HTCI Newsletter
September2017
Niveda
3350 N. German Church Road, Indianapolis, IN 46235 • 317-891-9199 • www.htci.org • webmaster@htci.org
Why worship Shakti during Navaratri By: Sharmila Sanka HTCI Newsletter Committee
Navratri is celebrated as a nine day period of worship in India, dedicated to the nine forms of the Hindu Deity Durga. The celebrations begin on the first day of the month of Ashvin according to the Hindu calendar. They culminate in the festival of Dussehra, on the tenth day of the month. The motto behind the celebration of Navratri is the triumph of good over evil. Navaratri is considered very auspicious and powerful, when all the Divine forces are at their highest level of insightfulness. During this time, the Divine Mother Goddess is worshipped in Her various forms as Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati. Though the Goddess is one, she is represented and worshipped in three different essential aspects. Divine Mother comes to us to fulfill our various kinds of needs in different forms. On the first three nights of the festival, Durga is worshipped. On the following three nights, Divine Mother is worshipped as Lakshmi and then as Saraswati on the last three nights. The ninth day is referred to as 'Mahanavami'. On this day, a Kanya Pooja is performed. Nine young girls are worshipped during this Pooja. Each one of them symbolises one of the nine forms of Goddess Durga. The following tenth day is called Vijayadashami. It signifies the victory of good over evil, and victory of our soul over our body which can be made possible through the worship of the divine mother in the form of Durga, Lakshmi, and Saraswati.
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Chairman’s Message Dear Devotees, Greetings!! Hope you enjoyed a wonderful, not so HOT, summer. Now the festive season is upon us. Hope you can include temple activities in your plans to come and enjoy the festivities. In the meantime, the Temple Board and Executive committee have been diligently working to finalize various projects to provide better services to you. HMEC 2017: Hindu Mandir Executives Conference (HMEC) is an organization by and for Hindu temples and institutions. Our Hindu Temple is proud to host the 12th Annual Meeting from September 15-17, 2017 for over 150 temple executives and delegates coming from all over USA, Canada, Hawaii and the Caribbean. Please plan to attend and help various committees by volunteering your time and support. Two priests Pt. Badriprasad and Pt Keertivasan got their permanent residency approved and are waiting for the arrival of their green cards. In past few months the community needs for priest services have escalated to the extent that we, unfortunately, had to turn down some requests. I personally apologize for the inconvenience. Temple has recognized the need and is actively trying to recruit another priest. We should be able to update you very soon. Furthermore, to accommodate the increased community requests for various cultural and social events at temple, I am pleased to report that plans for finishing the basement have been finalized and submitted for required approvals and permits. God willing, we will be able to start construction soon. In addition, to maintain the consistency and excellence in service, the policy and procedures to operate the temple have been approved and will be implemented very soon. Our Temple board has also approved starting a voluntary medical clinic at our temple. We will provide you details at our Templefest. For the first time, we had a special General Body meeting in August. This was specially called to discuss two main agenda items: 1) General Updates on Temple and 2) proposed modifications to the Bylaws. In regards to the Bylaws, the General Body reviewed proposed modifications. Good Governance requires frequent continued on page 3...
Newsletter Editorial Committee Sharmila Sanka, Editor, Articles Coordinator sharmilasanka@yahoo.com, 479-899-1307 Madhu Bhargava, Editor, Advertising & Graphics madhu@bharprinting.com, 317-507-1843 Mohan Sarda, Communications Chair Board mohan.sarda@htci.org, 317-600-5476 Raghava Ayyagari, Communications Committee EC communications@htci.org, (317) 979-5097
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TEMPLE HOURS:
Monday - Friday: 9:00 AM - 11:30 AM & 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Saturday - Sunday: 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM Extended hours on major holidays and long weekends: 9:00 AM -1:00 PM and 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM. Last Archana - 7:45 PM / Last Vahan Puja - 7:30 PM Timings are subject to change without prior notice on Special Puja days or extreme weather conditions. Please note: Vaahan Puja requires 4 lemons, coconut, camphor and flowers
Temple address: 3350 North German Church Road, Indianapolis, IN 46235 PUJA / SERVICE REQUEST - seva@htci.org -Ananth Duvvuri -512-466-7399 or Krishna Padmanabhan 317-258-5356
KITCHEN SERVICES - kitchen@htci.org
-Usha Yemme 317-590-4875. Lunch is served EVERY Saturday & Sunday from Noon- 2 PM.
