6300 Princess Garden Parkway, Lanham, MD 20706

NALLUR KATHIRKAMA KANTHAN

FESTIVAL: AUGUST 12TH AND 13TH

Mark your calendars

f o r t h e N a l l u r

Kathirkama Kanthan celebrations for the 3rd

successive year. Join

thousands of devotees

from all over North

America as Murugan

parades the Temple along with his

consorts Valli and Devasena in the

chariot. For detailed schedule, see page 2.

ANNUAL FUNDRAISER EVENT

ON OCT 15TH

The MTNA is celebrating the annual

fundraising event with the following two

stage plays on Saturday October 15th at

t h e M T N A a u d i t o r i u m b y

YGee. Mahendra and his troupe of 12

performing artists.

Swadeshi Aiyer and Venkata3.

YGee Mahendra is a popular Tamil

artist, both, on stage and silver screen.

He has penned many a popular drama

and been part of meaningful cinema. He

is also a recipient of the Lifetime

Achievement Award from Tamil Nadu

Government in Feb 2011.

The tickets for the two plays including

sumptuous snacks followed by dinner is

$30 per person. Special seating for the

first three rows is $40 per person.

For tickets or information, contact

Lakshmi Iyengar 410-551-4308

Raghavan (manager) 301-552-4889.

INSIDE

Annual fundraiser on October 15th 1

Message from the Trust 1

Nallur Festival 1, 2

Maha Kumbabishekam celebrations 3, 6

Initiating recurring donations

by credit card: Announcement 3

Volunteers’ experience 4

Nandavanam: Announcement 4

Donors 5, 6

Yajur Upakarma: Announcement 6

Navarathri Celebrations: Announcement 6

July-Sept calendar 7

Salutes to the one Self

within all selves

VINAYAKA CHATURTHI: SEPT 1ST

Vinayaka is the remover of all

obstacles. Please join us for the grand

Vinayaka chaturhi celebrations. Please

refer to calendar on page 7 for details.

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN

My dear fellow devotees of Lord Muruga,

I take this as a privilege to thank you all

for coming together and celebrating the

12th anniversary Kumbabishekam on a

grand scale within a short notice. We are

sending the Thiruneeru and Kumgumam

prasadams with the blessings of Lord

Muruga. But for your sincere and tireless

efforts, this great function could not have been successful. My sincere thanks to all

the trustees, executive committee

members, various other committee

members and all volunteers who put forth

their sincere work night and day tirelessly

to make this event a grand success. I hope

and trust that we all will keep up this

momentum and thrust to stay together and

complete the Rajagopuram project which

is our dream. With all the blessings of

Lord Muruga,

Sincerely,

Gopal Guruswamy,

Chairman,

MTNA Board of Trustees.

2

3

JEERANODHARANA ASHTABANDHANA KUMBABISHEKAM:

WHEN THE SKIES THEMSELVES CONDUCTED THE

ABHISHEKAM

The Murugan Temple of North

America celebrated the grand Jeeranodharana Ashtabandhana

Kumbabishekam, 12 years since the

first Kumbabishekam, from May 8th

to 14th. The Maha Kumbabishekam

was conducted on May 13th . The

concluding day celebrations on May

14th included special Abhishekam to

Lord Murugan, Valli and Devasena,

Th ir uka l yan am and Swam i

oorvalam. Delicious prasadams were

served on all days. Here, we present

a photo feature of the magnificent

celebrations.

The rituals on

the first day

i n c l u d e d

G a n a p a t h i

H o m a m ,

G a n p a t h i

Abhishekam,

N a v a g r a h a

Homam and

N a v a g r a h a Abhishekam in

the morning

and Vaastu

Shanti, Kumbablankaram, and Yagasala

Pravesham in the evening. Celebrations

upto May 13th included ten kaala poojas in

t h e m or n in gs an d even i n gs ,

Deeparadhanai and poornahuti. Delicious

dinner was served to everyone on all days.

Priests from various Temple in the USA and Canada

participated in the grand celebrations and conducted the rituals.

The whole function was presided over by Sri Thangam Bhattar,

now at Lousiana. He hails from a family with a long history of

priesthood serving the Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple.

He also conducted the

Kumbabishekam for the

Ma dura i Meen aksh i

Amman shrine in 2009. He has also presided over the

Kumbabishekm of several

Temple in the USA. The

MTNA management is

v e r y g r a t e f u l t o

contributions in kind and

spirit from other Temples.

