Hindu Prayer a First for South Windsor

The South Windsor Town Council opened its meeting on Monday with its first-ever Hindu prayer, when Chaplin Dushyant N. Gandhi joined the council.

Gandhi, who gave the prayer first in Sanskrit, then English, prayed to God that “may all be happy, may all be healthy, may all be prosperous” and “for peace; peace for me, for my environment and for the forces that act on me.”

Following the prayer, Mayor Dr. Saud Anwar joined Gandhi at the  podium in the council chambers and offered a proclamation.

Anwar noted when a joint session of the U.S. Congress, a Connecticut legislative session and the U.S. Senate were opened with Hindu prayers.

“Whereas Hinduism is one of the minority religions of the United States and whereas American Hinduism accounts for an estimated .5 percent of the total U.S. population and increasing and the Hindu American community is an important and growing part of the diverse community of South Windsor… and whereas the town of South Windsor never had a Town Council meeting opening with a Hindu prayer in the past… I do hereby congratulate the Hindu community of South Windsor and Connecticut and thank you for honoring the South Windsor Town Council with the first Hindu prayer at a Town Council meeting,” Anwar read.

The prayer may have been the first by a Hindu but the tradition of opening meetings with prayer extends beyond the memory of anyone in South Windsor.

“Since they had their first meeting in 1845, I think, they’ve always said a prayer and the pledge,” Town Manager Matthew Galligan said.

But it has not always been said by leaders of the town’s religious congregations. Until recently the responsibility was shared by the Town Council members who would take turns offering a prayer.

It was former Mayor John Pelkey who made the change.

“It’s nice to have different religious leaders come in and show the diversity of the faiths in South Windsor,” Galligan said. “It’s a tradition Mr. Pelkey started to show the diversity and unity of town.”

Galligan said the Hindu community is indeed growing in South Windsor and now has an established synagogue.