FLOWER SPONSORSHIP - seva@htci.org MEMBERSHIP- membership@htci.org “The views and opinions expressed in the BALAGOKULAM & CHETANA (YOUTH) CLASSES articles published in this newsletter are those - http://www.htci.org/balagokulam.cfm of the authors and do not necessarily reflect For Registration using link: http://bit.ly/2017BGRegd [Important: case sensitive URL.] the opinions of HTCI, its office bearers or the
-Priyesh Kheradia 317-966-9033 or Hansa Dave 317-490-4910. Timings: Balagokulam classes every editorial committee.” Sunday from 10:30 to Noon, Pre-Chetana and Chetana classes on 2nd and 4th Sundays of every Are you interested to submit an article for month from 10:30-Noon. the HTCI newsletter? Do you have some feedback on this newsletter? Send an email HINDI CLASSES “MATRA” AT THE TEMPLE - SUNDAY 9:30AM-10:30AM to feedback@HTCI.org -Rajnish Chauhan 317-605-7897, Sanjiv Joshi 317-205-7228
SANSKRIT CLASSES - FIRST AND THIRD SUNDAY 9:30AM-10:30AM
All the donations and the pooja services -Sanjay Kalluparambil 646-722-0785 <sanjay.kalluparambil@gmail.com> receipts are emailed, if you are not YOGA CLASSES AT THE TEMPLE - EVERY SATURDAY 10:00AM-11:00AM receiving your receipts or your email - Uma Vashistha 317-414-1220 <umavas@hotmail.com> address or residence address is changed please report to the temple to serve you SAHAJA MEDITATION SESSION - EVERY SUNDAY 11 AM-12 PM better. Tax ID for Donations : 35-2092107 - Manisha Kokitkar 317-625-6385 <ekmanisha@msn.com>
HTCI Volunteer Pledge Sheet
Your temple is looking for volunteers to help with many tasks. Temple can use your help for just a few hours a week or month for Pooja, Kitchen, Office, Maintenance and other teams. Join us and experience the joy of giving by contributing to the temple as volunteer. Please register on www.htci.org on volunteer page www.htci.org About us Volunteering * Required
Hindu Temple of Central Indiana
cordially invites you
with your family and friends to the
2017 Annual Gala Dinner
Name *_____________________________________________
Saturday, November 11, 2017
Cell Number *________________________________________
5:30 pm-6:30 pm ~ Meet and Greet 6:30 pm-10:00 pm ~ Program and Dinner s Tickets: $100 / Person s Venue: Hyatt Regency Indianapolis One S. Capitol Avenue, Indianapolis, IN, 46204
Email Address *_______________________________________
How Jains Worship God: The Theology of Jain Puja by Dr. John E. Cort Sunday morning, September 24, at 10:30am at the Hindu Temple of Central Indiana
(Parking: Mall Garage or State Garage)
John E. Cort is Professor of Asian and Comparative Religions at Denison University in Granville, Ohio. He is a leading expert on the Jain religion. He has published two books on Jainism — He has spoken at many Jain temples, organizations, and conferences in N. America and India.
Please come forward and attend the Gala Dinner to support our beautiful religious and cultural center, the core of our strength.
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Why worship Shakti during Navaratri contd. from page one To gain noble virtues, all evil tendencies in the mind must be destroyed. This destruction is represented by how Goddess Durga killed a demon named Mahishasura. This is, symbolically, the destruction of the ‘tamoguna’ within us that is very difficult and something that we cannot do on our own without the help and intervention of the Divine Mother. She leads us towards victory, progress and prosperity both in material as well as Spiritual worlds. That is why during Navaratri, we first invoke Goddess Durga to remove impurities from the mind. Then, invoke Goddess Lakshmi to enable us to cultivate good virtues and qualities. Finally, Saraswati is invoked for gaining the highest knowledge of the Self. This is the significance of the three sets of three nights leading to the celebration of Vijayadashami and worshipping Shakti. Shakti is the innate power within us in the form of Goddess. This Shakti needs to be invoked with devotion, dedication and determination. Let us offer our thoughts, words and deeds to her; let’s perform Satkarmas in her name and then become nishkama karma yogis and realize one’s own self. Our sole purpose of living a human form is to see, feel and realize the supreme power-Shakti. Dwell in her love, supremacy, grace and magnificence. Communicate with her and listen to her voice. Meditate on her name and form in our thoughts daily and gradually we will see her installed in our hearts and finally there comes an urge to merge with her, never to be born again.and again and get crushed in the wheel of birth and death.
