Sanatan Dharm Pratinidhi Sabha seeks to boost youth involvement and community engagement through temple consultations

To get more people engaged in the running of their respective temples and increasing participation in religious festivities, the Sanatan Dharm Pratinidhi Sabha of Fiji is holding consultations at various temples.

In an interview with fijivillage News following consultations at the Samabula Shiv Mandir, Sabha President, Dhirendra Nand says it is a challenge to get more youths involved and he is urging them to register with the organisation.

The Sabha President says they have recreational activities, sports programs, outreach programs and youth nights during their convention.

He says they are also going to open registration for all people of the Hindu faith and not just the mandalis and their members.

Nand says they have launched their strategic plan and they want to change the perception of the Sabha.

He says they want to get the view of the public in establishing the standard operating procedures and the development plan for the temple.

Nand says they want all the protocols, and procedures of the religion to be followed properly and temples to be kept up.

Nand also says that the constitution of the Sabha is under review and they are trying to make the organisation more accessible to people and more transparent and democratic.

Some suggestions made during the consultation include having the Sabha’s mission statement in every temple, ways to teach children their culture and the Hindi language, encouraging more women to form mandalis and perform Ram puja every Tuesday, have a fixed time for every temple for performing the ‘arti’, being more innovative for to increase youth participation, and increased community engagement and organising activities such as blood drives.