WASHINGTON DC, March 11, 2018 (The Hindu): In a new initiative by the Narendra Modi government, a band of Indian officials posted to three missions in the U.S. now promote Indian culture as part of diplomacy. Designated as a Yoga and Indian Culture Acharya, the three officials in Washington DC, New York and Chicago are experts in Sanskrit, yoga and Hindu scriptures. They were selected by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations through a special recruitment process and have diplomatic passports and offices in Indian missions. Their appointment is initially for two years, extendable by two more. And all three have the mandate to travel around the country and organise events that promote Indian culture.
These Acharyas feel that yoga is being commercialized and, in the process, its spiritual dimension gets lost. They say the Indian government, through this initiative, seeks to to teach yoga in its entirety. ”Yoga is about using all that you have — body is only part of it — for union with the God. Asanas, the exercise part of it spread fast… but yogvidya is about the person’s physical, spiritual, intellectual, social, psychological, and economic progress… We have to spread these values. That is our sacred mission,” says Ms. Prerna Arya, who serves as the Indian consulate in Chicago.
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CHENNAI, INDIA, March 12, 2018 (The Hindu): Kapali Vaidhyanatha Gurukkal, an Agama expert and an archaka at the Sri Kapaleeswarar Temple is conducting a course for 50 priests archakas attached to other Saivaite temples. Based on a curriculum approved by the Department, he fits in astrology, Agamas, tales from the puranas, slokas used in various rituals, and rules pertaining to repair and renovation of temples. ”We fixed a curriculum for five years where every year, the subjects would change. Last year we taught them about how a temple should be constructed, beginning with the bhumi puja.” This year, the focus is on installation of murthis and performing kumbabhishekam, explained an official source in the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department.
Adversity and prosperity never cease to exist. The adornment of great men’s minds is to remain unswervingly just under both.
— Tirukkural 115
