Historic Hindu prayer opened Boulder City Council in Nevada for first time

NEVADA - City Council of Boulder City (Nevada, USA), known as “Home of Hoover Dam”, opened with Hindu prayers reportedly for the first time on June 22 evening.

Hindu leader Rajan Zed delivered invocation from Sanskrit scriptures before Boulder City Council on this day. After Sanskrit delivery, he then read the English translation of the prayer. Sanskrit is considered a sacred language in Hinduism and root language of Indo-European languages.

Zed, who is the president of Universal Society of Hinduism, recited from Rig-Veda, the oldest scripture of the world still in common use, besides lines from Upanishads and Bhagavad-Gita (Song of the Lord), both ancient Hindu scriptures. He started and ended the prayer with “Om”, the mystical syllable containing the universe, which in Hinduism is used to introduce and conclude religious work.

Council members, city employees and public stood quietly in prayer mode with heads bowed down during the prayer. Wearing saffron colored attire, a ruddraksh mala (rosary), and traditional sandalpaste tilak (religious mark) on the forehead, Zed said before the actual prayer: “This is a day of honor for us when wisdom from ancient Sanskrit scriptures is being read in this great hall of democracy of great city of Boulder City.”

Zed sprinkled few drops of sacred water from river Ganga in India around the podium before the prayer. He presented a copy of Bhagavad-Gita to Councilmember Duncan R. McCoy, who was presiding over the meeting. (ANI)