Satsang Sandesh A monthly news magazine of India Temple Association, Inc. Hindu Temple, 25 E. Taunton Ave, Berlin, NJ 08009 SOUTH JERSEY ♦ DELAWARE ♦ PENNSYLVANIA (Non-Profit Tax Exempt Organization, Tax ID # 22-2192491) Vol. 45 No. 1 Phone: (855) MYMANDIR (855-696-2634) www.indiatemple.org MAY 2014 Religious Calendar Upcoming Programs in May May 1 Thursday Shri Parshuram Jayanti Dr. Ram Kamaldasji sermon on "SUNDERKAAND" From Ramayana May 2 Friday Monday, April 28 to Friday, May 2, 7pm-8:30pm; Saturday May 3, 10:30- Akha Trij/Akshya Tritiya 12pm, followed by mahaprasad May 3 Saturday Bal Vihar and Yuva Dar- Bal Vihar and Yuva Darshan Annual Day shan Annual Day Saturday May 3, 10am at Thomas E. Harrington Middle School May 4 Sunday Shri Aadya Shank- Asian Indian Professional’s Medical Education Meeting on Sunday, May 11 racharya / Shri Ramanu- at ICC jacharya Jayanti May 10 Saturday Shri Buddha Jayanti / Purnima / Satyanarayan Katha Mohini Ekadashi Wednesday May 14 at 6 pm followed by mahaprasad May 14 Wednesday Shri Buddha Jayanti / Sundarkand Paath Purnima / Satyanarayan Saturday May 17 at 10 am followed by mahaprasad Katha May 24 Saturday Ghulam Ali Concert (Shaam-e-Gazzal with the king of Gazzal) on Friday, Apara Ekadashi May 30 at ICC Monthly Activities ITA Seva Samiti walks with American Cancer Society in the Relay for Life Smt. Kshama Raghuveer of Marlton at Cherokee High School (707) 332-3400 Saturday May 31 from 2pm-Midnight May 2, Friday Vishnu Sahasranama Special Prayers Parayanam ITA has a program whereby you can have prayers performed on your behalf every May 14, Wednesday year on a special day in your life by pledging $301. Also, at your request, Shri. Bhu- Shri Satyanarayan pendra Shuklaji or Shri Sudhir Jhaji will perform a special puja on your behalf, or the Katha on Purnima Day regular temple puja performed on the designated day will be dedicated in your name. @6 pm Below are the donors for this month. May 17, Saturday Sunderkand Path 10am Nanu Maisuria May 02 Sushil & Kamala Chandra May 19 Narendra H. Amin May 05 Sharad Pandya May 19 Monthly Bhajans Harendra Dave May 05 Mahesh Dixit May 26 May 16, Friday, 8-9 p.m. Rajubhai Patel May 05 Priti & Tejas Patel May 26 Shreyansi M. Shah May 08 Siddhi Vasa May 26 Satya Sai Baba of Med- Sudhaben Patel May 09 Pooja & Jayesh Khatiwala May 27 ford Bhal Patel May 10 P.K. Prabhakar 856-596-3147 Iti Bar May 11 Isvar Patel May 28 Sesha Vemuri 856-751-0867 Narsinh Sangani May 15 Nishta Patel-Hudson May 28 May 23, Friday, 8-9 pm Natwarlal Contractor May 16 Dipti & Monil Pandya May 29 Shree Ji Bhajan Group Naresh Talati May 16 & 27 Urmi Upadhya 856-424-9328 Mahendra Jaiswal May 17 Jayanti & Kalaben Patel May 29 Charu Sheth (856) 662-8754 Upendra & Rekha Shah May 17, & 25 Jayant Pandya May 31 Condolences Pushpaben Desai, a resident of Voorhees, ITA founding member, passed away on April 22, 2014. She is survived by her husband Natubhai, daughter Jigna, son Vinay and four grand children. ITA and its board ex- tend their sincere condolences to Desai family. HINDU SENIOR CITIZENS - TWO MEETINGS DURING MAY AT ICC The month of May is devoted to understanding financial matters. Let’s plan and get organized for the new financial year. May 8 – A very important session for understanding financial mantras and planning a financially worry- free retirement. The discussion will include money needed in retirement years; how to create, build up, control, man- age, preserve, and protect your money/wealth/portfolio; and how, where and when to invest to create various income streams to grow your wealth. Professional and practical tips based on life-long experience of our own founding mem- ber Shri Bhulabhai Bhakta – a highly qualified professional, owner of a variety of businesses and a big investor him- self. May 22 – This session is for citizens and permanent residents to know legal requirements of the United States for re- porting their foreign assets, income earned in foreign countries, inheritance and gifts in foreign countries, and finan- cial transactions and relationships with foreign entities. For all legal purposes, India is a foreign country for us no mat- ter how strange it may sound to our ears. The speaker is a high-level professional Mr. Raj Maruvada, MBA and Presi- dent of Raj Maruvada &Associates. Please RSVP for your fist and second meetings by Monday, May 5. For the second meeting, you may RSVP by Mon- day, May19. Both the meetings will end with dinner provided by member families who are already signed up for the same. Your response in time helps in organizing things. S. Gambhir, President HSCSJ ~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~ ITA Gita Vichara Group Gita Vichara Group in Marlton just completed their studies of Bhagvad Gita and now ready to begin the new