Historic American Hindu Welcoming Ceremony

Omaha, Nebraska, USA

In a historic religious event that occurred on Saturday, May 31, 2008, Eight Americans were formally welcomed into the ancient tradition of Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism) in a sacred initiation (diksha) ceremony at the Hindu Temple of Nebraska.

In a related historical development, Ms. Heather “Tulasi” Mortensen was awarded brahmana initiation during the same ceremony, and invested with a sacred thread. This thread-giving ceremony (known as upavita-samskara in Sanskrit) represents the very first time in world
history that a non-Indian woman has been awarded such a sacred thread.

To see all four videos of this historic ceremony, please visit Dharma Nation at:

http://www.youtube. com/user/ DharmaNation

The ceremony was overseen by Sri Dharma Pravartaka Acharya (Dr. Frank Morales, Ph.D.), the Resident Acharya (Spiritual Preceptor) of the temple, and Professor Alekha Dash, who conducted the traditional fire ceremony (yagya) central to any authentic Hindu initiation rite. Sri
Acharyaji has commented that “this is the first of many hundreds of welcoming ceremonies that we expect to be doing in the near future, as we know that there are multiple millions of Americans who will be eager to adopt the Hindu tradition as their own.”

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