Faith Groups Challenge School Mosque Trip; Santa Clara Fan Crafts Stadium Tribute With Hindu Blessing

Two stories from the Santa Clara area illuminate the range of ways Hindu and Desi communities are visible in Bay Area civic and cultural life — from a lawsuit challenging religious neutrality in public schools to a heartwarming tradition of paper artistry rooted in Hindu devotion.

🗳️ Multi-Faith Parents Sue Palo Alto Schools Over Mosque Field Trip

A group of ten Jewish, Hindu, and Zoroastrian parents has filed a federal lawsuit against the Palo Alto Unified School District and Palo Alto High School Principal Brent Kline, alleging that a school-sponsored field trip to the Muslim Community Association's mosque in Santa Clara in fall 2025 violated students' constitutional right to religious neutrality. The lawsuit, filed August 7 in the US District Court for the Northern District of California (case 5:2026cv08249), was brought by the group Community Members for Religious Neutrality in Public Schools. Among the named plaintiffs are Hindu parent Pawan Deshpande and Zoroastrian parent Dinsha Mistree, alongside several Jewish families. The plaintiffs allege that students were encouraged to wear Islamic religious attire, including hijabs for female students, were given copies of the Quran to take home, and were exposed to presentations from Zahra Billoo of the Council on American-Islamic Relations without adequate supervision or balancing perspectives. The suit contends that the district failed to maintain religious neutrality, failed to protect student privacy, and failed to vet outside speakers who engaged in religious advocacy. The case is being closely watched by interfaith civil rights advocates across the Bay Area as a test of how public schools navigate religion-focused field trips. [1]

🎬 Santa Clara Resident Builds Intricate Paper Model of Levi's Stadium With Hindu Blessing for Super Bowl LX

For 25 consecutive years, Mangesh Tamhankar and his family have chosen a theme inspired by major world events and built an elaborate paper model to mark the occasion. This year, with Super Bowl LX set to be held at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Tamhankar — a devoted 49ers fan who has lived in Santa Clara for a quarter century — created a meticulously detailed miniature replica of the stadium, incorporating a blessing from a Hindu deity as a gesture of faith and good fortune. The model captures the stadium's iconic architecture in careful paper engineering and reflects the family's blend of artistic craftsmanship and cultural tradition. Tamhankar expressed a hope that the San Francisco 49ers organization would display the model inside Levi's Stadium itself as a tribute from a lifelong community member. The project stands as a vivid example of how South Asian families in Silicon Valley weave Hindu spiritual tradition into everyday creative expression, turning a mainstream American sports milestone into a personal act of devotion and community pride. The story was reported by Patch, which covers the Campbell and Santa Clara area. [6]

Sources: [1] The Jerusalem Post · [6] Patch