NEWSLETTER Temple hours: Sun, 10am-12pm, Arati 11:00 Tues, Fri, Sat 5:00 - 7:00 pm Arati 6 PM Table of Contents Balvihar 2 President’s Message 3 Auspicious days 4 Reminders 5 Past/upcoming events 6-9 Our sponsors 10-11 Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever— Mahatma Gandhi Temple website http://htsnm.org/ 1 Balvihar Balvihar is up and running. Please come join us every Sunday from 10:00 to 11:00 am. The children are separated into age appropriate groups and various topics are spanning Hinduism, Panchatantra, avatars, Ramayana and Mahabharata epics are discussed. Parents are encouraged to be involved in this learn- ing process. Please come and help grow the next generation. The list of slokas include Ashtalaksh- mistotram, Ganesh pancharatnam, Gu- rustotram and many more slokas covering the common Hindu deities. 2 President’s message Greetings, Wishing you all a very happy Diwali—may the coming year be bring health , wealth and happiness into your lives. Much has been happening at the temple. The first ever Bhan- dara was successfully held on the 15th of September. I would like to thank the organizers Poonam Mehta, Geetha Goverdhan, Prakruthi Santosh and Hema Chimmalagi, and many more families for pulling this off. Words seem inadequate to express the sadness we feel about Mrs Usha Shukla’s pass- ing, she will be dearly missed by everyone who knew her—the family has been instru- mental in spearheading the Hindu temple project from the start. We offer our sincere sympathies. I would like to reiterate that the temple is grateful for all donations received through the Hundi and monthly payments. Without the support of the community in this manner it would be impossible to keep our temple functioning. We are encouraging donors to come forward and make monthly donation on regular basis for any amount over a period of 2 to 3 years through ACH (direct deposit). This is the preferred method because of several benefits to both the donor and the temple. A consistent income to the tem- ple enables us to borrow from financial institutions in the future for extension of ex- isting temple or building on a new site. It is also seamless and convenient for the donor as it takes effort only during setup and no other actions afterwards. There is proof of payment and receipt. The organizers hope that you would consider donating in this man- ner. If you know of families that are not receiving the newsletter, kindly send me a message ([email protected]) so we may include them in the mailing list. I would like to close by saying that we strive to serve the community and bring forth useful and educational activities. Your support, encouragement and participation makes every event a memorable one. Krishna Jaiswal President 3 Upcoming Auspicious days—temple is open on days that are bolded Sept 28 Saturday Ashwina Amavasya, Darsha Amavasya, Ishti, Sarva Pitru Amavasya Chandra Darshana, Navratri Begins, Ghatasthapana, Maharaja 29 Sunday Agrasen Jayanti Oct 1 Tuesday Vinayaka Chaturthi 2 Wednesday Upang Lalita Vrat, Gandhi Jayanti 3 Thursday Skanda Sashti, Bilva Nimantran, Kalparambha, Akal Bodhon 4 Friday Saraswati Avahan, Navpatrika Puja, Ashwina Navapada Oli Begins 5 Saturday Saraswati Puja, Masik Durgashtami, Durga Ashtami, Sandhi Puja Saraswati Balidan, Maha Navami, Durga Balidan, Ayudha Puja, 6 Sunday South Saraswati Puja, Bengal Maha Navami Saraswati Visarjan, Durga Visarjan, Dussehra, Vijayadashami, Da- 7 Monday sara, Vidyarambham Day, Buddha Jayanti, Madhvacharya Jayanti 9 Wednesday Papankusha Ekadashi, Padmanabha Dwadashi 10 Thursday Pradosh Vrat 12 Saturday Kojagara Puja, Sharad Purnima Ashwina Purnima, Ashwina Purnima Vrat, Anvadhan, Valmiki 13 Sunday Jayanti, Meerabai Jayanti, Ashwina Navapada Oli Ends 14 Monday Ishti, Kartika Begins North 17 Thursday Karva Chauth 25 Friday Dhan Teras 27 Sunday Diwali 29 Tuesday Bhai Dooj Nov 2 Saturday Chhath Puja 12 Tuesday Kartik Poornima 4 Upcoming events Reminders • Garba class July 28 onwards Sun- days 5-7 pm at Our Temple. 1. No footwear allowed in the mandir and on the • Balvihar 10:00—11:00 Sundays second floor, unless worn due to medical rea- • Ekadasi 7:30-8:30pm sons. Our Temple requirements are that all foot- • Navarathri Sept 30th—Oct 4th wear be stowed in the cubbies provided to pre- • Durgastami Oct 6th vent young children from tripping over them. • Karvachauth Oct 17th 2. During temple sponsored events Board mem- • Diwali Oct 27th bers and/or Advisory committee members will • Tulsi Vivah/Ekadashi Nov 8th be available to answer your questions. • Walkathon—Nov 9th 3. For renting the HTSNM Community Hall, which is available for private functions such as birthdays, graduation, get togethers etc. the cost is $250 which includes water and trash bags. It is up to the organizing committee to provide all others. There is a 20% discount for members of Our Temple. 