American Hindu teacher for Ram temple at Ayodhya

Temples are meant to promote harmony and there should not be any objection to the construction of Ram Mandir at Ayodhya which is the Lord's birthplace, American Hindu teacher and author David Frawley said Sunday.

After releasing his book titled 'What is Hinduism' at the venue of the Mangaluru Literary Festival (Mangaluru Lit Fest-2018) here, he said there was no opposition towards constructing mosques and churches in the country and there should be no opposition for constructing a temple also.

Temples are part of national heritage and meant to promote harmony among the people, he noted.

In his speech, Frawley, who was awarded Padma Bhushan in 2015, said Hindu religion is the only religion which gave greatest importance to women.

Hindus offer poojas to various Goddesses like Saraswathi, Kali, Lakshmi and woman is considered as mother of the universe in the religion, a concept not found in any other religion, he claimed.

Frawley, also known as Vamadeva Shastri, said age-old practices of Hindus like Yoga, meditation and Ayurveda had received universal acceptance over the years.

While following the customs, traditions and rituals, Hindus always had respect for the values of other religions, he added.

On the second and concluding day of the literary festival, based on the theme Idea of Bharat, veteran Kannada novelist S L Bhyrappa was felicitated.