Durga Bari Priest Dr. Bishnupada Goswami Receives Prestigious Award

By Sanchali Basu

HOUSTON: It is a great moment of pride for the Houston Durga Bari that Dr. Bishnupada Goswami, its head, resident priest has been awarded the honorary D. Litt (Doctor of Literature) certificate by the Indian Institute of Oriental Heritage on Vedic Karmakanda. On the occasion of the 37th Annual Conference of the Institute, this honor was bestowed on Dr. Goswami, at a ceremony held in New Delhi, on March 2.

Amongst several dignitaries from various organizations including the Bharat Sevashram Sangha, Ramakrishna Mission, vice chancellors of universities, ministers and representatives of political parties, Dr. Goswami was given this honor in recognition of his contribution to the cause of research, development, propagation, modernization and popularization of Oriental learning. Unfortunately, the president of India, Honorable Sri Pranab Mukherjee, who was supposed to be the keynote speaker could not attend the conference.

In his acceptance speech, Dr. Goswami drew attention to the lofty ideals of Indian philosophy and religion which spreads the universal message of prayer, brotherhood, goodness, prosperity and removal of sufferings encompassing all, irrespective of caste, creed or religion. He also emphasized that compared to the developing world, although India is still considered to be “economically poor”, the wealth of the spiritual awareness in its masses makes it overcome all population issues and hurdles.

He thanked the Institute for ably promoting and continuing the work of propagating along with Indian philosophy, the fields of Astronomy and Astrology. He mentioned a few pioneer stalwarts in each area and thanked the institute for the prestigious honor. Houstonians should indeed feel proud to have him in the metropolis being the harbinger and messenger of peace, well-being and unity amongst various Hindu religious organizations.