Newsletter Archives

Fund Allows Son to Honor Bangladeshi Dad

April - May - June 2008 Newsletter


Syamal Debnath

Bangladesh Map

Shyamal Debnath of Toronto, Canada, is using the Hindu Heritage Endowment (HHE) to support Hindu temples, orphanages and schools in his native Bangladesh. He has established an endowment fund at HHE for that purpose and named it in honor of his father: Sri Chandra Madhab Debnath Endowment, fund #44. Shyamal also hopes the fund will shine a light on the needs of Hindus in Bangladesh.

Raised on Bhola Island at the mouth of the Meghna River on the Bay of Bengal, Shyamal left a politically and religiously tumultuous Bangladesh for Australia at age 29 in 1997. He was a student at Dhaka University and Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology at the time. "Many Hindus are unaware that Bangladesh has the largest Hindu population in the world outside of India and Nepal," he said. "Unfortunately, we have been largely ignored."

He added that the Hindu population in Bangladesh, now about 10% of its 140 million people, declined sharply after the 1947 partition of India and Pakistan and dropped further after Bangladesh won independence from Pakistan in 1971.

The loss of some 20 million Bangladeshi Hindus since 1971 represents one of the largest dis-placements of population based on ethnic or religious identity in recent history. Throughout this political and religious turmoil, Shyamalís father, now a retired school teacher, continued his life-long habit of helping his fellow Hindus on Bhola Island.

"We lived in a special area for Hindus," Shyamal recalled. "There were 50 to 60 families in our settlement. My father helped everyone. He organized his friends for Hindu religious programs and procured grants from the local government for the disabled and for the elderly." He also helped the very poor to cover the costs of marriages and funerals. "I got my sense of serving the community from my father," Shyamal said. He hopes some of the income from his HHE fund will find its way to the Sri Sri Madan Mohan Temple in the Daulatkhan area of Bhola, where his father still labors to support the construction of a local temple and serves as a president of the temple committee.

Shyamal heard about the Hindu Heritage Endowment through Hinduism Today when he was a student in Dhaka. He became the Bangladesh correspondent for the magazine, both writing articles on Hindu issues and translating the magazine for distribution to Bengali-speaking Hindus.

After nine years in Australia, Shyamal moved to Toronto last April, 2007, where he now works as a customer service officer for an energy company. "HHE is reaching lots of Hindu institutions badly in need of help," he said. The orphanages he has visited in Bangladesh fall into that category. "Typically, there are 40 to 50 children, usually without enough food. They have a little rice and a little vegetables, but no protein, poor clothing, no medical facilities and poor housing."

"As far as I know, there were no dedicated endowment funds for Bangladeshi Hindu institutions," he said. "This is the first one. And anyone who wants to contribute is certainly welcome to do so. You can be sure it will be put to good use." To donate to this fund, visit our website.

