The issue of preserving our cultural roots and religious identity has been on since ages and in today’s times, not many are up to it. But if they look at one man, their perspective will change. He is Dr Ghazal Srinivas. Recently, he joined hands with Save Temples, an American based organization which comes under the Global Hindu Heritage foundation.
Together, they came up with a Short Film Festival with the theme ‘Save Temples’. The fest became a super hit. Out of the 113 films that came, 40 movies got shortlisted and nearly 35 movies got awards in different categories. The films focused mainly on preserving temples, their greatness, cow slaughter and other issues.
The films which focused on why cow slaughter needs to be stopped struck a chord emotionally with many. Even the bureaucrats who got to know about the short films are asking for special screenings. These films are likely to be aired in different temples queue complexes with sub titles and planning is on.
The first prize Golden Gomatha with 1 lakh cash award was won by A ….Aa lu a short film on cow protection. Silver Gomatha was won by Devalayam with 75k cash prize while the bronze Gomatha was taken by Atma- The Soul, a documentary with 50k cash prize.
Due credit for this initiative goes to Dr Ghazal Srinivas who has also been doing different concerts for fund raising and involving himself in old temples getting renovated. This is the unique idea of Dr Ghazal to motivate youngsters. Dignitaries such as Chinna Jeeyar Swamy and endowments minister who attended the fest called Dr Ghazal Srinivas as the Savior of Hindu Temples.