Pandit L. Nathan-Sharma was born in Westmoreland August 3rd 1947. His grandfather was a Priest who served the Indian communities at Cornwall, Friendship and Hertford in Westmoreland during the 20th century. Upon his death Hinduism in the parish virtually went with him and so the family became Christians. As such he studied and practiced the Christian faith until 1977.
He was educated at the University of Technology (formerly CAST) and the University of the West Indies, where he qualified in Engineering and Management Studies. He established his own construction company in 1986 before retiring in 1993.
In 1984 and 1989 Dharma Raksha Hari Parsad Tripathi, an eminent scholar and Author of “The Secrets of AUM and Gayatri”, came to Jamaica and initiated him for priestly responsibilities. He subsequently completed further training in Orlando through the Vedic Missions of America and The Divine Life Society of Trinidad after which he was Ordained as a Priest and appointed a marriage officer for Jamaica. Pt. Sharma is a member of the “Pandit’s Council of USA
Pandit Sharma is an Interfaith Minister of Religion in Jamaica , specializing in Hindu Marriages, Vedic Sanskars & Havan, Shraadha, Funeral, Pooja Meditation and Weddings. He is a member of the U.S.A. Pandit’s Council. He was trained and Ordained as a Vedic Priest under the tutelage of Dharma Raksha Hari Prasad Tripathi of Orlando, U.S.A. and as a Sanatan Dharma Priest / Pandit by Acharaya Karmananda of Divine Life Society in Trinidad, W.I. He is a registered Marriage Officer, a member of the Jamaica Council for Interfaith Fellowship and is a Justice of the Peace and a Lay Magistrate in Jamaica.
In 1987 Pt. Sharma renovated and expanded an old building at 10 Henderson Avenue, Kingston 11 now headquarters for Prema Satsangh Mandir and Medical Clinic. Between 1994 and 1997 he was the president of that organization. In celebration of the 150th Anniversary of the Arrival of Indians to Jamaica in 1995, he started the “Family Fund Day” activities and in 1998 spearheaded the formation of the National Council for Indian Culture in Jamaica, an Umbrella organization responsible for continuing the Activities and promotion and preservation of Indian Culture in Jamaica. See web site www.ncicj.com. In 2001 he met his Guru, Sri Vasudeva of Blue Star Trinidad {See web site www.blue-star.org.} and the following year a branch of that Organization was established in Jamaica of which he is president (See Web page).
He is a past president of the Citizen Association of his community and past President of the Lions Club of St. Andrew. Pt. Sharma presented a paper at an International conference in Delhi, India in February 2000 on “People of Indian Origin Contributions to the Development of Jamaica.” He also presented a similar paper at the UWI campus in Trinidad in 2003 at a Caribbean Diaspora Conference. Pandit Sharma is married with two adult children. His hobbies are playing music, reading and watching sports.
Pandit Sharma at International Conference in Netherlands in 2007