Sri Siva Vishnu Temple

(SSVT, Lanham, MD)

provided a priest free of

charge and also housing for some of the visiting

priests. SSVT and the

Greater Baltimore Hindu– Jain Temple (Baltimore) served

Thambulam on the day of Kumbabishekam.

(Continued on page 6)

Salutes to the

consencrated Kumbam

Deeparathanai Sri Thangam Bhattar presided

over the celebrations

Priests with the consecrated kalasams

Murugan with Valli and

Devasena on the Mayil vahanam

during procession

Delicious, free

food was served to

all devotees on all

days

CAPABILITY TO INITIATE RECURRING DONATIONS BY

CREDIT CARD

You can now initiate periodic recurring donations to the temple

with your credit card. This feature is available while making

donations online from the Temple website. Your credit card will be automatically charged on a periodic basis that you spec-

ify. Take a moment today and initiate your recurring donation.

Priests bringing the kalasams consecrated with the deities

back into the Temple for prathishtai.

4

DAYS TO THE MAHA KUMBABISHEKAM:

VOLUNTEERS’ EXPERIENCE

By Elyathamby Vignarajah and Baskaran

Many volunteers took time off from work or leisure and

worked diligently to renovate the Temple for the grand

Ashtabandha Kumbabishekam celebrations. The volunteers

worked dedicatedly in a spirit of family union as though in

preparation of the home for a marriage. Indeed, it was a happy

and joyous occasion for everyone, who are otherwise teachers,

engineers, scientists and many others, to hold the broom or

brush to give Murugan’s abode a new look. Here, we present

to you a snapshot of the volunteers at work in the days leading

to the Kumbabishekam and some recollections of their

experiences by volunteers.

A devotee volunteer recalls ―I was fortunate to have been a

part of the group for arrangement and join in the celebrations. I

thank the many volunteers who responded to our telephone

calls and helped us do a near perfection job in every aspect: the

external appearance, the internal painting and we had just two

weekends with full-time jobs. We washed every wall,

painting it – everyone whom we called, UMD students with

last minute papers to turn in, exams to do, engineers, doctors, children, husbands, wives, onlookers, and devotees –people

who had never touched a brush or paint joined in to complete

the task – it was a zealous & enthusiastic group of devotees. So

with the others who

helped with the tent,

a place to do the

Yagam, the seats for

the priests, or name

whatever you will,

they were all there

to help including

the priests.

It was a great

s u c c e s s w i t h

everyone doing

whatever they could

from arranging materials from India, to nathaswaram, to

collecting funds without which nothing is possible. The out

pouring of support that followed the announcement of the Kumbabishekam date and the

meeting on Sunday, April 10,

2011 was unbelievable.

Mr. Vignarajah took on

communications, and took on

the challenge to get the

temple ready with less

funding and with volunteers’

help. He thanks the

volunteers for their profuse

help. I had also taken on

Communications; it was great help to have the printing and distribution done expeditiously,

the TV ads, the banners, flyers kept at shops, and at common

places, the calling in State, and out of State.

Sunday, April 10, 2011, Chairman Dr. Guruswamy arranged a

meeting to discuss the plans for the Kumbabishekam

celebrations. He requested

Dr. Baskaran to head the

fundraising committee. It

was hardly four weeks to

the event. During the discussion, Mr. Sundar

Chokalingam, the chair of

t h e Kum bh bi sh e ka m

committee, proposed the

budget of $60,000 for the

week long function.

Although there was not

enough time to raise this

large sum, Dr. Baskaran set a goal to raise

$100,000. He organized about 30

volunteers from Maryland, Virginia,

Pennsylvania and New Jersey, including many trustees and gave each one 15 to 40

devotees’ names to personally call and

in vi t e th em and spon sor th e

Kumbabishekam. All in all about 800

devotees were contacted. Ms. Sundari

Srishkandarajah not only called many

devotees, she also

a r r a n g e d T V

commercial which

h el p e d i n t h e

fundraising. Many volunteers contacted their own friends in addition to the list

given to them. Mr. Vignarajah was given

the responsibility of communication. He,

along with Ms. Manimekalai, printed and

mailed about 5000 invitations, again with

help of many volunteers.

A Few days after the Kumbabishekam,

news came from Mrs Avayam Shankar, the treasurer, that $92,000 was collected for the event so for. It

is a success story of dedicated volunteers who can do miracles

and committed devotees whom we can depend on. We will like

to make it as $100,000 if devotees want to continue giving

towards the Kumbabishekam of the Murugan Temple‖.

Vetri Vel Muruganukku !! Haro Hara !!!

