Issue 10

11

Newsletter from The Tristate Hindu Temple & Cultural Center

July 2017

Bhagavad Gita

aham hi sarva-yajnanam bhokta cha prabhur eva cha na tu mam abhijananti tattvenatas chyavanti te

aham—I; hi—surely; sarva—of all; yajnanam—sacrifices; bhokta—enjoyer; cha-- and; prabhuh— Lord; eva—also; cha--and; na—not; tu—but; mam—Me; abhijananti—know; tattvena—in reality; atah— therefore; chyavanti—fall down; te—they.

I am the only enjoyer and Lord of all sacrifice. Therefore those who do not recognize My true transcendental nature, fall down.

Message from Panditji, Shri Surendra Mishra:

Devshayani : Ashadha Shukla Ekadashi is known as Devshayani Ekadashi. Lord goes to sleep on this day and wakes up after four months on Prabodhini Ekadashi. Devshayani Ekadashi comes just after famous Jagannath Rathyatra and falls in month of June or July. , a holy period of four months in , starts from this day.

Guru : Full moon day during Ashadha month is known as day. Traditionally this day is reserved for Guru or Guru Worship. On this day disciples offer Puja and pay respect to their Gurus. Guru refers to spiritual guide who enlighten disciples by his knowledge and teachings. Guru Purnima is also known as Vyasa Purnimaand and this day is commemorated as birth anniversary of Veda Vyasa. Veda Vyasa was the author as well as a character in the Hindu epic Mahabharata.

TRISTATE HINDU TEMPLE AND CULTURAL CENTER/ Issue # 10 2

Sawan Somwar: In Hindu calendar Shravan month is dedicated to Lord Shiva. Whole month is considered auspicious to seek blessing of Lord Shiva. Devotees keep various fasts during Shravan month to please Lord Shiva.

Shravan month is also known as Sawan month in North Indian states. All Mondays or Somwar(s) which fall during Shravan month are considered highly auspicious for fasting and known as Shravan Somwar or Sawan Somwar Vrats. Many devotees observe sixteen Mondays or Solah Somwar fasting from first Somwar of Sawan month.

Upcoming festivals in July 2017

Devshayani Ekadashi: July 4

Guru Purnima: July 8

Shravan month: Starts July 9th

Rudhrabhishekam: July 24, 31, Aug.7, 14, 21 (Mondays)

Summer camps for children at Tri-State Hindu Temple

Registrations are on for the second TSHT Summer Camp for children, from July 24 to 28, 2017. The first camp in June was very successful and was indeed a wonderful experience. Children learnt about Indian culture and history, Hinduism, singing Aarti, national anthem of India, Indian dance and worked on craft projects.

The children plan to prepare dances and speeches for presentation in the cultural program on August 13th, in celebration of India’s Independence Day on August 15th.

TSHT Scholarship Recipients

Congratulations to Vaishnavi Ravipati and Arjun Dhawan, recipients

of Tristate Hindu Temple College Scholarship for 2017. The scholarships are given to applicants who have attended and volunteered at the temple, and paid towards tuition at the college of their choice. And congratulations to all graduates this year, we are really proud of you guys.

TRISTATE HINDU TEMPLE AND CULTURAL CENTER/ Issue # 10 3

Annual Golf Fundraiser August 27, 2017

The annual golf tournament has been our biggest fundraiser in the last many years. This year, the tournament is planned on August 27th at the Cambridge Golf Course in Evansville. You can be a Gold/Silver/Bronze sponsor (2500, 1000, 500 dollars respectively) sponsor a team, or invite a team from your employer or company.

Cambridge Golf Course This year’s event will be held Sunday, 1034 Beacon Hill, August 27,2017 at the well-manicured Evansville, IN 47725 Cambridge Golf Course in Evansville, Phone: (812) 868-4653 Indiana.

This special event is hosted by the Tri- Sunday, August 27, 2017 State Indian Cultural Center, a not- for-profit philanthropic organization, promoting cultural heritage of India, Registration/Lunch provide a forum for cultural activities, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and participate in the educational and Shotgun Start at cultural enrichment of the Tri-State 12:45 p.m. Community.

