Joel Bray Marangella the Third Guardian of Baha'i Faith marked the inauguration first time on
29th May 1991 on the Indian sub-continent by appealing in the
Times of India, with the title: An appeal to the Heterodox Baha’is and
appealed in a more comprehensive second advertisement on 7th
March 1992 and subsequently, the third advertisement in the Times of India
on 16 and 17th May 1992, which
resulted in the historic formation of the Mother Baha’i Council of India in
Delhi with late Mr. Vinod Kumar, a young and faithful Baha’i, as its secretary.
It had been the third guardian’s desire for the Faith in India to develop
favorably. Subsequently two more local councils were formed in Bhagalpur
district and the other in Thane, with a number of localities and individual
believers declaring their loyalty to the “Center of the Cause” who is
none other than the Living Guardian of the Faith Joel B. Marangella.
Encouraged by the sudden response from the Indian Baha'is,
the third Guardian, on the occasion of the 100th year of the
Ascension of Baha u llah placed fourth advertisement in the Times of
India on May 29, 1992 which called upon the Indian Baha'is
to faithfully uphold the Covenant of Baha’u’llah by turning to the Guardian and
serving their ties with the erroneously constituted sans-Guardian organization.
The Guardian also welcomed the Indian Baha’is into the true Administrative
Order, headed by the Guardian and founded upon sacred immutable provisions of
Will and Testament of Abdu’l Baha. With advertisements, the Baha'i believers
throughout India came to realize that the Guardianship is an integral part of
the Faith.
Overwhelmed by the success of the Orthodox Baha'i Faith and
eagerness of the Indian believers to accept the Faith under the Guardianship,
the third Guardian, Joel Bray Marangella, sent two American believers, Late Mr.
Frank Schlatter and Late Mr. David Maxwell, to assess the situation in India and while
there, to teach and deepen the Orthodox Baha'is, during their visits to Delhi,
Agra, Mumbai, Aurangabad, Baroda and Rajgir. Their visit enhanced the teaching
activities of the Orthodox Baha’is and more firmly established the Orthodox
Baha’i Faith in India.
Subsequently, more advertisements appeared and under the
direction of the Provisional National Baha’i Council of India and with the cooperation of
various local councils, many Councils were established and a number of
individual Baha’is, residing in various parts of India, were brought into the
Faith under the Guardianship.
The Third Guardian Joel Bray Marangella passed away to Abha Kingdom on September 1, 2013 and he appointed his successor as Fourth Guardian of Baha'i Faith to Mr. Nosrat'u'llah Bahremand.
