President's Message

Dear Devotees:

Namaste. 

The coming week is going to be very busy at the temple, with Maha Siva Ratri being on the 15th. I invite you and your family and friends to come and worship at the temple and seek the blessings of Bhagavan. When you visit the temple, please sponsor in one of many ways so that we can continue to celebrate our holy events in an appropriate way. 

Many people have asked about the date of Siva Ratri in the U.S and in Atlanta. Siva Ratri is observed on the night of Magha Bahula Chaturdasi. As you can see in the calendar that was prepared for our temple (Atlanta, GA) that day is February 15th this year. In India, that day is 16th. The temple is therefore, observing Siva Ratri on Thurday, Feb. 15th. As you note from the flyer, there are many events scheduled for the whole weekend. On Satruday, 17th, Sahasra Linga Archana is there and in the afternoon there is a program of devotional singing by Amritha Varshini. There is also a Health Fair on Feb 17th. Please see the flyer below for more information. 

The Pooja Committee, under the leadership of Sri Jaganmohan Rao, has been working to streamline the services offered by the temple. Effective March 1st, there will be adjustments in the cost of various services. Some of them will be higher and others will be lower. In addition, for many of the services, priest dakshina will be included in the charge. There will not be any need to pay any dakshina separately. However, if any devotee wants to honor the priests with dakshina, that is fine. Please ask the priest to place that amount in the common priest dakshina pool. The temple distributes that money equally to all priests on a monthly basis. We are asking our priests to refrain from seeking any dakshina from devotees and we are also asking devotees to follow the procedure outlined above. Please give us a feedback about this policy. Our goal is to make your visit to the temple a pleasant one. 

Please note that there will be a lunar eclipse on Saturday, March 3rd, beginning 4 30 PM. Therefore, the time for Srinivasa Kalyanam is changed to 1 30 PM. Satyanarayana Pooja will be performed on Sunday, March 4th at 4 PM. The temple will close on March 3rd at 3 30 PM and reopen again on Sunday, March 4th at the usual time.

One of the most requested services at the temple has been the availability of a scholar/teacher (Acharya) at the temple to educate us and lead us in our spiritual quest. We are very fortunate that Sadhvi Vrnda Chaitanya will conduct regular discourses and classes for the benefit of the community, initially once a month. Her first discourse/will be on Sunday, March 11th. Please attend her classes with your family and children and benefit from her knowledge and wisdom. I obtained the following information from the atlanta gita website.--"Sadhvi Vrnda Chaitanya is a Vedic Monk, and the disciple of Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati. A scholar of Vedanta and Sanskrit, she has taught at the University of California, Berkeley. She is a regular speaker at global symposiums of religious and spiritual leaders. Vrndaji resides and teaches at the Arsha Vijnana Mandiram, a retreat center outside of Valdosta, GA, devoted to the study of Vedanta.") 

Temple Fund Raising Banquet is on Saturday, March 17th at 7 PM (See flyer). Please support the fund raising efforts of the temple in any way you can. Details are in the flyer below. 

Also, in March, we will celebrate Sri Rama Navami on 26th, Monday, There will be events the weekend of 24th and 25th. Please look for event flyers in the temple and in your email box. 

I hope you have had a chance to listen to some of the great music presented at the two day event, Great Composers' Weekend, organized by CMAGA at the temple. On Saturday, Feb. 10th there were individual and group singing. There were many children and youngsters who participated in the day's events. There were vocalists, as well as instrumentalists among the youngsters. On Sunday, there were Tyagaraja Pancha Ratna Kirtanulu in the morning and the day concluded with the singing of Utsava Sampradaya Kirtanulu. If you meet any of the musicians, please congratulate them on a wonderful job and encourage others to support events like this. 

Please contact me with any suggestions, comments or with offers of help. My email is: pravisarma@hotmail.com 

Hari Om. 
Sincerely, 
P. Ravi Sarma, President

Events February - March

Wednesday, February 14, 6:30 PM Pradosham (Siva & Nandi Abhishekam)
Thursday, February 15--Maha Siva Ratri
Thurs 15 to Saturday 17--Maha Siva Ratri events - see flyer below
Saturday February 17, all day event Sahasralinga Archana
Saturday, February 17--10 AM to 3 PM: Health Fair by Emory students and faculty. Bone Density screening.
Saturday, February 17--2PM to 5PM: (Telugu)Bhakti Geetalu by Amritha Varshini
Wednesday, February 28, 6:30 PM Pradosham (Siva & Nandi Abhishekam)
Saturday, March 3, 1:30 PM, Srinivasa Kalyanam (change of time due to lunar eclipse)
Saturday, March 3, Lunar Eclipse (Temple will close at 3 30 PM. Reopens on Sunday, 4th in AM)
Sunday, March 4, 4 PM Group Satyanarayana Pooja (change of date due to eclipse on 3rd)
Wednesday, March 7, Sankashta Hara Chaturthi (Vinayaka Pooja) 
Sunday, March 11, 9 30 AM to 2 30 PM (Auditorium) lectures/Discourse--Sadhviji Vrnda Chaitanya 
Saturday, March 17, 7 PM (Banquet Hall) Temple Fund Raising Banquet - See flyer below

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