October to December Endowment Contributions

Kauai Aadheenam Monastic Endowment
Anonymous $3,571.00
Vijay - Daksha - Neil Mithal 5.00
K. Lakshmi Kantha Reddy 335.00
Darmaguhan & Shivali Satgunasingam 75.00
Other Donations 30,695.63
Total 34,681.63
Iraivan Temple Endowment
Anonymous 2,576.00
Jeri Arin 330.00
Anuradha Badhwar 5.00
Meetu Badhwar 5.00
Suchitra Badhwar 5.00
Munnu Bajpai 100.00
Roger & Rosemary Brown 80.00
Bhani Karthigesu 600.00
Trond Liland 70.00
Yogesh Patel 200.00
Dhasan Sivananda 14.61
Other Donations 89,823.90
Total 93,809.51
Kauai Aadheenam Annual Archana Fund
Sivanathan Batumalai 14.51
Gunavadee Caremben 7.86
Somasundaram Caremben 7.86
Sukanta Caremben 7.86
Kamala Guhan 10.00
Amooda Koothan 5.18
Saravan Koothan 5.18
Vijay - Daksha - Neil Mithal 5.00
Navukarasu Muthusamy 14.51
Subramaniam Pennathur 49.98
Kirtideva Peruman 10.35
Niroshnee Peruman 15.54
Srinivas & Liliana Rao 10.00
Devaladevi Sivaceyon 8.80
Nutanaya Sivaceyon 17.58
Patudeva Sivaceyon 8.80
Hemavalli Sivalingam 1.78
Kantaruban Sivalingam 1.78
Rohini Sivalingam 17.74
Nitya Sivam 100.00
Potriyan Sivanathan 5.66
Uma Sivanathan 60.00
Samynaden Veerapen 21.43
Siven Veerasamy 14.03
Total 421.43
Hinduism Today Lifetime Subscription Fund
Yatrika Ajaya 243.90
Jeri Arin 252.00
Bavani Ayyar 300.00
Kris Bhat 87.00
Maruthu Pandian Darmalingam 360.89
Umaiyal Devasegayam 5.81
Ramesh Gantyala 240.00
Rosa Jaramillo 221.89
Rosa & Alejandro Jaramillo 77.54
Rosa Jaramillo Osuna 149.76
Sakuntalai Krishnan 402.63
T. Iswarah Kumar 71.00
Sevanti Kumaran 51.00
Nirmal Gordhan Laungani 800.00
Auslin Mangal Lawrence 500.00
Jeffrey D. Long 800.00
Vijay - Daksha - Neil Mithal 20.00
Bhaskar & Phani Peesapati 240.00
Charles & Jan Roberts 324.25
Kirit Shah 240.00
Sujata Singh 240.00
William Smail 720.00
Total 6,347.67
Hindu Businessmenís Association Trust
Paramaseeven Canagasaby 24.27
Vel Mahalingum 20.70
Manogaran Mardemootoo 51.77
Vishwanaden Moorooven 62.88
Easvan Param 873.01
Janaka Param 27.00
Total 1,059.63
Hindu of the Year Fund
Thamby Kumaran 40.00
Boys School for Iraivan Priesthood
Anonymous 5.00
Bala Sivaceyon 17.58
Total 22.58
Kauai Aadheenam Matavasi Medical Fund
William & Barbara Bachmann 100.00
Maruthu Pandian Darmalingam 45.11
Vijay - Daksha - Neil Mithal 5.00
Gowri Nadason 105.77
Mrunal & Padmaja Patel 5,000.00
Kumar Ranganathan 100.00
Vayudeva Varadan 54.00
Other Donations 4,800.00
Total 10,209.88
Tirunavukkarasu Nayanar Gurukulam
M. & Thaiya Krishnamurthy 25.00
Thamby Kumaran 148.00
Trond Liland 30.00
Ananthakumar Renganathan 50.00
Total 253.00
Kauai Aadheenam Renovation Endowment
Anonymous 700.00
Sri Subramuniya Kottam Fund
Anynomous 50.00
Jamuna Sivakanthan 1,500.00
Total 1,550.00
Kumbhalavalai Ganesha Temple Endowment
Anonymous 50.00
Manoharan Navaratnarajah 75.00
Total 125.00
Sri Siva Subramaniya Swami Devasthanam Trust
Anonymous 200.09
Malaysia Hindu Renaissance Fund
Anonymous 200.09
Hinduism Today Production Fund
R.P. & Bharati Lathi 1,101.00
Trond Liland 15.00
Dheepa Maturi 1,000.00
Vallabh Muralikrishnan 100.00
Subramaniam Pennathur 50.01
Kuppe & Sarala Srinivas 10.00
Total 2,276.01
Hindu Orphanage Endowment Fund
Kanoj K. Biswas 100.00
Vivek Iyer 50.00
Vijay - Daksha - Neil Mithal 5.00
Natraj Narayanswami 50.00
Yogesh Patel 200.00
Alex Ruberto 75.00
Rodney & Ilene Standen 30.00
Total 510.00
Hindu Education Endowment
Hasu N. & Hansa H. Patel 100.00
Suntheram Family Trust Fund
Ramachandran Suntheram 1,000.00
Hindu Press International Endowment Fund
Hiranya & Saraswathi Gowda 63.00
Baleswary Selvarajah 15.00
Total 78.00
Loving Ganesha Distribution Fund
Manoharan Navaratnarajah 75.00
Swami Agnivesh Endowment Fund
Prasad Krishnan 4.50
Saiva Agamas Trust
Anonymous 200.09
Ganga Sivanathan 284.00
Total 484.09
Positive Discipline Endowment
Anonymous 700.00
Mauritius Saiva Dharmasala Endowment
Anonymous 200.09
Alaveddy Pasupatheeswarar Temple Fund
Anonymous 50.00
Prasad Krishnan 4.50
Total 54.50
Hindu Heritage Endowment Administrative Fund
Krishnan Chawla 500.00
Vivek Iyer 50.00
Total 550.00
Kauai Aadheenam Religious Art and Artifacts Fund
Rajadeva Alahan 153.00
Phillip J. Murphy 200.00
Total 353.00