text, Tattvabodha, on Tuesday, March 3rd, 2014 at 8:00 PM at Sandhya and Nitin Motiwala residence at 2 Elizabeth Court, Marlton, NJ 08053. Though the group meets in a private home the class is open to community members. If you are interested, please con- tact Lata Pimplaskar who is the moderator of the class at 856-985-4785 or [email protected]. Tattvabodha: Bodha means knowledge. tattva means the essence or the Truth. The text covers the vision of the es- sence of everything. "The Truth of everything" - gross, subtle and causal body, Atma, Devatas, and Karmas and it's results with cycle of birth and death. Join us! Hari Om! Lata Pimplaskar ~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~ Bal Vihar By Vikram Meyyappan This session started off with Malathi aunty’s chanting class at 9:30am as usual. She taught us the right way to chant “Manojavam marutatulyavegam,” a sloka for Hanumanji. She talked about the greatness of Hanumanji and the importance of chanting this sloka. This was followed by the regular chanting session. In the main hall, Ramesh uncle talked about Sri Rama Navami – the birthday of Rama. He said traditionally everybody chanted the “Vishnu Sahasranamam”, or thousand names of Vishnu. To explain how people started chant- ing the sloka “Sri Rama Raama Rameti” instead of chanting the thousand names of Vishnu, he told us a story on Lord Shiva and Parvati. As usual, some announcements were made during this session. Ramesh uncle said the tentative dates for the Mother’s Day celebration and the Balvihar picnic would be May 11th and June 8th, respectively. Chetna aunty also reminded us about the cancer walk and asked those who were interested to register. Students reported to their classrooms and later did yoga. Towards the end, we had Aarti and lunch. The next session will be at the Indian Cultural Center on Route 73. This will be the last session prior to Annual Day on May 3rd at Thomas E Harrington Middle School at Mount Laurel. I wish everyone a happy and a fun-filled Annual Day. Monthly Pujas at Mandir It is a pleasure to perform Satyanarayan puja and read Sunder- kand Path at our Temple with family and friends. We invite you to join us and perform Satyanarayan puja every Purnima day with family and friends and receive the blessings of Almighty God. Donations are welcome. Suggested donation is $ 31. It is followed by Mahaprasad generously sponsored by Indian Villa. Please join us for Sunderkand Path held on third Saturday of every month. Mahaprasad generously sponsored by Gagan Palace. Jai Krishna, Kshama ~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~ BalVihar and Yuva Darshan Annual Day Come one, come all! Friends and family are invited to attend the BalVihar and Yuva Darshan Annual Day, an amalgam of dances, skits, and shlokas performed by the Bal-Vihar and Youth students to exhibit what they have learned throughout the year. Annual Day will be held on Saturday, May 3th, 2014, 10am, at Thomas E. Harrington Middle School. ~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~ ITA Yuva Darshan By Sanjana Kondapalli Youth session on March 23rd began with a recitation of mantras. It was a peaceful way to start the youth session. As usual, we continued our morning with yoga and meditation with Praveen Uncle. We finished aarthi and lunch early because we were going to play Holi. We had an Indian lunch, instead of the regular pizza. After- wards we played Holi. We all enjoyed throwing colors on each other. The first activity on April 13th’s youth session was the recitation of mantras. We then performed 30 min- utes of yoga and meditation. Those made us feel refreshed! In our activity time, Chetna Auntie talked to the Youths about doing community service and what to do to prepare for college. Along with that she talked about the Relay for Life walk-a-thon for the American Cancer Association at Cherokee High School. It is an event that any- one can register for. There will also be fun activities there like face painting. You can contact Chetna Auntie at [email protected] for more information. After this, we discussed details of our upcoming Annual Day, which is being held on Saturday, May 3. We finished the day with aarthi and lunch. ~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~ ITA Seva Samiti update by Sadhna Kothari Please take note of our new community outreach program, Golden Shield. We are in the process of formulating the outline and specifics. Mission Statement: The aim is to identify community members who can benefit from a little help from us, to give them a leg up and on the road to a better future. We have an opportunity here to change lives. Process: Seva Samiti will carefully review a pool of candidates and write to them privately to determine if some assistance from our community is warranted.