{"id":12583,"date":"2012-10-07T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-10-07T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/2012\/10\/07\/hindu-rites-in-trouble-as-youngsters-shun-priesthood-s-path\/"},"modified":"2012-10-07T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2012-10-07T12:00:00","slug":"hindu-rites-in-trouble-as-youngsters-shun-priesthood-s-path","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/2012\/10\/07\/hindu-rites-in-trouble-as-youngsters-shun-priesthood-s-path\/","title":{"rendered":"Hindu Rites In Trouble As Youngsters Shun Priesthood&#8217;s Path"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.deccanherald.com\/content\/282674\/hindu-rites-trouble-youngsters-shun.html \">Source<\/a><\/p>\n<p>VRINDAVAN, INDIA, October 3,2012 (Deccan Herald): Traditionally, Vedic hymns are chanted and religious rites performed in honor of one&#8217;s ancestors. There is an elaborate feast that marks pitra-paksh. Family and friends are invited, and pandits too are fed on the occasion. Many of those who observe the rituals believe that observing pitra-paksh in honor of one&#8217;s forebears ensures peace and prosperity in the family, explains Surendra Sharma of the Brahmin Maha Sabha.<\/p>\n<p>Over the years, however, even finding a priest to feed for pitra-paksh has become quite a task. The shortage of Karma-Kandi pandits, who perform the ceremonies and are offered a meal, is acute in the Braj region of Uttar Pradesh. Anurag Shukla, president of the Agra Panditya Maha Sabha, said: &#8220;The new generation of Brahmins here is no longer interested in this as it is not lucrative, and the social status accorded to a pandit is not attractive either.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>Rakesh Sharma, convener of the All India Brahmin Mahasabha said: &#8220;Agra district has a brahmin population of around 500,000. In the absence of proper guidance and directions, the younger generation is not being attracted to traditional practices. It&#8217;s not that there is no market for the Karma-Kandi pandits, we receive enquiries even from abroad for trained hands. But there is no proper mechanism for updating and training professionals.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>Agra University started a specialized course for producing Karma-Kandi pandits a few years ago, as there was reportedly great demand for them abroad. There were not enough students interested in the course, leading to the closure of the programme. <\/p>\n<p>Disease is but a milestone; neither is good health our greater purpose in life. We are wellness. We are consciousness. That is our natural state.<br \/><b>&#8212; Swamini Mayatitananda,<\/b> founder of the Wise Earth Monastery<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Source VRINDAVAN, INDIA, October 3,2012 (Deccan Herald): Traditionally, Vedic hymns are chanted and religious rites performed in honor of one&#8217;s,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12583\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hinduismtoday.com\/hpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}