COMMUNITY NEWS
Coming soon, sponsors willing, a 200-acre
‘spiritual Disneyland’ in Texas
GEORGE JOSEPH
The Siddhayatan ashram plans to build miniature ver- sions of Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar near Dallas, and has bought 200 acres of land for it. The
Mt Kailash-Mansarovar area — in Tibet, controlled by
China — is one of the holiest pilgrimage places, or tirths,
for Hindus and Jains. Hindus consider it Lord Shiva’s
abode; Jains consider the Ashtapad (Mt Kailash) as one of
places where the first Tirthankar Adinath attained nirvana.
The Kailash-Mansarovar miniature — called the Hindu-Jain Mahatirth — will have the mountain over 10 acres and
five stories high, with a 20-acre lake. The ashram also plans
to build a replica of another Jain holy place, the 60-foot-
high statue of Gomateshwara (in Karnataka).
“Many have termed the Siddhayatan as an up and coming
spiritual Disneyland,” said Sadhvi Siddhalishree, chief dis-
ciple of Siddhayatan’s founder Acharya Shree Yogeesh. “It
will be a place for pilgrimage and meditation. The whole
family can come spend a day through the spiritual spots.”
Haryana-born monk Yogeesh, who founded the Yogeesh
Ashram International in 1994 in Riverside, California, has
an ashram in New Delhi and a children’s school in Haldri,
Haryana. He saw during a meditation in early 2004 the
vision of a grand pilgrimage in North America. He envi-
sioned a sprawling place with miniature versions of famous
pilgrimages, a spiritual community, a monastery for monks
and nuns, and more. In 2008, with support from the
Siddhayatan ashram, he was able to find and buy the per-
fect location an hour from Dallas with beautiful rolling hills
and unobstructed view for miles.
A team from Siddhyatan will visit Mt Kailash-Mansarovar in 2012 to bring back soil and water for the
Texas version. Siddhayatan also plans to build replicas of
nine more famous holy places, a monastery, a retirement
home, a school, and a spiritual living intergenerational
community.
The ashram is seeking sponsors for the project, which
will cost at least $1 million.
An illustration of the proposed replica of Kailash-Mansarovar
“We expect to complete it in 12 to 18 months once we get
the sponsors,” said Siddhali, who was born Tammy
Herbster, raised a Catholic, served in the Iraq war voluntarily as a combat medic, and who met Yogeesh in 2004.
Siddhayatan is a nonprofit 501(c) organization and contributions to it are tax-deductible.
www.siddhayatan.org
3-year-old
needs
urgent
bone
marrow
transplant
Rayan Hasnain, 3, has been diagnosed with blood cancer (acute lym- phoblastic leukemia). The child needs a perfectly matched bone marrow transplant in two weeks. For this, people need to take a free
and painless 30-second bone marrow compatibility test. Gender is not relevant but South Asian ethnicity is, because South Asians are under-repre-sented on the national donor registry. Volunteers across the US could help
with host drives at their local places of worship (
e-mail:mosques@cur-erayan.org), homes and offices (e-mail: events@curerayan.org) or attend
calls on 1-800 numbers being set up to spread the word. A drive is being
held at 1111 S Wabash in Chicago. Starting at 10 am, it involves a simple
swab of the inside of the cheek.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cure-Rayan/150083045044812
Community celebrates its own
in Washington, DC
;Page A42
director, Sigur Center, George Washington
University; and Uma Ahluwalia, director, health
and human services, Montgomery County,
Maryland. Isiah Leggett, the Montgomery
County executive, was presented the Leadership
Award, for always being on hand to address the
community’s concerns. Alka Batra, Dr Om
Sharma, Dr Ram Singh and former ambassador
Har Swarup Singh were conferred with the
Community Service Awards for their years of
service to the community in the Washington,
DC area.
The audience included community leaders,
elected officials and business leaders.
Dutta Padsalgikar, minister, community
affairs, Indian embassy, delivered the keynote
address, representing the embassy on behalf of
Ambassador Meera Shankar. As evidence of
India’s growing global clout, he pointed out how
the heads of the five permanent members of the
United Nations Security Council — the US,
Russia, France, Britain, and China — had visited India last year, with four of them, except
China, endorsing India’s candidacy for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security
Council.
He also showered kudos on the community for
showing up in the hundreds to celebrate their
motherland despite the inclement weather.
Congratulating the community, Benoy
Thomas, NCIA president, said, “As a result of
our efforts and efforts of many others, US-India
relations have never been better.”
Ashok Batra, the event’s coordinator, said,
“You will be pleased to know that
Representative Alcee Hastings (Florida
Democrat) has circulated a proposed resolution
to members of Congress to include India for a
permanent seat at the United Nation’s Security
Council.” He exhorted everyone “to write your
Congressional representative to ask them to
support and co-sponsor this resolution so that it
can be approved unanimously by Congress so
that it will reinforce American support for
India’s candidacy.”
Batra highlighted the community’s growth as
a political force. Citing the example of South
Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, he added,
“Across the country, more Indian Americans
now serve state- and county-wide offices than
ever before.”
Alka Batra and Ram Rao coordinated the
four-hour cultural program, which included
patriotic songs by choirs, folk music, dances and
other cultural activities showcasing different
parts of India. Food stalls served cuisines from
different parts of India, and an 80-page sou-
venir, India, a Global Power, was released.
Giseala Ghani, NCIA secretary, was the master
of ceremonies, and Kumar Singh, president,
Indian Cultural Coordination Committee, deliv-
ered the vote of thanks.