4. New parking signage coming up, please obey all parking signs to avoid fines. 5. If you would like to access the temple at any time, keys are available to checkout from Bom- bay Spice grocery store (505 232 6661). 6. Thank you for all you do to help ensure Our Temple’s cleanliness. 5 Ganesh Chaturti We celebrated Ganesh Chaturti on September 8th at the temple. The event was well attended and delicious food served afterwards. Thank you organizers for bring the event together. Bhandara September 15th brought many of our community members to the kitchens at the temple. A vegetarian meal was prepared and served. We would like to thank the organizers for coming together to make the event a grand success. People/ family involved in cooking. 1. Poonam Vinod Mehta 2.Dr Anju Jaiswal 3.Vasundara Kandachar 4.Anu Kiran 5.Smitha Prashanth 6. Pritha Gosh. People who did only bhajan 1. Dr Sameer Roy 2. Anu Athreya 3. Krishnan Wahi 5. Suresh Patel. 6. Deepa Kathuria. We are grateful to Anju Patel, Rathna Raju and many other folks for lending a hand in the cooking. We also are thankful to Neela Seth for organizing the groups of folks to sing the Bhajans. 6 Durga Puja/Navaratri Oct 6th at the temple Hinduism is the only religion in the world which has emphasised to such an extent the motherhood of God. In Bengal the festival is known as Durga Puja - Worship is offered for nine days. The tenth day, Vija- ya Dasami, marks the triumph of the soul at attaining liberation through descent of knowledge by the Grace of the Divine Mother. In South India, the festival is celebrated as a colorful exhibition of dolls arranged on ascending steps; fam- ilies and friends are invited to come and join in the celebration, sing and worship. The ninth day is Saras- wathi Puja day when the Goddess of learning is worshipped. On the tenth day, Vijaya Dasami is cele- brated when new students get enrolled and new projects are commenced, after offering worship to the Goddess; old students continue their studies, invoking the Goddess' Blessings and and renewing their contact with their revered Gurus.. In Gujarat, the most common form of public celebration is the performance of the popular folk- dance – Garba. Ladies wear ethnic Chania Choli and Males wear Dhoti-Kurta and dance through the Night. The participants move round in a circle around a mandvi (garbo), a structure to hold earthen lamps and to house the image or idol of mother goddess. Pandals are erected over these madvis and decorated with date palm leaves, flowers and electric light. As the dancers whirl around the pot, a singer and a drummer provide the musical accompaniment. Another popular Gujarati dance dur- ing Navaratri is the dandia-ras or ‘stick’ dance, in which men and women join the dance circle, hold- ing small colorful, polished sticks or dandias. As they whirl to the intoxicating rhythm of the dance, they strike the dandias together creating rhythmic beats, adding to the joyous atmosphere. The cos- tumes worn for the dances are traditional and alive with color. In the northern states of India, the festival is called Dussera; it celebrates the home-coming of Rama the hero of the epic Ramayana, after his victory over the ten-headed Ravana, the king of Lanka. In vast open spaces, Ram-leela folk-plays with music and impromptu dialogues re-telling the story of the life of Rama are enacted late into the night. Songs are sung in praise of Rama and people throng in thousands to witness this traditional theatre. Larger-than- life figures of Ravana and other de- mons are burnt on cold dark nights with fire-works lighting up the sky. Dussera is also reminiscent of the end of the exile and banishment of the Pandava princes in the 7 Diwali/Deepavali The name is derived from the Sanskrit term dipavali, meaning “row of lights,” The festival is celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains for a variety of rea- sons, although the main theme which runs throughout is the triumph of light over darkness and good over evil. In Bengal, the goddess Kali is worshipped, and in north India the festival al- so celebrates the return of Rama, Sita, Lakshmana, and Hanuman to the city of Ayodhya, where Rama’s rule of righteousness would commence. Gandhi Jayanti is a national festival celebrated in India to mark the birth anniversary of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi born 2 October 1869. It is celebrated annually and it is one of the three national holidays of India - all schools, colleges and offices all over the country remain closed. Gandhiji’s had a natural love for 'truth' and 'duty'.