More than 9000 devotees and visitors from all over South-East thronged to the Hindu Temple of Atlanta (HTA) Riverdale,Georgia to celebrate the joyous and spiritually suffused Navodaya 2017 festival.
Deities of Balaji and Siva wore a dazzling look in their ornate fineries and colorful garlands. The priests cheerfully performed the archanas throughout the day and blessed all the devotees who came to offer their prayers. Throughout the day, both Temples echoed the soul-soothing prayers, chantings of shlokas and devotional songs.
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At the SRIM Meditation Center’s booth, the writer told that a Hanuman Mandir is being constructed at the SRIM Center in Forsyth, GA, where an 18ft. Hanumanji Murthy carved in South India will be consecrated by Amma Karunamayi upon completion of Mandir’s construction.
The varied menu of South Indian vegetarian splendors like spicy idli sambhar, masala dosas, tamarind or curd rice, upama, boondi ladoos, Mysore Pak, and snacks were lovingly prepared in the Temple’s kitchen, under the supervision of Food Committee Chairperson, Padma Koganti. The Chief volunteer, Sairam Surapaneni, coordinated with the new chair Padma Koganti, in the arrangements and cheerfully served the food in the spacious banquet hall, by the team of dynamic youth volunteers.
The Hindu Temple’s new President Kusuma Kotte is Andhra Pradesh born and is an Atlanta resident since 1991. She said,” I am very happy with the unprecedented turnout of over 9,000 devotees today to seek God’s blessings on ‘Navodaya’, New Year’s day. The new Executive Committee and I underwent the Oath ceremony conducted by the Temple’s former President Sarweswara Naidu. The Executive Committee Members are: Vice President” Sheela Lingam; Secretary: Subbiah Emani; Jt.Sec. Aravind Goli; Treasurer: Ravi Kari; Jt.Treasurer: Sairam Surapaneni; and Past President: P.B.Rao.
Committee members of the temple are: Bylaws: Sujatha Reddy; Community Services: Seshu Sarma; Cultural Affairs: Jyothi Chinthalapudi; Educaion: Raju Vanapalli; Endowment Trust: Siva Nathan; Food Committee: Padma Koganti; Fund raising: Murali Krishna Gadde; Internal Audit: Krishnakumar Srinivasan; Maintenance: Ramakrishnan Srinivasan; Nomination: K.V.Krishna Prasad; Publications: Sudha Reddy; Religious Committee: Phani Tummala; Technology Committee: Rajitha Reddy; Volunteer Committee: Team leader: Ravi Chander; Youth activities: Shree Varshenee.
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Kusuma Kotte added that, “I am very heartened by today’s huge attendance. I wish to thank all the generous sponsors, trustees, past Presidents, Executive Committee members, vendors and all the visitors and devotees. I also wish to thank scores of enthusiastic and disciplined volunteers who worked hard to make Navodaya celebrations a joyous experience. Thanks to the Past and present Pooja Committee Chairpersons Aravind Goli and Phani Tumalla respectively, the elaborate Pooja décor and the conduct of the Pooja rituals were praiseworthy. The priests worked hard and for long hours starting on 31st December, in putting up the captivating, artistic and colorful décor.”
“HTA served more than 10 varieties of delicious food prepared by the Food Committee under Padma Koganti’s leadership together with young band of volunteers who served the delicacies to thousands of devotees in the Temple Banquet hall. The vendors did a brisk business as always. The vendor mall was a popular spot for ladies! Children enjoyed lots of fun activities like face painting and balloon twisting. Some of the funds generated during the Navodaya celebration will be used for community services. Around noon, our parking lots were full so we had to provide shuttle service to the parking lots in nearby schools. I wish to thank the Police, security staff and volunteers led by Ravi Chander for managing the parking areas.”
“We have a very big program in 2017. We are going to celebrate 25th anniversary for the Lord Sri Venkateswara prathistapana in May, 2017. It will be a 10-day grand Celebration that will conclude on Memorial day weekend. Also, we are going to have a program for fundraising during the current year. The proceeds will be used for various programs scheduled at the HTA. I am confident that devotees will donate generously to enable HTA accomplish all its goals, including worthy causes to help the community.”
The President Kusuma Kotte concluded, “ My thanks to all the devotees who celebrated Navodaya 2017 with great enthusiasm, and joy and deep reverence. My heartfelt wishes for a happy, healthy, spiritually enriching and prosperous New Year to all”
By Premji
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