ANUBHAVAM PUDHUMAI-10

Having gone round & round the at home looking for Amenities after strolling for a walk nearby at Arlington,it is time now for us to travel out towards Ashland, 15 Miles away by Car to seek the Blessings of The Goddess SriLakshmi, the Temple of whom is situated at New England Zone, combination of  Massachusetts, New Hamshire, Rhode Islands (smallest state in USA), Maine ,Connecticut & Vermont (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_England).Photography inside the temple is prohibited like India. Whatever possible in & around taken & can be viewed here as- Slide show.


Visit  Lakshmi temple, Ashland, Massachusetts - is the site to click for details.

The inaugural function of this New England Hindu Temple, Inc. was conducted with Mahalakshmi Pooja and Diwali celebrations on October 28, 1978 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Melrose, Massachusetts. Exuberance and excitement filled the hearts and minds of everyone in the large congregation as they witnessed and experienced an authentic pooja service to Sri Lakshmi and it filled their spiritual need. This was easily seen as pledges and donations started coming in even before securing the non-profit status. Non-profit status from the Internal Revenue Service was secured on November 28, 1978 for tax-deductible contributions. The place of congregation was soon changed to Needham Village Club which was more centrally located.

In the summer of 1981, about twelve acres of land in the town of Ashland, Massachusetts were acquired for constructing the temple. services of Sri Ganapathy Sthapathy from the Institute of Architecture and Sculpture in Tamil Nadu were sought to design the temple according to the Agama Sastras. He visited in November 1982 and provided detailed plans for the temple. In early 1983, M/S MacNevin and Kerivan Engineering, Inc. of Wellesley was engaged to prepare the engineering design and drawings which were submitted to the Town of Ashland for approval. The land was cleared in the fall of 1983 and in the following spring the excavation work was carried out by Guigli & Sons. The contract for the foundation and structural work for the building was awarded to Kaikunte Engineering Corporation in Sharon in the summer of 1984. The ground breaking ceremony was observed on June 19, 1984 with a grand celebration of Ganesh Pooja.

In the fall of 1984 the temple applied to Thirumaial-Thirupathi Devasthanam in India for a loan to help hasten the construction of the temple. The application was duly approved and the first installment of Rs. 5 Lakhs was received in July 1985. The loan has now been repaid. When the initial contract with Kalkunte Engineering Corporation for the foundation and infra structure was completed, the first Ganapathy Homam in the temple was performed in September 1985. The contract to complete the building with all the utilities needed for occupancy was awarded to Parekh Construction Co. in Woburn, Massachusetts. The first floor had the mahdmandapam (60'x5O') with an Alankaramandapam for Lord Nataraja and His consort Sivakami.

A paved driveway to the temple from Waverly Street with parking spaces for 100 cars was also provided. The receipt of the occupancy permit for the temple in September 1986 was an important milestone on the road to the completion of the mammoth project. This was celebrated with a grand opening Ceremony on September 6, 1986. Sri Janakiram Sastrigal of Rajarajeswari Peetam in Stroudsburg, PA graciously performed the inaugural pooja along with local part-time Tamil priests.

The temple has remained open during the week-ends ever since with all the major Hindu feswals being celebrated in a traditional manner. Cultural activities such as classical music and dance concerts, Thyagaraja Aradhana, Dikshitar Day, Surdas & Meera Bhajans and discourses have further transformed the temple into the focal point of the Hindu community.

Extending from the mahamandapam by another thirty feet, sanctums for the principal deities Ganesh, mahalakshmi and Venkateswara were constructed beginning in September 1987 with the contract assigned to Parekh Construction Co. As the time approached for Hindu architectural ornamentation of the sanctums with vimana gopuram (sikhara), the service of Sri Muthiah Sthapathy of Tamil Nadu was contracted in 1988. In the same year, Sri Shadrinarayana Bhattar was appointed as the first full-time priest of the Srilakshmi temple to provide regular services within the temple as well as services such as weddings, Grahapravesams, Namakaranam etc. as required by the Hindu community at their residences. When he returned to India, Sri Krishna Bhattar was appointed to fill in the vacancy.

The spring of 1989 saw the arrival of ten artisans (silpis) from India skilled in the architectural work of the temple. With their arrival, the exquisite magnificence of the sancta with their vimana gopurams began to take shape. Their patient and devoted work under adverse weather conditions has brought us to the celebration of Rajagopuram Kumbhabhishekam. Plans for the Kumbhabhishekam were initiated in the fall of 1989. Sri Sampathkumar Bhattacharlar of Bangalore and Sri Sambamoorthy Sivachariar of Madras were chosen as chief priests to perform the Kumbhabhishekam with a host of other priests assisting them in this consecration ceremony.

