MURUGAN TEMPLE OF NORTH AMERICA

ahkpUf;f gankd; | fzgjp Jiz

April — June 2016 NEWSLETTER

tl mbkhpf;f KUfd; Myak;

2

MURUGAN TEMPLE OF NORTH AMERICA

Cordially invites you to attend the Grand Occasion of

NOOTHANA RAJAGOPURA MAHAA KUMBHABISHEKAM

Sunday July 3 — July 10, 2016

Grand Celebration — Sunday, July 10, 2016

(Tamil month of Aani, 26, Tamil Year of Dhurmuki)

At the auspicious time set by Sivacharyas

9:30 am —11:45 am

12:30 pm Dheeparadhanai

Come and join thousands of Murugan devotees and receive

Lord Murugan’s bountiful blessings!

PLEASE CONTACT: 301-552-4889 TO FIND OUT HOW YOU CAN SPONSOR EVENTS OF THE CELEBRATION

3

MAJOR CELEBRATIONS AND RELIGIOUS EVENTS AT MTNA APRIL—JUNE 2016

Please check the details in the 2016 MTNA calendar or visit our website: www.murugantemple.org

Information is available with the Temple manager at: 301-552-4889

APRIL 2016 May 2016 Sunday, April 10 Saturday, May 21 9:30 am 63 Naayanmar Guru Puja Vaikasi Visakam and Pazahamuthir Solai Thamizh Vizha Wednesday, April 13 All day sponsorship $151 Tamil New Year Dhurmuki begins Friday, May 2 9:00 am Ganapathy Homam and Kumbhabishekam Anniversary Day 1 Subramanya Homam All day sponsorship $125 9:45 am Ganapathy Abishekam Saturday, May 28 10 am Palani Andavar Abishekam Kumbhabishekam Anniversary Day 2 11 am Murugan Abishekam All day sponsorship $151 9:30 am Sangu Puja Thursday, April 21 3 pm—Murugan Thirukalyanam 4 pm—Murugan Procession 10:30 am — Rajamathangi Homam

7:45 pm—Meenakshi Special Abishekam JUNE 2016 - No special religious events

4

MURUGAN TEMPLE CHILDREN’S CLASSES

The Murugan Temple Children’s Class offers a beautiful range of subjects from Bajan to Hindu Re-ligion to Hatha Yoga to Tamil. The largest crowd attends the Bajan classes which begin at 10:15 am and a dedicated group of about 25 students attend the Tamil class which begins a little after noon. Tamil Classes are certified and materials are provided by the American Tamil Academy. Classes ranging from Mazhalai (Beginner level) to Nilai-5 (Relatively advanced level) and are open to all inter-ested parents and children. Attendance is distributed as follows:

Mazhalai - 4 Nilai 1 - 4 Nilai 2 - 5 Nilai 3 - 4

Nilai 4 - 5 Nilai 5 - 5 Adults Class – 3

For more information, contact Dr. Pathmathevan Mahadevan email: Pathmathevan M appan69@hotmail.com. _________________________________________________________________________________________

RECENT RELIGIOUS EVENTS AT MTNA

Thaippoosam and Pazhani Peru Vizha Celebration in January 2016.

Mahaa Sivrathri

First Jaama Puja, March, 2016

Panguni Uttiram & Thiruparankundram Thirumana Vizha, March, 2016. Devotees, including a young one, singing the praise of A short talk on Lord Murugan by Lord Murugan at the festival. Mrs. Saraswathi Ranganathan .

5

Pictures of the decorative main door (East entrance to the temple) and one of the panels to be fixed on the door. These were constructed in Tamil Nadu.

__________________________________________________

DECORATIVE WORK

IN THE PRAYER HALL

Arupadai Veedu (mWgil tPL) sculptures

to be installed in the prayer hall at the temple.

Silpis Nagaraj Shankam and Mohan are the primary sculptors who designed and

created these divine figures.

SRI NAGARAJ SHANKAM

A senior Silpi and Sthapathy was among the temple artisans from Tamil Nadu; he was adept at creat-ing divine figures. He made invalu-able contributions to the construc-tion of the five-tier tower and the ornate interior decorations at our temple. Due to complications from severe stroke, Sri Nagaraj Shankam passed away peacefully at Doctors Hospital, Lanham on Thursday, March 10, 2016.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the members of his family, friends and co-workers here at the temple.

