UNITED STATES, March 2011: When Hindu students at MIT want to hold a religious gathering, they have to plan ahead. They must book a room somewhere on campus and move their Deities there. Sometimes, no rooms are available and they have to pray in a dorm. Even when a classroom is available, students say MIT regulations prevent them from doing the rituals properly.
‘We are not allowed to bring candles, for instance, and we can’t do any kind of worshipping because we can’t have fire,’ a member of MIT Hindu Students’ Council, Namrata ‘Sony’ Verma, said. ‘We also take off our shoes before we pray, but (when we pray in a classroom, leaving our shoes outside would) crowd the hallway, so we can’t do that.’
So this year, the Hindu Students’ Council made a request for a permanent prayer space on campus. Chaplain of the university Robert Randolph, who was reportedly receptive to the idea, brought the issue up at the MIT chaplains’ meeting last month. No decision has so far been made.
Several other religious groups at MIT already have designated prayer spaces. The MIT Muslim Students Association, for instance, has a prayer room with separate entrances and sections for men and women. This room also houses a library of books on Islam, according to the group’s Web site. The Jewish students of MIT have a Hillel on the first floor of the Religious Activities Center where they hold worship services, meetings and classes. The Hillel also has a Judaic library and two kosher kitchens.
However, despite the fact that 234 students from India are attending MIT this year — ranking India third among countries with the largest number of students at MIT — Hindus on campus have no permanent place to pray.