MEMBERS of the United Republican Party (URP), on Monday, volunteered time and resources cleaning, restoring, and sprucing up the Arya Samaj national monument at the Promenade Gardens in Georgetown. The monument was built in 2011 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Arya Samaj presence in Guyana.

URP President, Dr. Vishnu Bandhu was joined by other executives and members of the party during the cleaning up effort.

“The Arya Samaj monument was badly in need of cleaning up of vegetation and discolouration and blemishes and a paint job. It sparked a fuel among volunteers in the party to perform public service,” the URP said in a release.

According to Dr. Bandhu, party members decided to work together zealously and clean up this important heritage site, beautify it and the garden around it because they are proud of the City and country.

“We want to brighten up the monument and garden so people can enjoy it and it can attract tourists,” he said.

Volunteers spent several hours sprucing up the monument and area around it. They pulled weeds, mulched around the plants as well as the monument and shrub beds, and hauled away the garbage.

“This is another in a long list of volunteerism in various projects including doling out hampers by members of the party,” the release said.

Dr. Bandhu is of the view that the City and the country are blessed to have such monument constructed in a prominent location. The monument is a reminder of the presence of the Arya Samajists in Guyana. Arya Samaj is a branch of Hinduism. The monument tells a story of the Arya Samaj and Indian presence in the country. The Arya Samaj movement played a very important role in the independence struggle, Dr Bandhu said.

The Arya monument has not been cleaned or painted since first erected a decade ago. Dr. Bandhu had overseen the establishment of the monument when he was leader of the Central Arya Samaj; it was funded with financial resources of the United Federation of Arya Samaj Mandirs of America.

“It’s a sacred duty to maintain the monument that has been neglected for so long. It is important that the monument stand out and that the plants and flowers around it be spruced up. The monument is very important to a large number of Guyanese, telling a story of their presence and contributions to the nation and the growth of the movement. The URP is proud and humbled to spearhead the cleaning efforts and rehabilitation of this monument and plan to do same with other neglected structures. The monument has been restored to its original beauty. It is quite an achievement. Hopefully, it will inspire others to do same with other neglected monuments,” the release said.

The URP leadership expressed appreciation to the volunteers last Monday.

“It fills my spirit with joy to see volunteers committing time, energy, and resources to polish up the monument. I am so thankful to them. The monument is once again a very attractive site, like it is brand new,” Dr Bandhu said.