Hindu prayers will open the meetings of the Provo Municipal Council, American Fork City Council and the Board of Davis County Commissioners (in Farmington) on May 12, containing verses from the world’s oldest extant scripture.

Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed will deliver invocations from ancient Sanskrit scriptures before these legislative bodies. After the Sanskrit delivery, he will then read the English interpretation of the prayers. Sanskrit is considered a sacred language in Hinduism and the root language of Indo-European languages.

Zed, who is the President of Universal Society of Hinduism, will recite from the Rig-Veda, the oldest scripture of the world still in common use; besides lines from Upanishads and Bhagavad-Gita (Song of the Lord), both ancient Hindu scriptures. He plans to start and end prayer with “Om”, the mystical syllable containing the universe, which in Hinduism is used to introduce and conclude religious work.

Reciting from the Brahadaranyakopanishad, Rajan Zed plans to say “Asato ma sad gamaya, Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya, Mrtyor mamrtam gamaya”; which he will then interpret as “Lead us from the unreal to the real, Lead us from darkness to light, and Lead us from death to immortality.” Reciting from the Bhagavad-Gita, he proposes to urge the council members, commissioners and others present to keep the welfare of others always in mind.

Zed, a global Hindu and interfaith leader, has been bestowed with the World Interfaith Leader Award. Zed is on the Advisory Board of The Interfaith Peace Project, Senior Fellow and Religious Advisor to Foundation for Religious Diplomacy, etc. He has been a panellist for “On Faith”, a prestigious interactive conversation on religion produced by The Washington Post, and has led a weekly interfaith panel, “Faith Forum”, in a USA TODAY Network publication for over 15 years.

Hinduism, the oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about 1.2 billion adherents and moksh (liberation) is its ultimate goal. There are about 3.2 million Hindus in the USA.

Provo, incorporated in 1850, is home to Brigham Young University, the largest church-affiliated university in the USA. It was a venue for the 2002 Winter Olympics, and it offers dramatic alpine geography. Marsha Judkins is the Mayor, while Katrice MacKay is Council President.

American Fork, incorporated in 1853, at the foot of Mount Timpanogos in the Wasatch Range, sits at the mouth of American Fork Canyon. Its high school’s marching band is nationally recognised, and it is known for “Steel Days,” a long-running summer festival. Brad Frost is the Mayor.

In Utah, Davis County, founded in 1850, is the smallest county in land area but the third largest in population. Home to one of the largest free‑roaming bison herds in the USA, it is notable for direct animal interactions. John Crofts is Chair of the Board of Davis County Commissioners.