Chairman’s Message contd. from page one
review of the Bylaws and changes are introduced as appropriate. We proposed a few changes to the Bylaws, which were spelled out in the emails and website prior to the General Body meeting. There was very good and robust discussion on the proposed changes. The changes were unanimously approved. The modified bylaws will be posted on the temple website. Despite all sincere efforts still there are certain areas of operation that need improvement. We do realize that and every possible effort is being made to alleviate the problems and improve the performance. In the end, I greatly appreciate all the volunteers who selflessly help us in various temple projects. Looking forward for your continued support. We request your presence by Tan (volunteering), Man (participating in devotional activities) and Dhan (financial commitment) to help us maintain and improve our beautiful temple. Our temple is a legacy of Hindu traditions and a testament of our core belief in “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam”. Please come forward with full commitment and enthusiasm to support our beautiful religious and cultural center, the core of our strength. Wishing everyone a very Happy Ganesh Chaturthi, Navratri and Deepawali. May God Bless everyone with a better, peaceful and brighter tomorrow.
Pitru Paksha: Expressing Gratitude Pitru Paksha is the period of fifteen lunar days when Hindus pay homage to their ancestors, who have contributed to our lives. The Pitru Paksha falls in September after full moon day (Purnima) and ends on a no moon day (Amavasya). The last day of the Pitru Paksha is called Mahalaya Amavasya. This year Pitru Paksha begins on 6th September to 19th September, 2017. It is believed that the souls will attain peace by the Shraddha rituals performed during the fortnight. This ensures that the pitru dosha is done away with. It also ensures that the entire family is blessed. Process to perform Shraddha Pooja The Shraddha is performed by the son, usually the eldest or male relative of the paternal branch of the family on the specific lunar day during the Pitru Paksha, when the ancestor usually a parent or paternal grandparent died. If the death date/thithi of the deceased person in the family is not known then, his or her Shraddha can be performed on Mahalaya Amavasya. 3
With Best Wishes, Anil Bajpai, Chairman The Shraddha involves pinda-daan, which is an offering to the ancestors of pindas accompanying the release of water from the hand. It is followed by the worship of Vishnu in form of the darbha grass. The food offering is then made to birds and Brahmin. Food should be Satvic (vegetarian without onion & garlic). Once the Brahmins have eaten, the family members can begin. For the process, a photo of the departed relative(s), with name and dates of birth and death are required. It’s very essential to perform the Shraddha ritual with honesty, purity and respect. So, it’s important to have a clear mind with positive thought and vibes which helps in paying homage with sincerity and respect to the forefathers. Hindu Dharma is so expansive that it provides alternative methods for performing various rituals. One can donate in their name to non-profit or charity with bhav and respect.
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Focus on Plus can overcome Minus in Life by Melkote Ramaswamy* (melramaswamy@gmail.com) Come to think of it, we have lots of blessings to count. It doesn’t take much to realize and recognize that the world around us in all its ramifications is simply given to us—the sun, the moon, the stars, the mountains, the rivers, the oceans, the vegetation, the forests, animals, birds, -- the list goes on and on. We had absolutely no hand in creating any of these. In a sense, these are all God-given gifts to us. If we accept this premise, we can see the hand of the Lord in myriad other ways. This should remind us to recognize and acknowledge in all humility and reverence the invisible hand of the Creator and marvel at His intelligence.
and is to be understood in terms of three attributes (mental states), namely: State of purity (Satvic) State of ambition, drive and passion (Rajasic) State of lethargy, inertia and indolence (Tamasic) All of us are made up of a mixture of these three attributes. The goal of spiritual advancement is to attain state of purity (satvic). Mind can be our best friend or worst enemy (Gita, Chapter 6). The secret is to make mind our best friend and steer our thoughts and energy and thereby our attitude towards self-upliftment. It is ironic, by giving up (sacrifice); one expands one’s spiritual horizon.
