Dressed in traditional Indian attire, four Russian women Peema, Valentina, Tania and Elama sport the Hindu religious insignia on the forehead, while the lone man Merina wears the sacred thread on his shoulder.
They have not just voluntarily embraced Hinduism, but are zealous to spread the values enshrined in the religion across India’s countryside. Disciples of Sri Sri Ravishankar of the Art of Living Foundation, they embraced Hinduism some time back and are in Tirupati now, as part of their visit to places of spiritual interest in the country.
Finding an ‘inexplicably-positive’ energy pervading India, they expressed desire that the entire world should feel it. BJP State spokesperson G. Bhanuprakash Reddy ushered them to Sri Vijayendra Saraswati, the junior pontiff of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham, who is currently camping here, when they got into a gripping interaction with the seer.
They told the Swami that they were now familiar with the practice of ‘Sandhya Vandanam’, the meaning of the magical hymn ‘Gayatri Mantra’ and the nuances of Yoga. When the seer welcomed their idea of looking for values in other faiths and putting them to practice, the visiting delegates readily expressed their desire to spread the message across the globe. The seer gave them some English publications brought out by the Mutt and much to their delight, assured to present them a Russian edition soon.
After visiting a couple of local temples, the team addressed the students of an engineering college on the noble values in Hinduism. Mr. Bhanuprakash Reddy hoped that they would become brand ambassadors of Hinduism abroad. They are likely to visit Sri Venkateswara temple after Deepavali.
