Oom Asatoo maa Sat gamaya
Tamasoo maa jyootih gamaya
MRtyoo maa amRtan gamaya.

(bRhadaraNyaka Upanishad-1d 3.28)

Ooom! O Supreme Lord!
Lead us from untruth to truth
Lead us from darkness to light
Lead us from death to immortality.

The Hindu community in Atlanta has witnessed a constellation of spectacular religious and cultural events at the HTA during the Memorial Day weekend. Under the direction of our resident priests Gopal Bhattar and Phanikumar, and with the help and guidance of many special invitee priests from India and within the U.S., the Brahmotsavam celebrations were gloriously observed in a very authentic and traditional fashion. Click here. It took the Puja committee headed by Raju Vanapalli and Rajyam Mohan several months of preparation to get ready for this 5-day event, which included Sri Rama Taraka Nama Japa Maha Yagnam, 14th Varshikotsavam of Balaji temple and 2nd Varshikotsavam of Sri Ramalingeswara temple. The main event at the Siva temple was the Sata Rudra Yagam, which was coordinated by our own priest Mallikarjuna Sarma. 

The highlight of the Brahmotsavam celebrations, as always been, was the Sayanotsava Seva for Lord Venkateswara. Our guest priest from Jacksonville, Florida, Srinath Kidambi mesmerized the audience with his soothing and mellifluous presentation of Annamayya kritis. Our local musicians, Subhashini Krishnamurthy and Padma Rajaraman filled in with their melodious renditions on Balaji. The audience was awestruck by a young, talented musician who is a newcomer to Atlanta. Sudhamayi, a twenty three year old young woman who recently moved from Hyderabad sang several Annamacharya compositions and stole the hearts of one and all with her sweet voice. President Arunprasad Kancherla honored our resident priest Kesava Murthy for his 12-year service to the Hindu Temple. He was presented with a cash gift collected from generous donors under the direction of Lakshmi Rao, a longtime devotee of the temple.

The cultural show included magnificent presentation of individual and group dances by students of Savitha Viswanath, Sasikala Penumarthi, Chandrika Chandran and Revathi Komanduri. “Valli kalyanam”, a ballet choreographed by Chandrika Chandran was short and sweet. It was a momentous occasion when Sujaya Dixit, who has been teaching Bharatanatyam in Atlanta for the last 30 years, enthralled the devotees with her dance dedicated to Lord Siva. Narender Reddy, the Cultural Committee Chairperson did a tremendous job in organizing a first class event.

A unique event showcased at the temple during the Brahmotsavam celebrations was the Harikatha Kalakshepam “Srinivasa Kalyanam” by Savitri Jayanthi of Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam. She engaged the sparse but attentive audience with pure diction, husky and commanding voice and subtle but wonderful wit. She was ably accompanied by her talented twenty one year old son, Siva Swaroop. Those who attended her Harikatha felt extremely fortunate to have witnessed such a rare jewel.

The food committee, led by Uma Reddy made food arrangements for the priests and all the devotees that attended the 5 day celebrations. Our chief cook Rangachari prepared sumptuous meals (prasadams) for the deities throughout the day, all five days, for various pujas in an efficient manner.

The 2nd Bhagavadvani issue for the year was released during the month of May. Under the direction of the Public Relations Chairperson, Sheela Lingam, the semi-annual temple magazine got a facelift. Readers could see a new improved version with articles on diverse issues.

Everyone in the executive committee worked toward the success of the Brahmotsavam celebrations along with many trustees and innumerable volunteers. We thank each and everyone for their devotion and support to the temple.

The results of the Mothers’ Day essay competition were announced and prizes were distributed at the Mothers' Day Luncheon on Sunday, May 14th. We congratulate the winners. Below is the 1st prize high school essay. Click here to read the essay.

Essay Topics

High School (Grades: 9-12): If you were on the committee in charge of awarding the Nobel Peace Prize, whom would you nominate? Why?
Winners: 1. Ahalya Prabhakar  2. Anita Bhagavathula   3. Shilpa Darivemula

Middle School (Grades 6-8): What does a family mean to you?
Winners: 1. Harrison Falk  2. Chaitanya Sambangi  3. Tanya Khasnavis

Elementary School (Grades K-5): ______________ is my hero because …
Winners: 1. Sathvik Namburar  2. Aparna Maddala  3. Shreya Ganeshan

Below is a list of the events planned for the month of June. We hope to see you at the temple during those events.

“I am God. I am not different from God”. Be conscious of this always. Keep it ever in mind. Be reminding yourself of this. Pray that you will not fail in this spiritual exercise. Baba

Have a wonderful summer!!

