Kakinada: At a time when Vedic studies find no encouragement from any quarter, East Godavari Collector Karthikeya Misra has taken the initiative to find gainful employment for priests and scholars, well-versed in Sashtras and Vedas. He has written to temples in the state and in the country and 13 foreign Telugu Associations in 10 countries.
The Vikasa, a government outsourcing agency, identified eight important expertise in the traditional sashtras like Vedic parayana (Vedic chant), Smartham, Purohit, Priests in temples, Sanskrit and Telugu pundits and dance and music teaching. The organisation has identified 70 to 80 Vedic pundits, priests and purohits till now and informed Telugu Associations in other countries.
“There is a great reputation for Vedic pundits of East Godavari as they are well-versed in the Vedic and priest knowledge. They are experts in the way of performing pujas to Gods and chanting Vedic mantras without allowing any mistake to creep in. Many countries want such experts to be appointed in their temples. We want to grab such opportunities,” said Vikasa Project Director V.N. Rao.
He said that after obtaining requirement letters from other countries, the registered Vedic pundits and priests would be called for interviews with video conferencing and also skype technology.The organisers of the temples can select the candidates.The interviews will be called with 1:5 ratio, he said.
Mr Rao said that after the selection of the candidates, Vikasa would give special training to candidates on behavior and motivation necessary in other countries, spoken English, computer awareness and technology, banking services, driving and also refresh classes for their subjects and also making use of ‘help line’ if they are needed at the abroad.
