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dec/jan 2005/06 8th year of publication
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“Potential for lasting peace”
McLeod Ganj’s Religious Diversity Provides A Unique Opportunity By Cassie Childers
A visitor to McLeod Ganj would expect to encounter Buddhists and Hindus, but many are surprised to find that our small village in the mountains is home to practitioners of many other religions as well. And in a place where people generally make it a priority to be kind and compassionate towards others, everyone, regardless of spiritual beliefs, seems to get along just fine! How did such religious diversity come to exist in McLeod Ganj? Its geographical location plays a part. India is traditionally Hindu in most regions, and so many Indian families continue to live and practice in the area, and many pilgrims come to visit Bhagsu’s Shiva temple. On Hindi holidays the music and festivities can be heard echoing through the streets at night. Himachal Pradesh’s close proximity to Kashmir & Jammu has opened up McLeod Ganj to a large number of Muslim inhabitants as well. Five times each day, Islamic shopkeepers and their families bow down towards Mecca in prayer.
Namgyal monastery monks at main Temple
India is also the land of birth of the Buddhist religion. Many years ago, Buddhism spread over the Himalayas into Tibet. Only recently, with the coming of the Dalai Lama and the throngs of Tibetan refugees to McLeod Ganj, has Buddhism thrived once more in the region. In fact, it now serves as the political and spiritual hub of the entire Tibetan Buddhist tradition.
Hindu Temple at Bhagsu Nag
their religious holidays at one of the several “Jewish Houses”, staffed by rabbis from Israel.
India’s history is significantly marked by the British colonization of the 1800s. With the British came Christianity. This religion slowly made its way up to the British hill station of McLeod Ganj, and is still represented today at the Church of St. John in the Wilderness, and by many European and American tourists visiting the area.
In such a small village, how do practitioners of so many different religious traditions live in harmony so effectively? In most areas of the world, the majority of political violence and conflict is due to religious differences. Throughout history religion has been a touchy subject for many. It seems that much of the time, people just aren’t willing to accept and respect the fact that human diversity has allowed for the creation of many religious traditions, and rather than see the beauty in this diversity, they view it as a menace, or an obstacle to be overcome. So why, in McLeod Ganj, do so many people of differing religious beliefs get along just fine?
Yet another strong religious representation in McLeod Ganj is Judaism. Each year hordes of Israeli holiday-seekers gather in the surrounding villages to relax. In fact, their presence is so strong, that in some areas of Dharamkot, signs and menus are only in Hebrew! Israelis are given the opportunity to celebrate
Tibetan ex-monk Cheeme Whangkho gives us a Buddhist perspective, “Buddhists don’t care about being powerful and we don’t think ‘I’m not going to this shop because it’s owned by Muslims’, or ‘I’m not going to this restaurant because it’s owned by Hindus.’ We don’t believe that other religions are bad.” continued on page 3