The granite idols of Ganesh with Mooshikam and Balipeetam, Mahalakshmi, Venkateswara, Garuda and Dwarapalakas along with the bronze Utsavamurthis of Ganesh, Mahalakshmi, Venkateswara, Sridevi, Bhudevi and Sivakami were designed by Sri Ganapathy Sthapathy of the Institute of Architecture and Sculpture, Tamil Nadu and fabricated by the artisans at the institute. The bronze Utsavamurthis of Nataraja, Subrahmanya, Valli and Devasena were designed by Sri Muthiah Sthapathy. The ornamental designs of the sanctum and the vimana gopuram were skillfully executed according to the Hindu Agama-sastras by the Indian artisans. Coordination of the shipping of the idols from India was carried out through the considerable help rendered by Sri Meenakshisundaram and Sri Ramanujam of Madras. Sri N V Raghavan, also of Madras, has attended to the procurement of multifarious items required for the Kumbhabhishekam.

These are only a few of the many who have helped the temple in immeasurable ways to reach the present status of success in this ever growing project. Undoubtedly, the names of many people have not been mentioned due to lack of space. What was envisioned as a concept in 1978 took twelve years to blossom. Measured steps were taken all the way mostly due to the newness of the project. Through the grace and guidance of Goddess Srilakshmi, an important phase of the temple construction has been completed. Sri Lakshmi Temple now joins the ranks of other Hindu temples built in different cities across the country. In some sense, building the temple has been the easy and fun part.

It will be left to the future generations to foster the growth of the Srilakshmi temple and other temples.

More details avl at Site- http://www.srilakshmi.org/Contents/Devotees.aspx
Thanks to the Temple Authority for giving in detail, the History of  construction, without which it would not have been possible to narrate the same in my Blog.



Today, 17th July, being the First day of Tamil Month, Adi, it was my intention to dedicate the TENTH Part of my Series of my Blog, TIN to The Goddess, who brings wealth to all Humanity, customarilly marked with Beginning of Adi, The Auspicious Month. ALSO, IT WAS MY DESIRE  TO PUT IT POSTED IN THE BLOG ITSELF, without going for Clicking with Link, for particulars reg. how hard it was to yield fruit after 12 years of hardship by the people concerned. Hope the present as well as the future generations will sustain the growth  in the days ahead.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT-
Air-conditioned  room & a PC exclusively for my use provided with Internet, round the clock free, Melodious music of my choice at the back-ground to entertain, a Camera to capture Photos in both Still & Video modes in support of my Blogs along with relevent Books/ Guides, a Car to go with for roaming- driven by obviously Mahesh/ Akila & finally Healthy-cum-tasty foods of Varieties generated from Kitchen by Rajam & Akila!
These are the Factors behind my efforts to guide you all in this Travel venture across the two Mighty Oceans.
THANKS TO MY FAMILY FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS BEHIND THE PC SCREEN!
ALSO, THANKS TO YOU ALL, THE VIEWERS ACROSS THE GLOBE FOR ENCOURAGEMENT GIVEN SO FAR!!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SPIRITUAL FOOD FOR THOUGHT

GOD'S Rosebud-
Courtesy- Friend from Group of Thatha Patti!



A new minister was walking with an older,

more seasoned minister in the garden one day.



Feeling a bit insecure about what God had for him to do,

he was asking the older preacher for some advice.



The older preacher walked up to a rosebush

and handed the young preacher a rosebud and told him

to open it without tearing off any petals.



The young preacher looked in disbelief at the older preacher

and was trying to figure out what a rosebud

could possibly have to do with his wanting to know

the will of God for his life and ministry.



But because of his great respect for the older preacher,

he proceeded to try to unfold the rose,



while keeping every petal intact.



It wasn't long before he realized

how impossible this was to do.



Noticing the younger preacher's inability



to unfold the rosebud without tearing it,

the older preacher began to recite

the following poem...





"It is only a tiny rosebud,

A flower of God's design;

But I cannot unfold the petals

With these clumsy hands of mine."



"The secret of unfolding flowers

Is not known to such as I.

GOD opens this flower so easily,

But in my hands they die."



"If I cannot unfold a rosebud,

This flower of God's design,

Then how can I have the wisdom

To unfold this life of mine?"



"So I'll trust in God for leading

Each moment of my day.

I will look to God for guidance

In each step of the way."



"The path that lies before me,

Only my Lord knows.

I'll trust God to unfold the moments,

Just as He unfolds the rose."




LET GO AND LET GOD unfold your life.


=======================
My Favourite video :
HOPE YOU ALL WILL ENJOY THE SAME!



=========================


 In my next series:

One more Temple to visit, CHINMAYA MARUTI, run by Chinmaya Mission & Evidence with Photos from US Media on Indian Spirituality, will be taken up in the next Blog-11.