“I recently had an assignment for my World Religions course for this semester. That assignment required me to attend a service of a religion of my choosing. After doing extensive research I decided to participate in a Hindu ceremony, and since I live close to Orlando Florida, I called the Shri Surya Narayan Mandir. I call the temple, and Pandit Vishnu Hardowar returns my called and explained what the service was going to be about and that I was welcome to attend the Sunday service. I visited on March 25 of 2018, and I would like to express how warm and friendly the members were. Everyone was so attentive and willing to explain questions that I had. Pandit Vishnu was very informative, and throughout the service, he was telling what the reason for reciting the prayers was. I felt very comfortable and at ease throughout the ceremony. People were very devoted and passionate during the service, and I had the feeling that the community was very close knitted. After the service was done, Pandit Vishnu came up to me and answer several questions that I had. He helped clear a lot of misconceptions that I think a lot of people have about Hinduism. I’ve learned to have a more profound respect for your faith. I have been telling all my friends and family about the Hindu religion, and they are even surprised of how misinformed we all are about the religion. I am glad that I attended the service and that Pandit Vishnu took the time to make me feel very comfortable and he even offered himself to go and talked about Hinduism in my school, which I thought it was very cool and kind of his part. After the service, everyone offered me to stay and part take in the lunch which was delicious, I’m not a vegetarian by any means, but I have to confess that the food was pretty good. Again I would like to thank you, Pandit Vishnu and all your fellow worshipers for your warm hospitality. Thank you
P.S. I got a 49 out of 50 points possible and passed the class with a 98.9. The teacher commented that it sounded like I enjoy the experience, she said that it came across in the essay.
