Hinduism
A major center for the study of Vedanta philosophy in the Greater Boston Area is the Chinmaya Maruti Center, which sits on three acres of property that borders a river in Andover. The members of Chinmaya Mission Boston gather at the center to sing bhajans (hymns), discuss Vedanta philosophy, watch video-lectures that feature Swami Chinmayananda, the founder of the Chinmaya Mission, and offer prayers to the resident deity of the center, Lord Hanuman or Maruti. One of forty-three Chinmaya centers in the United States and Canada, the center in Andover officially opened in June of 2003. However in the years that followed, the Chinmaya Maruti Center was expanded to accommodate the growing number of devotees that visited the center. On July 24-26, 2009 the grand inauguration and Kumbhabhishekam of the Maruti Temple and the New Chinmaya Mission Center took place.
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Hinduism is the world’s third largest religious tradition. On the whole, Hindus recognize the oneness of the Divine, as well as the many gods and goddesses who give expression to the Supreme. When immigrants from South Asia first came to Greater Boston, they worshipped and celebrated festivals in homes and rented halls, but eventually saw the need for temples to institutionalize and preserve their religious and cultural heritage. Today, there are close to forty Hindu religious centers in Greater Boston, including the Sri Lakshmi Temple in Ashland, which serves as a major religious pilgrimage site for a diverse community of Hindus from throughout New England. Read full essay