Durga Mandir Competitors

The BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), a worldwide socio-spiritual organization in Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, is dedicated to community service, peace and harmony. Motivated by Hindu principles, BAPS strives to care for the world by caring for societies, families and individuals. Through a number of social and spiritual activities, BAPS endeavors to produce better citizens of tomorrow who have a high esteem for their roots - their rich Hindu culture. Its 9,000 international centers, including more than 5,000 youth centers, support these activities of character-building. Under the guidance and leadership of the current spiritual leader, His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj, BAPS aspires to build a community that is morally, ethically and spiritually pure, and free of addictions.

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), otherwise known as the Hare Krishna movement, includes five hundred major centers, temples and rural communities, nearly one hundred affilated vegetarian restaurants, thousands of namahattas or local meeting groups, a wide variety of community projects, and millions of congregational members worldwide. Although less than fifty years on the global stage, ISKCON has expanded widely since its founding by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda in New York City in 1966. ISKCON belongs to the Gaudiya-Vaishnava sampradāya, a monotheistic tradition within the Vedic or Hindu culture. Philosophically it is based on the Sanskrit texts Bhagavad-gītā and the Bhagavat Purana, or Srimad Bhagavatam. These are the historic texts of the devotional bhakti yoga tradition, which teaches that the ultimate goal for all living beings is to reawaken their love for God, or Lord Krishna, the “all-attractive one”. God is known across the world by many names including Allah, Jehovah, Yahweh, Rama, etc. ISKCON devotees chant God’s names in the form of the maha-mantra, or the great prayer for deliverance: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Many leading academics have highlighted ISKCON’s authenticity. Diana Eck, Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies at Harvard University, describes the movement as “a tradition that commands a respected place in the religious life of humankind.” In the 1980s Dr. A. L. Basham, one of the world’s authorities on Indian history and culture, wrote of ISKCON that, “It arose out of next to nothing in less than twenty years and has become known all over the West. This, I feel, is a sign of the times and an important fact in the history of the Western world.”

The Hand Therapy Certification Commission, Inc., (HTCC) is a not-for-profit corporation established in 1989 for the purpose of sponsoring a voluntary credentialing program. From its inception, the Board of Directors of HTCC envisioned a two-step process of Certification and Recertification. Recertification provides assurance to the public that the Certified Hand Therapist continues to meet the high standards set by HTCC. It is the personal responsibility of each Certified Hand Therapist to maintain their certification in order to demonstrate current knowledge and skills. Continuing competency is promoted through a systematic plan of learning and professional activities. Continuing education programs, independent study, research, teaching, and promoting professional practice may be used to meet the continuing education requirements. In addition, a therapist must document continued work experience in the profession to demonstrate current practice skills. A therapist may recertify by examination as an alternate method of demonstrating current knowledge. Because of changes in the profession, every CHT is required to demonstrate continued professional development and competency by recertifying every five years.