About 50 people from seven Tharu tribal families in Nadanna village of Khatima in Uttarakhand adopted Sanatan Dharma after leaving Christianity following a religious ceremony. The programme included a purification havan-yajna, prayers and traditional Vedic rituals.
The event was held at the Shiva temple premises in Nadanna village in the Khatima area of Udham Singh Nagar district. According to the organisers, the ceremony was conducted in accordance with Vedic traditions and included purification rituals, worship and other customary religious practices.
During the ceremony, participants were tied with a sacred thread (kalava), marked with sandalwood tilak, invested with the sacred thread (janeu), and were given charanamrit and prasad.
According to local residents, several similar religious ceremonies have been organised in the area in recent days. It was claimed that a total of 203 people had adopted Sanatan Dharma through similar programmes over the past eight days.
Village head Maya Joshi said the families had earlier adopted Christianity after coming into contact with certain individuals. According to her, they later began attending prayer meetings regularly, reading Christian religious books, wearing crosses around their necks, and stopped following Hindu religious traditions such as worship, applying tilak and accepting prasad.
She said the families have now decided of their own accord to adopt Sanatan Dharma again and participated in the religious ceremony conducted according to traditional rituals.
The ceremony at the Shiva temple was conducted under the guidance of Pandit Harish Chandra Joshi and began with Ganesh Vandana followed by havan and worship rituals. Participants were tied with kalava, marked with sandalwood tilak and invested with the sacred thread in accordance with Vedic traditions. Charanamrit and prasad were distributed at the conclusion of the programme.
According to the organisers, the families also stated on the occasion that they would stop using Christian religious symbols and books in their possession. The programme was attended by several village representatives, social workers and local residents.
Former village head Ramkishore Rana and several other local dignitaries also attended the event. The report is based on locally available information and statements made by the concerned parties.
