For the 6th year, the University of Nevada, Reno will be holding a unique Hindu Baccalaureate ceremony. The ceremony will bless the volunteering members of the graduating class in traditional Hindu style.
It is being organized by the Indo-American leader Rajan Zed alongside the Interfaith Students Club, Diverse Organization of South Asians, and the Universal Society of Hinduism.
Ancient Scriptures will be read and the tilak (religious mark) will be placed on the graduates foreheads. Blessing prayers will be offered by Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Jewish, Baha’I, Confucian, and Native American leaders.
Besides English, the representatives will recite prayers in Arabic, Pali (Indo-Arian), Hebrew, and Paiute (Native American).
Special Certificates will be received as well.
These certificates represent the different values of the Hindu culture: Satyam vada (speak the truth), dharma chara (practice righteousness), matrudevo bhava (treat your mother with respect), and pitrudevo bhava (treat your father with respect).
Hinduism originated around the Indus Valley in present-day Pakistan.  There is no single founder, scripture, or commonly agreed on set of teachings in the religion. Some define Hinduism as ‘a way of life’ or ‘a family of religions’ instead of one religion (BBC).
Hindus believe that our existence is a cycle of birth, death, and rebirth which is governed by karma (every action has an equal reaction).  Hinduism is the world’s third largest religion with over 900 million followers and liberation is its eventual goal. It is the predominant religion of India and Nepal and is often called the oldest living religion in the world.
Rajan Zed, who is also the president of Universal Society of Hinduism, will open the ceremony with a recitation of the ‘Gayatri Mantra’. The ‘Gayatri Mantra’ is the most sacred verse form the oldest scripture, Rig-Veda, dating back around 1,500 years ago.
This recitation will be followed by a traditional lamp lighting before the image of the goddess Saraswati: patron of learning and the arts.
Following the recitation, the graduates will be blessed with wisdom from Vedas, Upanishads, and Bhagavad-Gita, ancient Hindu scriptures.
The Vedas contains hymns of praise, prayers, rituals, and meditation. The Upanishads provide believers with philosophical knowledge, while the Bhagavad-Gita is the most popular Hindu text.
The blessing will be performed by well-known Hindu monk Swami Vendananda from California. While stating the importance of Hindu tradition, Zed says that after many important universities in ancient India, like Taxila, Nalanda, Sarnath, Amaravati, Banaras, Kanchi and Ujjain; great Indian universities also flourished in medieval period, like Odantapura (745 AD), Vikramasila (810 AD), Somapura (480 AD), Jagaddala (1090 AD)” (India Post) Education in Hindu tradition has thrived and spread worldwide.
More blessings will be offered through dance movements by dancer Martina Young.  Famous singer Jim Eaglesmith will also join the ceremony by chanting a kirtan number in Sanskirt (liturgical language).
Zed adds that the purpose of the Baccalaureate service is to “root the graduating class in divine spiritual tradition so that they [have] a spiritually meaningful life in addition to material success” (Nevada Today).
This Hindu service is the only one known in this area. This popular ceremony will be attended by various political, religious, and educational leaders. The ceremony is being held on Sunday, April 21st.