Sanatana Dharma Foundation(SDF) is pleased to announce the successful completion of a 2 day Hindu Unity Day in the DFW Metroplex for its third consecutive year. In this annual event, individuals who are striving to protect and safeguard Sanatana Dharma are honored with the “Dharma Raksha Kshatriya” award. Previous award recipients include Dr. Subramaniam Swamy and Dr. S. Kalyanaraman. This year’s award recipients included Dr. Kosla Vepa and Dr. Kusum Vyas.

In the first day of the program held as dinner program/seminar on August 21, 2010 . Karishma Himatsinghani, a noted Radio was the MC of the evening and Kalyan Viswanathan, the President of Sanatana Dharma Foundation welcomed the audience. The program started with Prayers led by Uma Narayanan. The audience was engaged by three speakers who have been active in scholarship and preservation of Sanatana Dharma. Dr. S. Kalyanaraman in his keynote address gave insights into recent scholarship concerning the Indus Valley civilization. SDF was honored to be chosen as the venue for the release of his book “Indus Script Cipher” that is a scholarly treatise details a decipherment of the Indus script using a prior archelogic method to read ancient phonetic hieroglyphs of India. The first copies of the book were offered to Sashi Kejriwal and Pankaj Jain. Sangeetha Chandrakantan introduced the next speaker, Dr. Kosla Vepa, head of the Indic Studies Foundation, in the next talk presented on inaccuracies and misconceptions on Indian history and Hindu thought that have been elucidated in his study of Indian civilization. Meera introduced the next speaker Dr Kusum Vyas. Dr. Kusum Vyas of the Gulf of Mannar World Heritage Site campaign exorted the audience to consider implications of climate change in the sensitive Indian Ocean region and suggested solutions based from Hindu dharmic thought. Harirama Subbu, Tarun Saran and IV Rao from Sanatana Dharma Foundation offered specially designed Newletter to the three distinguished speakers.

The second day of the program on August 22, 2010 was at the Dallas Fort Worth Hindu Temple and was entitled “Preserving Sanatana Dharma – Engaging the Next Generation: Challenges and Opportunities.” Youth and adults from across a cross section of Hindus were engaged in a vibrant panel discussion on the critical issues facing youth who are growing up in a culture with significantly different values than that of their parent’s religious and cultural backgrounds. Multiple opportunities for further partnership and collaboration arose with numerous avenues for networking amongst different Hindu groups for the purpose of transmission of Sanatana Dharma to the next generation. The Panel Discussion moderated by Gopal Ponangi, Director of Sanatana Dharma Foundation had notable speakers like Rajesh Verma from Sewa International, Bindu Patel from Hindu Swayamsewak Sangh, Deepen Patel from BAPS, Dr Jay Kumar from Vidya Vikas, Vigyan Gotewal and Simarn Gotewal from Ekal, Pranamya Suri from Natyanjali, Anu Namuduri, Sumedh Mankar and Kirti Salwe from Hindu Student Council, Vallabh Dhudshia  and Pavan Puttaparthi from DFW Hindu Temple, Dina Bhakta from Bhrahmakumaris, G.R. Ravindranath and Rao Kalvala represented parents, Lakshmi Tummala from Datta Yoga Center, Peeyush Goyal from Barsana Dham, Arnav Gupta from Arya Samaj, Venkat Srinivasan and Karishma Bagpatia from Art of Living.

The program concluded with talks by Drs. Kusum Vyas, S. Kalyanaraman, and Kosla Vepa with a modified panel discussion. DesiPlaza.us, the official videographers will be releasing a special DVD of this Hindu Unity Day.

Speaking about the success of the third Annual Hindu Unity Day, Kalyan Viswanathan, President of Sanatana Dharma Foundation thanked all the attendees for showing up and supporting the cause of Hindu Unity. He said that during the discussions with various people several new initiatives have paved way and SDF will act on them.