100 Golfers – 25 Foursomes The cost for this event is $500 per foursome. This price includes entry into all events, 18 holes of golf with Enjoy a complete program of cart, Lunch and Dinner. special events, 18 holes of golf (including cart), Lunch, Dinner and door prizes. All for just $500 To help us properly plan for this event, per foursome please pre-register by filling out the

form in this brochure.

Contact Information Registration/ Lunch at 11:30a.m Shotgun Start at 12:45pm Dr. Prajapati 270-685-5540 Dr. V. Soni 270-389-0504 All Sponsors will be eligible to Dr. Anadkat 618-263-4376 receive a charitable income tax Dr. Jani 618-263-4229 deduction. Dr. M. Shah 270-926-4691

Dr. M.S. Krishna 8123866776 Please feel free to contact Dr. Krishna Mr. K.C. Jain 812-476-7955 at 812.386.6776 or Mr. D.GOYAL 270-686-0050 [email protected] CambridgeDr. Kuldeep Pandit Golf 2708319139 Course with any questions.

For more information about the golf course, visit www.cambridgegc.com TRISTATE HINDU TEMPLE AND CULTURAL CENTER/ Issue # 10 4

Evansville, IN

Temple Membership:

We kindly request all families in the TriState Hindu community to become members of the Temple. Your membership dues help with the day to day expenses of the temple, organize events and activities, and plan for temple expansion. The annual membership comes to 1 dollar a day (365 dollars per year) and the Premium Membership is 1000 dollars. The membership forms are available at the Temple and can be obtained from the Temple Website. You can make membership payments on our website too.

General body meeting on August 13th, 2017, Sunday – 3 pm

Kindly mark your calendars for the General Body Meeting in August. As you all know, the TriState Hindu Temple Family and the various committees under the TriState Hindu Temple have been working tirelessly towards a Temple Expansion Plan. We are now close to finalizing plans for Ground breaking for the new Temple building, and needs approval from the General body. Please save the date, further information to follow soon.

TRISTATE HINDU TEMPLE AND CULTURAL CENTER/ Issue # 10 5

Temple Expansion Plan: Letter from the President: Dr. Kuldeep Pandit

Dear friends,

We had a very successful Temple Fundraising Gala in Owensboro. I wholeheartedly thank you all for your participation, enthusiasm and contributions. I sincerely thank Dr.Mahesh Moolani and committee and all the members of fundraising committee for their great efforts to organize this event and make it a great success.

Over last two months we have been busy working on the Temple construction project. We had meetings with the temple architect and contractors from India who will do the Indianization work for the Temple. We are steadily making the progress.

Today I have a great news for you. We have decided the Groundbreaking day for the new Temple construction on August 26th, Saturday which is a auspicious Visarjan day. We are planning to make it a all-day event with temple groundbreaking ceremonies, cultural activities with kids performances and good food.

We are organizing a Temple Groundbreaking Ceremony Committee to plan all the activities for this day. You will soon hear more information about the program from this committee.

I am sincerely thankful to all the families of our Tristate who have contributed and pledged for the new temple construction. At this time I request you all to please send your pledged contributions to the Temple. We will soon be needing the funds as the temple construction work starts. Those families who have not given their donation/pledges yet, I sincerely request them to make their contributions to the Temple. The donation/pledge form is on the Temple website and is also available at the Temple. Please write your check to "Tristate Hindu Temple". You can mail it to the Temple at 6044 Vann Rd, Newburgh, IN 47630 or deposit it in the Temple Hundi. You can also deliver it to any Temple EC member.

We are eagerly looking forward to the temple ground breaking ceremony followed by the construction of our new temple building. I encourage and request all the families of our Tristate to actively involve and be an important part of this great cause.

Please remain tuned to more information about groundbreaking ceremony from the Temple committee.

May Lord Ganesha's blessings and guidance be always with us all.

Thanking you

With Best Regards

Kuldeep Pandit

Have suggestions for topics to be included in the newsletter? Please write to [email protected]

This newsletter is a humble attempt to keep the community updated on the events and activities at the Tristate Hindu Temple and Cultural Center. We would like to hear your suggestions and comments.