HINDU SOCIETY OF MINNESOTA:

The Society's first newsletter, dated March 1979, states: "The Hindu Society was established in 1977 to serve the religious, cultural and social needs of the Indian community. To this end it was felt that it was essential to have a Mandir or a temple where we could meet and worship together. The Hindu religion teaches us that God is everywhere, in everything, and every place and no special place is therefore essential to worship God. However, there is a special strength that derives from worshipping together. A Mandir is vital to create the strength of unity rather than just the comfort of numbers."

The founding members of the group were Mr. and Mrs. P. C. Mangalick, Drs. Kusum and Krishna Mohan Saxena, and Drs. Kumud and Shashikant Sane. In 1979 the Hindu Society of Minnesota built a Mandir in North East Minneapolis. Membership continued to grow and it was decided that a new temple should be built to house all of the members. The groundbreaking of the new temple, located in Maple Grove, Minnesota, occurred in 2003. The Mandir celebrated the Society's Silver Jubilee on February 22, 2004.

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The items in this collection document the beginning and growth of the Hindu Society of Minnesota. There is information regarding the purchase of the first Mandir in North East Minneapolis and also the construction of the new temple in Maple Grove. The contents include the Society's newsletter, Patrika, which discusses important issues in Hinduism and also functions and celebrations performed by members of the Mandir. Fliers for events such as the Diwali celebrations are included, as well as photographs of altars and statues that are prevalent in ceremonies. The collection has three video recordings that document the celebrations of Bhajan Madhuram, Sri Sita Ram Kalyan, and Sri Krishna Janmashtami. There are also writings by the members of the community included under the file heading "Reflections." The majority of the reflections are in response to the 25th anniversary of the Mandir; other topics such as reflections on the Hindu youth camp and skiing trip are also included.

The collection also contains a historic copy of the Holy book, The Rámáyana of Tulsi Dás, also known in its abbreviated title as Ramayan. This epic tale is about Lord Rama, and the version donated is based on the poet Tulsi Dás' retelling. Dr. Kusum Saxena donated the book, along with a letter detailing how the item has been in his family for generations. The book, housed in a red silk box, measures 28 centimeters and is covered in yellow felt. The pages are fragile and brittle, with holes and tears along with slight water damage. The title page reads: The Rámáyana of Tulsi Dás, translated from the original Hindi by F.S. Growse, B.C.S.; M.A., Oxon; C.I.E.; magistrate and collector of Bulandshahr, Fellow of the Calcutta University. Revised and illustrated. Allahabad: North-Western Provinces and Oudh Government Press, 1883. There is also a quote on the title page that states, "The Rámáyana of Tulsi Dás is more popular and more honoured by the people of the North-Western Provinces than the Bible is by the corresponding classes in England." The quote is attributed to Griffith.

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Hindu Society of Minnesota Records. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples

Accession Information:

Accession number: 16,081

Location of Master Files:

Digital masters of the videocassettes are maintained on the Society's secure digital collections storage servers and are managed and preserved in accordance with archival best practices.

The original videocassettes were disposed after the material was digitally reformatted into mov files.

Processing Information:

Processed by: Alissa LaChapelle, November 2006

Digitization and encoding by April Rodriguez, March 24, 2021.

Digital video transferred from the master videocassettes by the Minnesota Historical Society for preservation purposes (March, 2021).

Digitization was made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund through the vote of Minnesotans on November 4, 2008.

Catalog ID number: 990065729890104294

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

East Indians -- Minnesota.

Hinduism -- Minnesota.

Patrika.

Ramayana.

Persons:

Saxena, Krishna M.

Saxena, Kusum.

Tulsi Das, 1532-1623.

Places:

Maple Grove (Minn.).

Minneapolis (Minn.).

Document Types:

Photographs.

Video recordings (physical artifacts).

CD-ROMs.

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