Nepali Temple in Portland, US Eventful with Various Religious and Language Classes

Dr Rabin Man Shakya

Portland, Jan 27 (Nepal Oregon News): Established in 2009 in Portland, Oregon,  Nritya Mandala Mahavihara which is the only Nepalese Buddhist temple in the USA has been launching various religious, cultural, traditional, musical, dance and educational activities to promote, preserve and protect traditional and cultural values and heritage of Nepal.

The Nritya Mandala Mahavihara is abuzz and eventful with different educational, religious and cultural activities.  Additional practices on Gurumandala Puja consisted of both the practical as well as the theoretical aspects of the Puja are being held each Saturday at 10:30 AM in the morning at the Portland Baha.



Likewise, classes on Dharani recitation are also being run very actively and enthusiastically at the Mahavihara. Dharani recitation is on the verge of extinction, therefore, with the objective of publicizing the importance of Dharani and keeping it alive, the Mahavihara has decided to conduct classes on Dharani recitation, says Rev Prajwal Vajracharya. Classes are being run every Tuesday at 7 PM at the Mahavihara.

Dharani literature has existed for over two millennia in the Mahayana Buddhist tradition. Typically used to prevent misfortune, remove obstacles, heal and protect, Dharani are also used in life cycle rituals and other practices.

Similarly, Rev Prajwal is also going to conduct "Retreat and Empowerment" in Hongkong this year.

Meanwhile, an evening of Indian classical music is to be organised at the Mahavihara on Feb 8, 2020. Acclaimed international performer David Trasoff will be playing on Sarode together with renowned multi-instrumentalist Benjy Wertheimer at the Raga program.

A workshop on wisdom movement, which introduces the theory of the movement style, mudra yoga, accompanying visualizations and chants, is going to be held on Feb 7-9, 2020. According to Nritya Mandala sources, participants will be guided through basic movements and dance sequences of this yogic dance form.

Similarly. classes on how to read and write Devanagari script are going on every Thursday 7 to 8 PM at the Mahavihara, according to Rev Vajracharya. Devanagari is a left-to-right alphasyllabery based on the ancient Brahmi script used in the Indian subcontinent. It was developed  in ancient India from the 1st to the 4th century AD and was in regular use by the 7th century AD.

The Devanagari script - composed of 47 primary characters  including 14 vowels and 33 consonants -  is one of the most adopted writing systems in the world being used for over 120 languages including Sanskrit and Pali languages.

These classes are preparation for learning Sanskrit, says Rev Prajwal Vajracharya. The classes are being taught in a deep and meaningful yogic way, such that students learn the connections of each alphabet to our own bodies, adds Rev Vajracharya.

Nritya Mandala Mahavihara is also going to launch Sanskrit language classes for a month effective April 16 to May 15, 2020. The classes, which are to be conducted by renowned Sanskritist Dr Gautama Vajracharya, Professor Emeritus at University of Wisconsin, Madison, are designed to run two hours a day, five days a week, co-founder of the Mahavihara Vajracharya told a journalist from Nepal Oregon News, USA.
Besides these programs and classes, we also do meditation, rituals and tea at the Mahavihara every morning, says Rev Vajracharya.

(Rabin Man Shakya is a Nepali journalist in America)