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Aatmaa tvam, girijaa mathih sahajanaa praaNaah Sariiram gRham
Puujaa tee vishayoopabhoogaracanaa, nidraa samaadhi sthitih
Samcaarah padayooh pradakshiNa vidhih, stootraaNi sarvaa girah,
Yadyat Karma karoomi tattadakhilam Sambho! Tavaaraadhanam.

O Sambhu! You are my aatma (inner self). Girija (Parvathi) is my mind, your attendants are my lives (praaNas). My body is your dwelling, all my worldly experiences constitute your worship, my sleep is attunement with you, all that I walk is always around you, all my utterances are your praise, and whatever I do is ever your worship.

We are already one month into the year 2006. Much happened at the temple in the month of January. Navodaya 2006, the New Year celebrations at the temple was a grand success. Under the leadership of Jayasree Moparthy, a team of volunteers worked day and night to make this an unforgettable event. Thousands of devotees and visitors waited in long lines to take darshan of the deities in the temple. The creative and artistic talents of the priests, their families and volunteers culminated in the most beautiful and scintillating decorations of the deities as well as the temple. A group of volunteers headed by Uma Reddy and Tulasi Vanapalli served a variety of delicious food items to the thousands that attended the temple. Many enjoyed the top-notch cultural programs arranged by Narender Reddy. Balu and his team, with the help of Kusuma Kotte, worked meticulously to have vendor booths at the temple. See photo gallery Ashok Kumar and his team of volunteers did a superb job of managing the crowds. The president of the temple, Arunprasad Kancharla and his executive committee would like to thank everyone who contributed to the success of Navodaya 2006. 

Vaikuntha Ekadasi, believed to be the most auspicious day of the year, was celebrated on Tuesday, January 10. Eighty people joined the rendering of Suprabhatam at 5:00AM in spite of the chilly weather. Many devotees attended the temple through out the day to witness the Lord.

Focus On Family seminars were started on Sunday, January 22. Rajesh Jyotishi and Pavittar Safir gave a very informative and concise presentation on Retirement Planning and the new Medicare Part D prescription drug plans. Please check the seminars link on the HTA website for information on upcoming seminars. The Education Committee is in the process of putting together SAT classes for high school students. The information should be available on the website soon.

Please check the special event calendar for February and attend all the important events. The two main functions are Bhishma Ekadasi on Wednesday, February 8, and Maha Siva Rathri, on Sunday, February 26. The Carnatic Music Association of Georgia is observing its annual Tyagaraja Aradhana and Great Composers’ day the weekend of February 11 and 12. We hope to see you all participate in it.

Sheela Lingam and Seshu Sarma

Worship, penance, meditation, and bhajan are sacred activities that make your life meaningful, purposeful and useful. But you can’t brand them as spiritual. The true spiritual path is “Atma Vichara”, self-inquiry. True spirituality is the awareness of Atma.
Baba

Special Events for February, 06                                         

The Hindu Temple of Atlanta
A Presentation of the Education Committee

Focus On The Family

(3rd Sunday of the month) 1 PM to 3 PM
The Hindu Temple of Atlanta, 
Educational Center
Admission is free

Registration is encouraged to allow for better planning of the sessions.

For more information The Hindu Temple of Atlanta, 770 907 7102,ext.1
P. Ravi Sarma, 404 864 2544
Register for any of the seminars on line at: http://www.hindutempleofatlanta.org/seminars.html

All the seminars will be interactive sessions. You can send your questions ahead of time and they will be addressed during the course of presentation. Send your questions on any of the three sessions to: pravisarma@hotmail.com They will be forwarded to the appropriate panelists.

Sunday, February 19, 2006: Preserving our heritage: Teaching religion, language, and culture at home.

(Moderator) P. Seshu Sarma, MD 
(Panelists) Anu Nathan, teacher, Chinmaya Bala Vihar, HTA, 
Chitra Suresh, Musician and teacher, 
Indira Sarma, Kuchipudi Dancer and 
Vandana Murthy, Kuchipudi Dancer and undergraduate at UGA 

Topics addressed will include: 

1.How important is it to teach religion?
2. What do we expect when we enroll our children in music and dance classes?
3. How come teaching mother tongue to our children does not seem to be as important as other things such as religion and other aspects of our culture?

Sunday, March 19, 2006: Educating our children: School choice, managing expectations, and psychosocial issues. 
(Moderator) Suvrat Bhargave, MD, Child Psychiatrist (Panelists) Kalpana Raju, M.Ed. (Principal, Roswell Elementary School and an expert on special education), and Ami Kadaba, Westminister School, Atlanta. 

This seminar was very popular when it was presented in 2002 and is being presented again due to the many parental requests.

Sunday, April 23, 2006: Principles of Hinduism: P. Ravi Sarma 

What defines Hinduism? What are the essential characteristics? The concept of One God, many forms (Polymorphic Monotheism) Understanding the concept of God/gods/Devas Hindu texts, rituals and its sacred arts, should they be preserved, and in what way?

Looking beyond caste, regionalism and nationality-The emerging picture of Hinduism in 21st Century.

The Hindu Temple of Atlanta is ileased to present

Jugalbandhi

A melodious fusion of Carnatic music on flute and Hindusthani on Santur

Flute: V.K Raman
(disciple of Vidwan Sri N. Ramani)
Santur: Nand Kishore Muley
(disciple of Santur Maestro Sri Shivakumar Sharma)
Mridangam: Santosh Chandru
Tabla: Prashunpani Bhattacharjee

On Saturday, March 4, 2006
Time: 2.00 PM

For information, 
contact Seshu Sarma: 770-491-9305 
or Narender Reddy 770-921-8678.