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**doctorzlo** · 08-01-2012, 10:30 AM

shashi Tandon.jpeg
SHASHI TANDON: Fulfilling Hindu priestly duties and starting a quiet revolution

Since emigrating from New Delhi in 1982, Tandon has presided over countless religious ceremonies for Hindu families in Chicago, Michigan, Wisconsin and elsewhere, filling a void that has emerged because of a shortage of Hindu priests.
There is nothing in Hindu scripture that bars women from becoming priests, also known as pandits.

But in some parts of India and the U.S., women priests face resistance from conservative Hindus clinging to tradition. Tandon, 68, a retired teacher with a feisty attitude, recalled a group of men mocking her at one wedding she performed. They asked, How can a woman be a priest?

"I said to them, 'I have a question for you. Can you tell me who gave birth to you?' " she said. "The mother is the true priest. She is the true teacher, the first teacher of the child."

Neelima Shukla-Bhatt, a South Asian studies professor at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, said more Hindu women are learning priestly functions not necessarily because they feel drawn to religious life. Rather, women—including Shukla-Bhatt—are stepping forward to meet the growing Hindu community's needs.

Tandon was born in Multan, which was then in India, and raised in New Delhi. Her mother taught her how to do daily fire rituals. She concedes that she didn't like it very much at first. However, once she learned the meaning, she felt a desire to be a priest. She studied in an ashram, learned the scriptures and received training to perform all 16 samskaras, the sacraments or rites of passage for every Hindu. Later, she opened a school for poor girls to teach them the Hindu faith.

08-01-2012, 10:30 AM	#1
doctorzlo Join Date Jun 2006 Posts 4,488 Senior Member	Hindu women priest shashi Tandon.jpeg SHASHI TANDON: Fulfilling Hindu priestly duties and starting a quiet revolution Since emigrating from New Delhi in 1982, Tandon has presided over countless religious ceremonies for Hindu families in Chicago, Michigan, Wisconsin and elsewhere, filling a void that has emerged because of a shortage of Hindu priests. There is nothing in Hindu scripture that bars women from becoming priests, also known as pandits. But in some parts of India and the U.S., women priests face resistance from conservative Hindus clinging to tradition. Tandon, 68, a retired teacher with a feisty attitude, recalled a group of men mocking her at one wedding she performed. They asked, How can a woman be a priest? "I said to them, 'I have a question for you. Can you tell me who gave birth to you?' " she said. "The mother is the true priest. She is the true teacher, the first teacher of the child." Neelima Shukla-Bhatt, a South Asian studies professor at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, said more Hindu women are learning priestly functions not necessarily because they feel drawn to religious life. Rather, women—including Shukla-Bhatt—are stepping forward to meet the growing Hindu community's needs. Tandon was born in Multan, which was then in India, and raised in New Delhi. Her mother taught her how to do daily fire rituals. She concedes that she didn't like it very much at first. However, once she learned the meaning, she felt a desire to be a priest. She studied in an ashram, learned the scriptures and received training to perform all 16 samskaras, the sacraments or rites of passage for every Hindu. Later, she opened a school for poor girls to teach them the Hindu faith.
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