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Showing posts from April 13, 2007


Hindus in Canada Need a Designated River for Burial Ritual

Canadian Hindus are looking out for a designated water body for burial ritual. According to 2001 census, Canada is home to more than 300,000 practicing Hindus and majority of them are third and second generation Hindu Canadians. Earlier, they used to carry the ashes to India but slowly many are opting to disperse them in the rivers in Canada . But they don’t have a designated river and therefore they are doing the ritual in an unceremonious way. Jeanne Gagnon writes in National Post "Currently, people are depositing the ashes in bodies of water, in Lake Ontario and other places, but they are doing it in a very unceremonious manner -- with fears in their minds that they may be doing something wrong," said Roopnauth Sharma, the president of the United Hindu Federation and the spiritual leader of the Shri Ram temple in Mississauga. The search for a designated site began when a growing number of Hindus started placing ashes, leaves and flowers in Canadian waterways.