Sanatana Dharma Foundation is a non-profit organization with the goal of promoting Hindu Values, traditions and community involvement. Apart from various activities, they have been conducted Radio programs on Hinduism since the last 3 years.  Archives of Radio programs and additional information is available on sdfglobal.org

Click here to see pictures from DesiPlaza.us

Here is the press coverage from "Sakshi" Telugu Newspaper

Here is the press coverage from "Namaste Andhra" Telugu Website

Sanatana Dharma Foundation, Dallas presents "NAMASTE", an exclusive Hindu program on Radio Salaam Namaste 1220 AM on every Saturday morning between 9 to 11 AM Central Time.
 
This weekly program has the following segments: Kids section, Thought for the week, Local organizations, News and Events, Interviews with Eminent Hindu Scholars/Leaders, Bhajans and music.
 
Listeners outside Dallas can listen live via the web here

Archives of past SDF Radio programs can be listened from here.

Audio archive of eminent speakers

Audio archive of local organizations

Audio archive of Kids/Children

Audio archive of Sanskrit Corner

Summary: An estimated one-sixth of Bhutan’s population, who are Hindus have been forced to leave Bhutan have immigrated as refugees to USA. Hindu population has essentially been “ethnically cleansed” from Bhutan.

SDF Bhutanese Refugee Assistance Program:
Sanatana Dharma Foundation (SDF) is strongly committed to the preservation of the unique cultural identity of the Bhutanese Hindus. For the last 1.5 years, volunteers of SDF have been actively assisting newly arrived Bhutanese refugees in the following:

1. Financial assistance of a short term nature
2. Procurement of essential basic materials such blankets, clothing, clothes, etc. This has been done in concert with generous volunteers and other Hindu organizations
3. Driving lessons
4. Organization of cultural functions for promotion of Bhutanese Hindu heritage

Click here to find more information about SDF Bhutanese Refugee Program

SDF Supported Events:
Gita Jayanthi on December 20,2009  at DFW Hindu Temple. See pictures below.

Rudra Mahotsav on April 25,2010 at DFW Hindu Temple. Pictures coming soon.

Historical Background behind the Bhutanese Refugee Situation:
Bhutan has been ruled by an absolute monarchy since 1907. The fourth hereditary King Jigme Singye Wangchuck shifted power to his heir Crown Prince Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck on December 9, 2006. The former monarchy unveiled its first draft Constitution in 2005 which was subsequently accepted by the Parliament which mandated that power remain with the King. Bhutan thus remains a theocratic state dominated by only Buddhist ideals that are enshrined in the Constitution of the nation.

Bhutan has been home to a number of ethnic and religious groups, including Drukpa Buddhists and Hindu Lhotshampas. Although Drukpa Buddhists are politically and religiously dominant, Lhotshampas, who are descendants of Nepalese who moved to the southern lowlands of Bhutan in the nineteenth century, comprised a substantial minority. The Hindu Lhotshampas remained largely un-integrated with Bhutan’s Buddhist Druk majority. However, under Bhutan’s Nationality Law of 1958 they were allowed to hold government jobs and enjoy Bhutanese citizenship.

By the 1980s, however, the Bhutanese Buddhist majority expressed concern over the rapidly growing Lhotshampa population and feared that a demographic population shift would eventually threaten the majority culture. Draconian nationalist policies were enacted that stripped many ethnic Nepalis of their citizenship and civil rights and banned the use of Nepali in the educational curriculum. This was followed by a violent pogrom of intimidation of the Hindu Lhotshampas including arbitrary detention and torture that made tens of thousands of Lhotshampas stateless, forcing them to flee to Nepal and West Bengal (India). It is estimated that one-sixth of the kingdom’s population has been forced to leave (greater than 100,000 people). The Hindu population has essentially been “ethnically cleansed” from Bhutan.

Efforts at arriving at a mediated solution have been fruitless. Resettlement began in November 2007 with the United States accepting the largest share of refugees. It is estimated that there are at least 800 Bhutanese refugees in the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex.

Read more information at http://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=5054

How you can help Bhutanese Refugees in DFW:

If you are interested in helping Bhutanese refugees, please contact This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it