Hindu Americans hold car rally in Houston ahead of Ram temple opening
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Houston: Members of the Hindu American community on Sunday held a huge car rally across Houston, stopping at 11 temples along the way amid bhajans and slogans of 'Jai Shri Ram' ahead of the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya later this month.
The temples received a formal invitation from Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America (VHPA) to attend the consecration ceremony being held in Ayodhya on January 22.
Over 500 riders, carrying saffron banners with an image of the Ram temple, the Indian flag and the US flag, participated in the rally in a 3-miles-long line of 216 cars escorted by eight policemen on bikes.
The rally was flagged off at Sri Meenakshi Temple by Houston philanthropist Jugal Malani and it concluded late afternoon at Sri Sharad Amba Temple in Richmond.
Criss-crossing across Houston's busy roadways, the procession, led by a truck, covered 100 miles with stopovers at eleven temples over six hours. Around 2,000 devotees, both young and old welcomed the procession with bhajans at the temples.
The rally was organised by Houston volunteers Achalesh Amar, Umang Mehta and Arun Mundra.
The devotees presented the temple officials with an invitation basket that contained the formal invitation from VHPA, sacred rice from Ayodhya, 'Ram Parivar', 'Gangajal', a copy of Sundar Kand (of Ramayana) and some sweets.
With PTI inputs
