Hindu priestess in White House advisory council

Shravan Amavasya 5111

Rewari (Haryana): Appointed by United States President Barack Obama as a member of a faith-based advisory council of the White House, Anju Bhargava, a banker and Hindu priestess, hopes to remove the ignorance about Hinduism and spread the “real meaning” of the rituals associated with the religion.

Ms. Bhargava (42), president of the Asian Indian Women in America, is the second Indian American appointed to the council which is part of the White House Office of Faith Based and Neighbourhood Partnerships and includes religious, secular leaders and scholars from different backgrounds.

A graduate of Stella Maris College, Madras University, Ms. Bhargava, says, “Most people do not understand Hinduism or the ritual process. I have a computer presentation to explain the context, the meaning of the symbols and why we do the puja …I would say, actually, for me, doing pujas took 25 years of preparation. Most people go from ritual to philosophy. I have gone from philosophy to ritual.”

Source: PTI