Hindu prayers opening in Utah first time on September 18

02 September, 2012

Rajan Zed will deliver the invocations from ancient Sanskrit scriptures before the County Commission and Municipal Council. After Sanskrit delivery, he will read the English translation of the prayers.

SETTLED BY Mormon pioneers in 1849, both Provo Municipal Council and Utah County Commission in the state of Utah will launch their meetings with Hindu invocations for the first time on September 18, containing verses from world’s oldest existing scripture.

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed will deliver the invocations from ancient Sanskrit scriptures before the County Commission and Municipal Council. After Sanskrit delivery, he then will read the English translation of the prayers. 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 prayers with “Om”, the mystical syllable containing the universe, which in Hinduism is used to introduce and conclude religious work.

Reciting from Brahadaranyakopanishad, 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 council members and commissioners 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 Provo, whose tagline is "making life better", is home to nation’s third largest private Brigham Young University, multinational software company Novell; and has been listed as "enticing city for new careers", “least stressful midsized city in the nation” and “top 10 places to raise a family” by various magazines. Prominent people associated with it include motivational speaker/author Stephen Covey, composer Merrill Jenson, family music group The Osmonds, author Brandon Sanderson and football player Steve Young. John Curtis is the Mayor.

Utah County boasts of 172 listings on National Register of Historic Places. Prominent people associated with it include actor Robert Redford, television inventor Philo Farnsworth, Olympic medalist Shauna Rohbock and boxer Jack Dempsey. Larry Ellertson is County Commission Chair.