A CALL FOR ARTICLES AND OLD PHOTOS OF MURUGAN TEMPLE OF NORTH AMERICA

In connection with the grand celebration of Noothana Rajagopura Mahaa Kumbhabishekam in July 2016, MTNA will publish a souvenir. The proposed souvenir will contain articles by members of the Murugan congregation. You are invited to share your thoughts about your beautiful experience of visiting the temple and seeking Lord

Murugan’s bountiful blessings. Each article should be one to two pages when typed; it can be in English or Tamil. We will accept even hand-written work, but prefer typed article in Word format or pdf format. All submit-

ted work is subject to editing by the Souvenir Committee. Please send your article by email to: sridar227@gmail.com.

Secondly, it is our intent to include a pictorial history of the development of the temple. If you have any old pho-tos that depict the first MTNA Kumbhabishekam in 1999 or some from very early stages of the development of the temple and don’t mind sharing them with us, you can send them to the temple address. We will be sure to

return the photos to you after we scan them. The deadline for the articles and the photos is April 30, 2016. We look forward to your submissions.

6

Murugan Temple

of North America

6300 Princess Garden Parkway, Lanham, Maryland 20706, USA

www.murugantemple.org

301-552-4889

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

Devotees are the foundation of any temple. Volunteers are the pillars. MTNA needs more volun-teers. We cordially invite the devotees to volunteer a few hours a month to help on various occa-

sions. Please join the dedicated team of volunteers to show your devotion to Lord Murugan. Please contact Dr. Manimekalai Saravanan at the temple phone number.

You can find us on the Face Book at https://www.facebook.com/MuruganTempleNorthAmerica

The Murugan Temple of North America is a traditional Hindu Temple. It has a floor area of 7000 sq. ft with main sannidhi for Murugan (Karthikeya) and separate sannidhi for each of the other deities: Vinayaka (Ganesha), Durgai Amman, Siva, Meenakshi Amman and Palani Andavar. Navagrahas are featured as well. Visit our web site: www.murugantemple.org

TEMPLE HOURS: Monday – Friday 9 am – 12 noon & 5 pm - 9 pm;

Saturday, Sunday, & Holidays 9 am – 9 pm.

TEMPLE SERVICES: MTNA Priests are available to perform religious

ceremonies for devotees. Please call the Temple Manager to discuss your

needs and make prior arrangements for ceremonies at the Temple or in your

home. Also, ask for information about local hotels for your short stay during

visit to the temple.

AUDITORIUM: The Temple’s auditorium capable of seating about 200 people

in the basement is available for rent by Devotees. The Temple has also ample

parking space. Please call the Temple Manager at 301 552-4889 for

reservations.

DIRECTIONS TO MURUGAN TEMPLE: From I-95 (also 495, Capital

Beltway), take exit 20-A, Lanham (Rte 450 East), then follow the signs to

Princess Garden Parkway. Turn right on Princess Garden Parkway. “Murugan

Temple” is on your left within half a mile (6300 Princess Garden Parkway).

From Baltimore-Washington Parkway take Exit to Rt. 193 East Greenbelt

Road. Turn left on Greenbelt Road. Turn right on Hanover Parkway, which

becomes Princess Garden Parkway. Drive about 2.5 miles. The temple will be

on your right.

MURUGAN TEMPLE PUJA FUND

We use flowers and garlands, milk and fruits for deities for daily pujas as well as for spe-cial occasions. Please donate generously to the “MTNA PUJA FUND.” Contact 301-552-4889 for online donation or for other ways to donate. _______________________________________

Sri Chandikeswarar statue, sculpted in Tamil

Nadu under the guidance of Padmasri

Muthiah Sthapathy, to be

installed in the prayer hall.

cUtha; mUtha; csjha; ,yjha;

kUtha; kyuha; kzpaha; xspaha;

fUtha; capuha;f; fjpaha; tpjpaha;

FUtha; tUtha; mUs;tha; Ffnd

- fe;jh; mEg{jp

Xk; KUfh

ntYk;

kapYk;

Jiz