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FREMONT, USA, September 30, 2004: In specially arranged ceremonies, hundreds of children performed Ganesh puja at different temples to mark Ganesh Utsav in this California town. Over 200 children performed the rituals under the guidance of two senior priests at Fremont temple. The event was so successful that the crowd spilled over to the adjacent Saraswati Bhavan room. Hundreds more had already participated in rituals at Sunnyvale temple a day ago, according to the Seattle-based newspaper PlanetGuru. More children took part in ceremonies at the San Ramon Community Center as well. The enthusiasm was there for all to see. Kamala Ravichandran and seven-year-old Abhishek, for instance, drove all the way from Pleasanton on hearing about the puja. And since her father couldn’t be present, nine-year-old Sindhuja Ramani came over with family friend Ravi Gurumurthy and his infant son. The children were asked to bring a plate, some rice, an offering of banana or coconut, betel leaf and supari, a small lamp, panchaamrita (honey, milk, ghee, curd and sugar mixed in one cup), flowers and turmeric for the rituals. But most of the supplies were provided by volunteers from Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS), which organized the events. The volunteers sold tiny icons of the Elephant God to the children for $2 each. “These community-based events have been an annual affair for the last five years,” HSS volunteer Prasad Kuppa said. Organizers Gautam Desai, whose entire extended family participated, and Fremont temple’s head priest Pandit Srinivasan were quite pleased with the events. “This is the way to encourage young children and their families to stay in touch with Hindu religion and culture,” they said.

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