Historic: On Wednesday, the Canadian House of Commons unanimously passed Chandra Arya’s Private Members Motion to proclaim every year November as the national Hindu Heritage Month.
This is a long overdue Canadian recognition of contributions of Hindu Heritage to mankind and of Hindu-Canadians to our country.
The video of Chandra Arya’s closing remarks is available to watch and to retweet or share at:
Twitter: www.Twitter.com/AryaCanada
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/ChandraAryaCanada
The text of Chandra Arya’s closing remarks:
Mr. Speaker, Namaste!
I would like to begin by thanking my colleagues from all political parties for strongly backing the motion to designate November as the national Hindu Heritage month.
I am humbled by the support of dozens of organizations across Canada and from thousands of Canadians.
Hindu Canadians are the most peaceful, hardworking community which has made and continues to make significant contributions to Canada’s socio-economic development and cultural heritage.
On Hindu Heritage, Hindus have an ancient, magnificent and robust inheritance, which they have received from numerous sources: our wisdom traditions, our religious rites and rituals, our literature, our many arts and crafts, our elders, our fairs and festivals and above all from the many samskaras or sacraments in our home.
That heritage not only gives us a drishti or world view, but it defines our purusharthas or aims of life and equally defines our sanskriti or culture. In short, the Hindu heritage defines our dharma.
In a civilization that is so ancient what strikes one is that not only does it have an unbroken tradition of 5000 years of recorded history but also the plurality or diversity of our tradition.
Even in the absence of a monolithic religious dispensation we Hindus, whether in Canada, or anywhere in the world, are connected by an invisible thread that binds us together, that is the strength of our Hindu heritage.
Our wisdom traditions that start from the Vedas, and then flow into the Upanishads or forest discourses, followed by our Puranas or our songs and stories, are philosophically rich and form the foundation of our temple traditions.
It is the same vast heritage that informs our costume and cuisine, our habits and behavior, our arts and crafts.
The Hindu heritage does not restrict itself to matters religious but we have a strong aesthetic foundation which leads to a celebration of saundarya or what is beautiful.
We celebrate the beautiful in our lived lives through stories and paintings, song and dance, colour and cuisine, festivals and family events.
Though ancient, our heritage is alive and growing, it is open to influences from other civilizations, and freely adapts and gives to whoever we come in contact with.
Thus it is, that for us Hindus, Canada is a comforting and embracing home away from home.
For many people in the world, the term ‘cultural heritage’ is still primarily tangible or material cultural heritage.
There is a need to recognize, preserve, celebrate and promote the Hindu Heritage as defined by UNESCO’s ‘intangible’ or ‘living’ cultural heritage. This ‘intangible’ or ‘living’ cultural heritage includes
- Oral traditions like songs and dramatic performances.
- Performing arts like vocal and instrumental music, and dance.
- Social practices like rituals and festivals;
- Traditional knowledge like cuisine and medicine; and
- Traditional craftsmanship like pottery, metalwork and jewellery.
Proclaiming Hindu Heritage Month provides an opportunity to remember, celebrate and educate both current and future generations about Hindu Heritage and contributions of Hindu-Canadians to our great nation.
I would like to thank again my colleagues in this house, dozens of organizations across Canada and the thousands of Canadians who have reached out to me in support of this motion.
This support is so Canadian that, both people with different political ideologies and people agnostic of any political ideology, all coming together for recognizing and promoting Hindu Heritage in Canada.
Thank you Mr. Speaker. Dhanyavad
I hope this will motivate Hindu-Canadians to continue on their growth path in Canada and reach further higher levels in all spheres of Canadian society/life: economy or business; academic or culture; politics or philanthropy.