We start with this big God-given plus. And then there are a host of other plusses that are concurrently paired with minuses that we have to deal with—sort of opposites. These create a challenge in life. Plus signifies positive and minus negative. Plus implies adding and minus subtracting. For instance, we talk of Power of Positive Thinking/ sign of optimism versus Negative thinking /sign of a pessimism. We all want to build assets and get rid of liabilities.
Another classification Bhagvad Gita mentions in Chapter 16 is in terms of divine and demoniac qualities we all possess and the goal to rise above the demoniac. We sense the divine component in daily dialog where people refer to God under many circumstances (Oh My God, Thank God, God forbid, God-forsaken place, etc.). Further, whenever ethics (dharma) and morality are in danger of decline and the opposite (adharma) is on the ascendency, the Lord intervenes in human form to restore moral law and order. This is referred to as Avataar (Gita-Chapter 4) and can be understood best as a sort of divine feedback mechanism.
Then there are other sets of opposites. We associate virtue as Plus and vice as Minus. We live in a world of particles and anti-particles--which unlike other things in life have exactly equal and opposite characteristics. The world presents us with all sorts of duality which can be understood in terms of plus and minus. While having all plusses is the desired and eventual goal, we realize this is impossible. Plus and minus have variable connotations. For instance, for a ski-resort, minus temperatures are a plus. For someone trying to become healthy, putting on (plussing) weight can be an undesirable, negative thing (minus). When it comes to charity, isn’t better to be a giver than a receiver?
Let us not forget that we are gifted with free will, the ability to make the right decisions, to distinguish what is right versus what we would like to do. We can exercise this to stay where we are; to go higher or to go lower. ____________________________________________
*Melkote Ramaswamy is a physicist, speaker, writer, author of An Immigrant celebrates America (University of Indianapolis Press, 2007) and Vedanta through Drushtaanta (Adhyatma Press, Ahmedabad, India , 2013). He has attended several Vedanta camps at Arshavidya Gurukulam. He an active member of Hindu Temple of Central Indiana and writes a regular column for Faith + Values section of the Indianapolis Star.
We talk of having good Days and bad days; of battle of good versus evil, of beautiful and the ugly. And then there is happiness and sorrow, success and failure/ups and downs. Traditionally, the universe has been analyzed in terms of matter and energy. An alternative approach is described in Bhagvad Gita (Chapter 14) where human behavior is discussed 6
5th Grade - Rama Class Uma Vashistha Vishal Singhal
KG - Dhruv Class Poornima Kini Smitha Kalluparambil
2017 Hindu Heritage Family Camp 1 Grade - Ekalavya Class 6 Grade - Brahma Class st
th
Priyam Yadav Puja Pandya Deepali Songirkar
Chetan Dave Priya Menon
7th/8th Grade - Mahesh Class
2nd Grade - Prahlad Class Sangeetha Saravanan Vandana Singh
Anita Joshi Anil Vashistha Sanjay Kalluparambil
3rd Grade - Arjun Class Rajnish Chauhan Hansa Dave
9th - 12th Grade - Chetana Priyesh Kheradia Kumar Dave
He alone teaches who has something to
4th Grade - Krishna Class give, for teaching is not talking, teaching One of the most exciting activities during the year is the annual Hindu Heritage Family Camp.isThis year was our 16th not imparting doctrines, it is Anita A. Gupta year of camp held at Bradford Woods. We spent the weekend engaged in spiritual discussion and fun outdoor activities. communicating. Jignya Kheradia Our participants enjoyed the opportunity to “unplug” for the weekend and participate in team-building exercises. The - Swami Vivekananda theme for this year was “Sampradaya” and discussions revolved around the Spiritual Traditions of Bharat including Vedic Sampradaya, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism. Participants left feeling energized and knowledgeable on Sunday. Family camp has positively impacted children and parents greatly over the years and 2017 was a great success! One can summarize the camp and its theme based on a verse from the Rig Veda, which coincidentally is also the motto for our Temple: “Ekam Sat Vipraha, Bahudha Vadanti” Truth or God is one but sages call Him by different names We would like to thank the Hindu Temple of Central Indiana and its management for its continued support of the Camp. We would like to also thank the following sponsors for their generous donation for the 2017 Hindu Heritage Family Camp: Subway Sponsors Pizza Sponsor Chips & Juice Sponsor Suresh & Raj Mangal Smt. Rukmini Garg Jayesh Patel Subhash Mahajan Vishnubhai & Pareshbhai Patel