A. Saravanapavan Family Murugan Temple Pillaiyar Shrine Fund
Niranjan Saravanapavan 2,000.00
Thank You Bodhinatha Fund
Anonymous 1,071.00
Hotranatha Ajaya 66.00
Amarnath & Latha Devarmanai 324.00
Trond Liland 15.00
Rajkumar Manickam 151.00
Lisa Marston 240.00
Vijay - Daksha - Neil Mithal 5.00
Souria Kumaren Moorghen 100.00
Jai Murugan 96.07
Manoharan Navaratnarajah 150.00
Mrunal & Padmaja Patel 101.00
Shanta Devi Periasamy 345.00
Alex Ruberto 45.00
Aran Sambandar 108.00
Hitesvara Saravan 216.00
Vayudeva Varadan 63.00
Sheela Venkatakrishnan 108.00
Other Donations 4,457.45
Total 7,661.52
Saivite Hindu Scriptural Fund for the Visually Impaired
Alex Ruberto 45.00
Anonymous 200.09
Total 245.09
Sri Chandra Madhab Debnath Endowment
Shyamal Chandra Debnath 100.00
Puri Monasteries Fund
Vijay - Daksha - Neil Mithal 5.00
Anonymous 200.10
Total 205.10
Manitha Neyam Trust Fund
Bala Sivaceyon 35.16
Kerala Temple Trust
Anonymous 200.09
Kapaleeshwara Temple Orphanage
Prasad Krishnan 4.50
Yogesh Patel 200.00
Kumar Ranganathan 100.00
Sasidharan Sabesan 20.00
Anonymous 200.09
Total 524.59
Manjung Hindu Sabha Orphanage Fund
Paraneetharan Damodaran 300.00
Pazhassi Balamandiram Orphanage Fund
Anonymous 5.00
Prasad Krishnan 4.50
Yogesh Patel 200.00
Total 209.50
Karnataka Temple Development Fund
Chandra Gowda 18.00
Hiranya & Saraswathi Gowda 303.00
Total 321.00
Swami Vipulananta Childrenís Home Endowment
Anonymous 50.00
Hindu Literature Fund
Anonymous 50.00
Vivek Iyer 50.00
Sivaramakrish Muthukrishnan 51.00
Total 151.00
Hinduism Today Complimentary Subscription Fund
Hiranya & Saraswathi Gowda 153.00
Jeff Lichtenstein 25.00
Total 178.00
Himalayan Academy Book Distribution Fund
Vivek Iyer 50.00
Kauai Aadheenam Yagam Fund
Ripla & Gaurav Malhotra 251.00
Yogaswami Hindu Girlsí Home of Sittandy Endowment
Jeri Arin 300.00
Maruthu Pandian Darmalingam 45.11
Thamby Kumaran 148.00
Ripla & Gaurav Malhotra 209.00
Yogesh Patel 200.00
Subramaniam Pennathur 50.01
Ananthakumar Renganathan 50.00
Ganga Sivanathan 200.00
Anonymous 200.09
Silas H. Zirkle 375.00
Total 1,777.21
Siva Poomi School Trust
Jamuna Sivakanthan 1,500.00
Yogaswami Hindu Boysí Home Fund
Dharmalingam Siddhan 25.00
Maruthu Pandian Darmalingam 45.11
Reuben Lelah 285.00
Ripla & Gaurav Malhotra 209.00
Yogesh Patel 200.00
Ananthakumar Renganathan 50.00
Dharmalingam Siddhan 500.00
Anonymous 200.09
Total 1,514.20
Kodiswara Satguru Malaysia Travel Fund
Jothiswarar 500.00
Kodisvara Jothiswarar 15.00
Sellamah Jothiswarar 15.00
Rani Jothiswarar 15.00
Siva Jothiswary 15.00
Kanesh Ramanathan 15.00
Total 575.00
Maha Ganapati Temple of Arizona Endowment
Radha & Ganesh Krishnan 500.00
Vijay - Daksha - Neil Mithal 5.00
Shailesh Trivedi 700.00
Total 1,205.00
India Hindu Tribals Endowment
Vijay - Daksha - Neil Mithal 5.00
Anonymous 200.09
Total 205.09
Murugan Temple of North America Puja Fund
Ken Kanagalingam 251.00
M. & Thaiya Krishnamurthy 25.00
Vayudeva Varadan 54.00
Total 330.00
Rani Jothiswarar Memorial Fund
Selvanathan Jothiswarar 3,500.00
Murali Pillai 29.59
Total 3,529.59
Total Contributions $177,325.04

MISSION STATEMENT

Hindu Heritage Endowment is a publicly supported, charitable organization recognized as tax exempt by the IRS on April 22, 1994. Employer ID 99-0308924. Founded by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, its philanthropic mission is to provide secure, professionally managed financial support for institutions and religious leaders of all lineages of Sanatana Dharma.

PROFESSIONAL ADVISORS

Halbert/Hargrove, Investment Counsel; Sonoda & Isara, LLP, CPA. HHE is a member of the Council on Foundations, an association of more than 2,000 foundations which interprets relevant law and management and investment principles, and of the National Committee on Planned Giving, the voice and professional resource for the gift planning community.

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Donations may be made online at www.hheonline.org or use the HHE tear-out card in the HINDUISM TODAY magazine to join our family of benefactors who are Strengthening Hinduism Worldwide. Thank you.

 
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