A Hindu Temple 'Choir', An 'American' Koran, A 'Catholic' Mantra

Recently reconnected with someone who has found new interest in studying the Hindi language, I learned about recent activities celebrating the festival of the Ganesha festival.  Ganesha, deemed Lord of Success, is one of the most widely worshipped of the many Hindu deities.¹

The son of Shiva and Parvati, Ganesha has an elephantine countenance with a curved trunk and big ears, and a huge pot-bellied body of a human being. He is the Lord of success and destroyer of evils and obstacles. He is also worshipped as the god of education, knowledge, wisdom and wealth. In fact, Ganesha is one of the five prime Hindu deities (Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva and Durga being the other four) whose idolatry is glorified as the panchayatana puja.

How the practice of such religious beliefs adapts following its migration to America is exemplified by the formation of choir performing for the first time—also in celebration of the Ganesha festival—in a Hindu temple in Flushing Meadows, Queens.  Growing up Catholic, I recall nothing extra-ordinary singing in a church choir.  However, in his recent NY Times article, Jonathan Allen reveals that choir singing is new in Hindu worship, which tends to be more individualistic and free flowing. Quoting Professor Vasudha Naryanan, director of the Center for the Study of Hindu Traditions at the University of Florida, Mr. Allen writes:²

She sees the choir as a “gentle process of Americanization” — a kind of adaptation of Hindu traditions to be more “recognizable” to the children of Hindu immigrants and the broader American public.

Not everyone views any American adaptation of religious practice—or even, the artistic representation of a religious book—with the same openness.  Even before the exhibition opens, there is already mounting opposition to “American Qur’an”, Sandow Birk’s latest project of transcribing English translations of the holy book accompanied by paintings of contemporary American scenes. Jori Finkel of the New York Times writes:³

After viewing an artist’s statement on koplindelrio.com, the gallery’s Web site, Usman Madha, director of public relations at the King Fahad Mosque in Culver City, cautioned that many Muslims might nonetheless find the project “insulting to the Islamic faith,” starting with its title. “There is no such thing as an American Koran, or European Koran, or Asian Koran,” he said. “If someone calls a work their own version of the Koran, they are misrepresenting the Koran as revealed to the prophet Muhammad by the angel Gabriel.”

In exhibiting his work, I doubt Mr. Birk’s intention to “make it more accessible to Americans, more relevant to American life” will precipitate any serious conversion, because technically his work does not count as a bona fide copy of the holy book, which can only be written in Arabic.  In her studying Hindi, I surmise my friend is driven more by her personal interest in it and won’t soon become a Ganesha follower herself.  I don’t think a Hindu hymnal will hit publication any time soon either.  I digress form this deliberation with a thought of my old church choir singing this John Lennon song.

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

1Subhamoy Das, “Ganesha: Lord of Success—All About the Hindu Elephant-Deity”, About.com
2Jonathan Allen, ”Old Faith Innovates in a New Land”, New York Times
3Jori Finkel,“’Personal Meditations’ on the Koran”, New York Times