Religious News Service
EPPING, NEW HAMPSHIRE, January 4, 2008: A New Hampshire sheriff removed a group of Hindu divinity students, priests and children from what had been their monastery in Epping, N.H., on Friday, according to one of their lawyers. The eviction followed a foreclosure sale on the 100-acre property. But the former residents are now embracing a new vow: to recover their facility, known as Saraswati Mandiram, in court.
“Saraswati Mandiram is a tranquil, spiritual retreat that we have nurtured with love and dedication,” said head priest Pandit Ramsamooj in a prepared statement. “Now all of that stands to be destroyed because of predatory and illegal lending practices.” The New Hampshire Supreme Court is expected to hear the case of the only Hindu institution in northern New England versus G&G LLC, a Virginia-based lender. G&G contends the monastery defaulted on a loan, and lost the property in a foreclosure sale to the lender’s sister entity, G&G Epping LLC.
According to a December brief filed by Saraswati Mandiram attorney Joshua Gordon, the monastery received approval from G&G LLC in 2003 to borrow up to $2.4 million for improvements. G&G soon thereafter charged the monastery with default and moved to foreclose. “It’s easy to allege fraud,” said Chris Hilson, an attorney for G&G. “But the former borrowers haven’t made any payment on the loan since October or November of 2005.”
The Maryland-based Hindu American Foundation joined the monastery’s legal team in December. The group said the monastery “plays a central role in the practice or preservation of Hinduism” in the tri-state region of New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine as well as neighboring Massachusetts. They stated, “We hope sincerely that the court will take into account the severe repercussions that the loss of the only Hindu institution in the tri-state area would have on thousands of Hindus residing in the area.”