my daughters saying the hymns that I taught them.” According to this news release, other activities included a drama depicting a former acharya teaching his students, religious music and a Jeopardy-style game for the adults. Five-year-old Tara Patel sums up her view of the day, “I like the temple because they are so nice to me and they love me.”
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