For questions or comments on Balagokulam and Chetana activities, please email priyesh.kheradia@htci.org
Youth and Children’s Activity Desk The Hindu Temple of Central Indiana conducts Balagokulam and Chetana Classes for our children and youth. Both classes are held every Sunday at the Temple from 10:30am to 12:00pm. The classes cater to all grade levels from KG to 12. The activities are designed to develop a well-rounded personality and focuses on enhancing the physical, mental and spiritual well-being of the participants. The classes are headed by a team of dedicated teachers from various walks of life and professions including accountants, doctors, engineers, scientists, teachers, etc. A syllabus has been developed for each class to pass on values in the form of stories and discussions. Yoga and games are an integral part of the curriculum. Written and practical exams
are designed for each class towards the end of the school year. Balagokulam provides our children a platform to practice their culture and religion. This is done through moral stories, scripture study, language learning, festivals, shlokas and games. Chetana focuses on scripture study, discussions/debates and community service. While the curriculum is the foundation, a significant role of the program is to teach kids to make the right choices in life, to be good citizens, be an active part of our Temple and community and to build everlasting friendships. You can register your child at www.htci.org and
click on Balagokulam under “Events and Activities.”
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NONPROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE
Hindu Temple of Central Indiana 3350 N. German Church Road Indianapolis, IN 46235
PAID
INDIANAPOLIS, IN PERMIT # 8042
List of Some Important Events 2017 Our temple is very active throughout the year. We celebrate all festivals, rituals and events at large. Here are some listed.
Year 2017 - Sharad Navaratri Sept. 20-Sept. 29th. September 30 is Vijayadashami On weekdays Devi Pooja from 6:30 pm followed by Prasad and Garbha everyday.
September 9 – Templefest 10am-4pm September 6-19 – Pitru Paksha September 15, 16, 17 - HMEC Meeting September 20 till 29 - Navratri (Devi Pooja) September 30- Vijayadashami October 8 – Karwa Chauth October 19 – Deepavali October 20 – Annakut Karthika Somvar October 23, 30, November 6, and 13 November 1 – Tulsi Vivah November 11 - Annual Gala Dinner November 16 – Ayyappa Mandala Utsav begins December 2– Karthik Deepam December 18, Hanuman Jayanti December 29 - Vaikuntha Ekadashi Satyanarayan Pooja - Oct 4, Nov 3, Dec 2 Ganesh Sankathara Chaturthi - Sep 9, Oct 8, Nov 7, Dec 6 More on www.htci.org or HTCI Calendar.
Wednesday, 20th Thursday, 21st Friday, 22nd Saturday, 23rd Sunday, 24th Monday, 25th Tuesday, 26th Wednesday, 27th Thursday, 28th Friday, 29th Saturday, 30th
- Devi Sthapana 10:30am - Devi Pooja Nepali Group - Devi Pooja Oriya Group - Deeplakshmi Pooja - Chandi Homam 8am - Bathukamma Pooja 2pm - Mata Ki Chowki 4pm - Devi Pooja Gujarati Group - Devi Pooja Bengali Group - Bhagavathi Seva - Devi Pooja Kannada Group - Kanjika Pooja - Devi Pooja - Durga Visarjan 12:30pm
Hindu Temple of Central Indiana hosting 12th ANNUAL HINDU MANDIR EXECUTIVES’ CONFERENCE (HMEC) “Theme: Hindu Temples and Institutions--Challenges of the 21st Century” Friday, September 15th -Sunday 17th, 2017 Venue: Waterfront Hotel, 2930 Waterfront Parkway, Indianapolis, IN 46214
Starting Friday 4pm with registration and dinner followed by Inaugural Session. Saturday, 6am Yoga & Meditation; Breakfast followed by Conference Sessions Lunch and Conference Sessions followed by Tea ending 5:30 pm Gala Dinner and Entertainment Program at Temple starting 6:30pm Sunday, 6am Yoga & Meditation; Breakfast, Conference Sessions closing Noon followed by Lunch
Please register online at www.myhmec.com • Registration $150/person For more info Contact Vijaypal Reddy 317-270-3825, vijaypal.reddy@htci.org Arun Jain 765-376-396 ajmd02@gmail.com 8