Julia Roberts - American Actress
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    “Ever since I developed my liking and fondness for Hinduism, I have been attracted and deeply fascinated by many facets of the multi-dimensional Hinduism… spirituality in it transcends many barriers of mere religion.”
Global Hindu Heritage Foundation is extremely happy to recognize the need to preserve and protect the traditions and customs in the villages. We feel that many villagers identify themselves their Gramadevatas and pray for their blessings to protect them from possible impeding dangers. This is our effort to revive the sentiments and faith in Gramadevatas who once played a significant role in unifying the entire community.
Grama Devatas means village Goddesses/Deities who were installed in the villages to protect the village, to protect the crops, to prevent calamities, to prevent various kinds of ailments and to bless the villagers with health and wealth. As we know that many Grama Devatas are located in a small place in the community or village. Overwhelming majority of Grama Devatas are Goddesses with very few notable experiences. Dharma-Thakkur is a god of fertility and disease in West Bengal. Another example is Kala Bhairava, a fierce form of Lord Shiva is the Gramadevata in the rural villages of Maharashtra, where he is referred to as Vairavar. 
Many people in villages will have darshan of Gramadevata before they go out of town or go on pilgrimage. They are worshipped on a regular basis and offerings are made in recognition of their role as a protector of the village and also preventor of numerous ailments. The names of the Gramadevatas vary from village to village. Examples of these Gramadevatas are Ganganamma, Veeramma, Poleramma, Chenchulakshmi,  Bangaramma, Bangamma, Seetalamma, Nookalamma, Mumba Devi, Gulebi, and others. 
According to Sree Padma (2013), “A Gramadevata often is “at home” in the outdoors and usually symbolized aniconically in the form of a shapeless rock, a snake hole, or a tree. While she may also be seen in the form of images within more humbly constructed and appointed shrines at the edge of a village, Gramadevatas are usually worshipped directly by devotees without any Brahman priestly mediation and therefore without elaborate Sanskrit recitations….The priests and  priestesses of these Gramadevata are mostly from non-Brahminic castes and play a major cultic role only at the time of special festivals.” 
Significance of Deepam
Sri Paramacharya of Kanchi Peetham aptly documented the significance of offering earthen lamps to the Deities. The sloka given in the shastraas is as follows:
keedaa: patangaa: masagaascha vrukchaa: jale stale ye nivasanti jeevaa: I
drushtvaa pradeepam na cha janma baajaa bavanti nityam svabasaa hi vipraa: II
This means, “We pray that, whosoever sees this lamp that we are lighting, they be worms, birds or mosquitoes or trees and such plants; all life forms which live in water or on earth; or may be human beings of whatever caste or creed; seeing this light may have the effect on them that all their sins are washed away and they may transcend the cycle of life and death and reach ever lasting happiness”!
            
    Haindavi Bharathi and Global Hindu Heritage Foundations have decided to distribute about 21 Puja kits to nearby SC/ST colonies to celebrate Karthik Purnima. Ashokji has undertaken this responsibility to distribute Puja kits to these needy villages to celebrate Karthik Purnima by lighting up the Diyas in and around the Temples to invite Sri Mahalakshmi to all the Temples and the houses. Matajis from Ambanamba Ashram graciously agreed to distribute the Puja Kits to 22 Villages who will be celebrating in Gramadevata Temples around Kurnool area.
    GHHF also participated in the elaborate lighting of the lamps to represent Shiva Linga. It is an impressive visual treat to see the Shiva Linga decorated with lamps. 
WE NEED YOUR HELP
Ghar Waapasi is going on unimpeded. We appreciate it if you can help in hiring more people who can go to these villages to do Ghar Waapasi. We have employed 20 Pracharaks working at the ground level. More people we hire, more villages can cover to welcome them back and also create Chaitanya (Awareness) among the students and villagers.
1) Donate any amount to help the Dharma Pracharaks to work at the ground level.
2) Sponsor one Pracharak: In order to expand our base and hire one Pracharak, it would cost approximately $3000.00 per year. We have five anonymous donors who sponsored Assistants.
DONATIONS
PayPal Method: To donate visit our website: savetemples.org. Click on the Donate button, then press the Purpose category, and select the Ghar Wapsi Donation category.
By Check: Or you can send a check payable to GHHF, . It is tax-deductible.
RUPEES, if you would like to contribute to rupees, please either call or send an email. We will call you back to give you the required information
For more information, call Prakasarao Velagapudi at ; Email: ghhfusaorg@gmail.com