DELHI, INDIA, October 11, 2002: Nearly 600 years after the first Christian missionaries landed in India, brahmin priests are being readied at a seminary near Delhi to take their religion worldwide and defend “the rights of Hindus against conversion.” Religious organizations aligned with India’s Hindu nationalist-led government, committed to preserving Hinduism in its purest and most traditional form, said the priests would try and dilute the influence of Christianity on expatriate Hindus. Three brahmin graduates from the Hindu Heritage Parishthan at Modipuram, 70 km. from Delhi, left recently for the United States, Singapore and Mauritius. Their missionary work amongst overseas Hindus will last at least a decade. “Well versed in ancient scriptures, these priests are expected to spread the virtues of Hinduism and perform rituals for the Indian diaspora,” said Shashi Sham Singh, head of the seminary. All entrants to the Modipuram Seminary are required to be proficient in Sanskrit and have a working knowledge of English. During nine months of training, at the end of which they are awarded a diploma, they study ancient texts, learn to perform complicated Hindu rituals like marriages, child-naming ceremonies and death rites. They also recite lengthy and complicated Sanskrit prayers from memory. “It is not only Hinduism the priests are taught, but also other religions to enable them to counter Christian arguments.”
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