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Manteca City Council in California (USA), incorporated in 1918, will have its first Hindu opening prayer on July 17, containing verses from world’s oldest existing scripture.

Acclaimed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed will deliver the invocation from ancient Sanskrit scriptures before the City Council. After Sanskrit delivery, he then will read the English translation of the prayer. Sanskrit is considered a sacred language in Hinduism and root language of Indo-European languages.

Zed, who is the President of Universal Society of Hinduism, will recite from Rig-Veda, the oldest scripture of the world still in common use, besides lines from Upanishads and Bhagavad-Gita (Song of the Lord), both ancient Hindu scriptures. He plans to start and end the prayer with “Om”, the mystical syllable containing the universe, which in Hinduism is used to introduce and conclude religious work.

Reciting from Brahadaranyakopanishad, Rajan Zed plans to say “Asato ma sad gamaya, Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya, Mrtyor mamrtam gamaya”, which he will then translate as “Lead me from the unreal to the Real, Lead me from darkness to Light, and Lead me from death to Immortality.” Reciting from Bhagavad-Gita, he proposes to urge councilmembers to keep the welfare of others always in mind.

Zed is a global Hindu and interfaith leader, who besides taking up the cause of religion worldwide, has also raised huge voice against the apartheid faced by about 15-million Roma (Gypsies) in Europe. Bestowed with World Interfaith Leader Award; Zed is Senior Fellow and Religious Advisor to Foundation for Religious Diplomacy, Spiritual Advisor to National Association of Interchurch & Interfaith Families, etc.

Female majority Manteca, nicknamed as "the family city", also defines itself as "A friendly city located at the crossroads in the heart of California". Prominent people associated with it include artist Gilbert Lujan, astronaut Jose Hernandez, Playboy Playmate Marliece Andrada, actress April Bowlby, baseball player Milo Candini, football player Ernie Barber and basketball player Scott Brooks. Willie W. Weatherford and John W. Harris are Mayor and Mayor Pro-Tempore respectively.

California’s Madera City Council to open with Hindu mantras 1st time in 105 years

Madera City Council in California (USA), incorporated in 1907, will have its first Hindu invocation on July 18, containing verses from world’s oldest existing scripture.

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed will deliver the invocation from ancient Sanskrit scriptures before the City Council. After Sanskrit delivery, he then will read the English translation of the prayer. Sanskrit is considered a sacred language in Hinduism and root language of Indo-European languages.

Zed, who is the President of Universal Society of Hinduism, will recite from Rig-Veda, the oldest scripture of the world still in common use, besides lines from Upanishads and Bhagavad-Gita (Song of the Lord), both ancient Hindu scriptures. He plans to start and end the prayer with “Om”, the mystical syllable containing the universe, which in Hinduism is used to introduce and conclude religious work.

Reciting from Brahadaranyakopanishad, Rajan Zed plans to say “Asato ma sad gamaya, Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya, Mrtyor mamrtam gamaya”, which he will then translate as “Lead me from the unreal to the Real, Lead me from darkness to Light, and Lead me from death to Immortality.” Reciting from Bhagavad-Gita, he proposes to urge councilmembers to keep the welfare of others always in mind.

Zed is a global Hindu and interfaith leader, who besides taking up the cause of religion worldwide, has also raised huge voice against the apartheid faced by about 15-million Roma (Gypsies) in Europe. Bestowed with World Interfaith Leader Award; Zed is Senior Fellow and Religious Advisor to Foundation for Religious Diplomacy, Spiritual Advisor to National Association of Interchurch & Interfaith Families, etc. 

"Born from the Timber Industry", Madera which means "wood or timber" in Spanish, is home to “pair of Palm Tree & Redwood” marking the center of South and North California.  Prominent people associated with it include recording artist Bill Aken, space science writer Kelly Beatty and women’s Mixed Martial Arts champion Zoila Frausto. Brett Frazier, Andrew J. Medellin and David Tooley are Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem and City Administrator respectively.

Hindus dismayed at porno-star type image of goddess Kali in upcoming video game

Hindus are perturbed at the portrayal of goddess Kali, a highly revered deity of Hinduism, which gives the appearance of a porno-star in an upcoming online action video game SMITE being developed by Georgia (USA) headquartered Hi-Rez Studios.

Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that such portrayal of goddess Kali was quite disturbing for the devotees who worshipped her in temples or home shrines on a regular basis. It was denigration and belittling of the entire community.

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, urged online video game developer Hi-Rez Studios to immediately remove the Kali and other Hindu gods (Vamana and Agni) from the game as it trivialized the highly revered and sacred deities of Hinduism.

Meanwhile; Catholics, Jews and Buddhists have come out in the support of Hindus who are upset at this inappropriate usage of Kali and other Hindu deities. Well known Roman Catholic leader in Nevada Father Charles T. Durante, prominent Jewish leader in Western USA Rabbi ElizaBeth W. Beyer and distinguished Buddhist leader from Nevada Reverend Jikai’ Phil Bryan have issued separate statements backing the cause of protesting Hindus. Reverend Bryan commented: “Shame on the game-makers for denigrating these Supreme Beings”.

Rajan Zed further said that in a video game set-up, the player would control and manipulate goddess Kali and other Hindu deities, which was highly inappropriate as in reality the devotees put the destinies of themselves in the hands of their deities. Reimagining Hindu scriptures and deities for commercial or other agenda was not okay as it hurt the devotees, Zed noted.

Zed stated that video game makers should be more sensitive while handling faith related subjects and no faith, larger or smaller, should be trampled. As these games left lasting impact on the minds of highly impressionable children, teens and other young people; such inappropriate depictions would create more misunderstandings about Hinduism, which was already a highly misunderstood religion in the West, Zed argued and added that purpose of online games was to entertain and not to offend a large chunk of world population.

Goddess Kali, who personifies Shakti or divine energy and considered the goddess of time and change, is widely worshipped in Hinduism. Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about one billion adherents and moksh (liberation) is its ultimate goal. There are about three million Hindus in USA.

Hi-Rez Studios describes SMITE as an “online battleground between mythical gods” in which players choose from a selection of gods.