Sheela Lingam and Seshu Sarma

Ahalya Prabhakar's prize winning high school essay

When a person imagines a pacifist, they rarely imagine a general in the navy. Yet, those in the army and navy may be the best and most influential pacifists as they are the few who have lived through the experience of war. This year’s Nobel Peace Prize should be awarded to Laxminarayan Ramdas. Laxminarayan Ramdas, former chief of Navy of India. He has devoted his life towards the denuclearization and demilitarization of both India and Pakistan, thus settling the India-Pakistan conflict.

Laxminarayan Ramdas is determinedly working towards the denuclearization of both India and Pakistan. He believes that the first step to ending the Indian-Pakistan conflict is the destruction of the nuclear weapons. He has spoken in many conferences and written for both newspapers and articles to promote the denuclearization. In the “Uncommon Opportunities: A Roadmap for Employment, Food and Global Security” conference, in New Delhi, from November 19 to November 22, 2004, he discussed the nuclear disarmament of both India and Pakistan. He declared that the sixty years of discussion about the disarmament has been worthless because no action has been taken toward the denuclearization of India and Pakistan.
Not only does Laxminarayan Ramdas address the statesmen of many countries on this issue, but he also alerts the public in India about the matter. He has written articles in many newspapers in the hope of achieving his goal. For example, on May 31, 2002, he wrote an article for “The Hindu”, the Indian national newspaper. In this article, titled “A Roadmap to Peace”, he proposes a peace plan to quickly achieve the nuclear disarmament of both countries. He realizes that the demilitarization of both countries is of utmost importance as a war between India and Pakistan may be imminent. He urges the governments that signed the United Nations resolution against terrorism to help accept the plan. Both the Shimla agreement and Lahore agreement declare that both countries will put aside their differences peacefully- he states that now is the most important time to honor this agreement.

Laxminarayan Ramdas is also part of many organizations, which are helping towards his cause. He is the Chief Patron of the Indian Chapter of the India-Pakistan Soldiers Initiative for Peace, or the IPSI. This organization comprises of retired Army, Navy, and Air Force personnel and its goal is to better understand the feelings of those in the Armed Forces of different countries. He also chaired the inaugural session of the Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (CNDP) and has also served as spokesperson for CNDP in several United Nations. Finally, he is on the International Advisory Board for the Hague Appeal for Peace (HAP) and on the Advisory Board for Waging Peace Foundation Santa Barbara USA.

Laxminarayan Ramdas, Former Chief of Navy in India, has devoted his life towards the nuclear disarmament and the demilitarization of both Pakistan and India, thereby helping solve the India-Pakistan conflict. He is a major influence, and he is helping prevent a nuclear catastrophe. India, and the world, should be proud of this great leader.

“This is my original work and it has not been published elsewhere

2006 Brahmotsavam celebrations

The celebrations started on Wednesday, May 24th 2006 with Ankurarpanam and Dwaja Arohanam . Prakara Usavams were done twice a day and on Saturday, Grand Ratha Yatra was the major attraction. Brahmotsavam concluded on Sunday, May 28th with the completion of Sri Rama Taraka Maha Yagam, Chakra Snanam, Vasantotsavam and Dwaja Avarohanam. The highlight on Sunday was the Visesha Sayanotsavam. On Monday, the main event was the Sata Rudra Yagam which was followed by Maha Satyanarayana Puja.

The following are the guest priests who contributed to the success of the celebrations:

Sri Bala Subrahmanyan arrived from Charloette, SC in Atlanta on May 21 to help the priests to get prepared for Varshikotsavam celebrations. He recited Sama Veda Parayanam.

Sri Rangachari Srinivasan & Sri Narasimhan Srinivasan recited the Narayana Divya Prabhandham (4000 verses). They came from India to participate in Koti Kumkumarchana in California and HTA was fortunate to recruit them for this occassion. 

Long time Temple friend Sri Ganesha Sarma Cherukupalli from California joined us during the celebrations. He was invited for Seva kalam – Veda Paryanam. He participated in Sata Rudra Yagam.

Sri Srinadh Kidambi is the regular guest priest in our Varshikotsavam celebrations. He mesmerized us with his explanations during the functions. 

Sri Bhirava Murthy from New Jersey participated in our 2nd Siva varshikotsavam celebrations and the Sata Rudra Yagam.

14th Brahmotsavam was celebrated with Sri Rama Taraka Maha Yagam and Sata Rudra Yagam. Veda Parayanam, Prabhamdha Parayanam, Sundara Kanda Parayanam (Saturday and Sunday) and Bhavadgita Parayanam was recited twice daily during celebrations.