A team of enthusiastic volunteers

Volunteers at work

Volunteers cleaning

the Navagraha

vigrahams before the

re-consecration.

Painting in progress

NANDAVANAM (FLOWER GARDEN)

The flower garden is still in its infancy.

We need flowers on a daily basis for the

poojas and for garlands. We are calling on

all devotees to join in and bring your friends as volunteers to have a beautiful garden. We

need not only flowering plants but help on a

weekly basis to make sure we maintain whatever is planted.

We need to form a team, have regular meetings and decide

how we are going to plan and have a beautiful garden with

plenty of flowers for poojas. We thank the devotees who con-

tributed in the past to the nandavanam project. We request for

more flowering plants and volunteers to help with the watering

and taking care of them continuously, during the summer

months. Please contact the temple at (301) 552 – 4889.

Silpi at work

5

DONORS TO THE MURUGAN TEMPLE

The MTNA management would like to extend its warmest and most sincere gratitude to the devotees. Given below is the list of donors

for the Kumbabishekam celebrations.

6

On the day of Maha Kumbabishekam,

the cloudy sky itself came down with

l i g h t s h o w e r s t o p e r f o r m

Maha Abhishekam to the Kumbam. It

was indeed a divine experience to the

devotees. For more photos, please

visit the Temple blog.

Vel Vel Vetri Vel.

(Continued from page 3)

Kumbam after

Kumbabiishekam

Gopuram

getting ready

for Abishekam

A special note of thanks to Sri S.P Kannan who helped us procure various materials for Kumbabishekam from India.

NAVARATHTRI CELEBRATIONS: SEPT 27TH-OCT 5TH

Navarathri will be celebrated at the Temple from Sept 27th to

Oct 5th. Please refer to the calendar on page 7 for more details.

On Oct 2nd include Ganesh Puja by children at 4PM. All chil-

dren are welcome. The celebrations on Oct 4th, (Durgastami)

include Chandi Homam at 9AM.

YAJUR UPAKARMA (AVANI AVITTAM): AUGUST 13TH

The batch starts at 7AM. Please call manager 301-552-4889

for more details. All are welcome.

7

Ganapati Tunai “Why Fear? I Am Within You and Protect You Always” — Murugan

Murugan Temple Sponsorship Form

Make Murugan Temple’s Rajagopuram Part of Your Legacy

First Brick (Special) - $51

Ten Bricks – $1,010

North or South Gopuram $250,000

SubTotal Rajagopuram Contribution ....................$________

Sponsor Temple Operations

Full day of temple operations ...................................... $750

Full month: Garlands (all deities) ............................... $900

Full month: Abhishekam and Omam provisions ........ $450

Full month: Milk ........................................................ $250

A full week of Garlands (all deities)............................ $125

One day: Simple garland for a deity........ ..................... $ 15

Choice of Deity for garland :_______________

Sub Total Operations ..........................................$________

Please indicate desired dates _________________

MTNA Newsletter Printing and Mailing .................$__________

Kavasam for Peedam in silver for Murugan,

Valli, Theivayanai....................................................$__________

Check Enclosed for................................................................$__________

Name

Address

City State _________ ZIP ___________________

Phone ____________E–Mail ________________________________

Family Gothiram _________________________________________

Birth Star (el:rj;jpuk;) _____ Name of Family Member

Please use separate sheet for additional family members

Mail: The Murugan Temple of North America, 6300 Princess Garden

Parkway,Lanham, MD 20706 – Please address checks to MTNA.

You can now make contributions and fill-out your donation forms

on-line at www.murugantemple.org

JULY

July 7th, Thu—Aani Thiru Manjanam

06:00AM Nataraja Abhishekam

July 10th, Sun

12noon Thiru Murai recital in front of

Shiva sannidhi

July 12th and 27th —Pradosham

06:00pm Shiva special Abhishekam

July 14th, Thu—Guru Poornima

08:00pm Meenakshi special Abhishekam

July 16th, Sat—Tamil Month Aadi

begins

July 18th, Mon—Sankatahara

Chaturthi

07:30pm Ganesha special Abhishekam

July 25th, Mon—Aadi Karthigai

09:30AM Subramanya Homam

10:30AM Kavadi and Pal Kudam

11:00AM Murugan Abhishekam

07:30pm Palani Andavar special

Abhishekam

AUGUST

Aug 2nd, Tue—Aadi Pooram

11:00AM Meenakshi special Abhishekam

07:00pm Meenakshi sahasranamam

Aug 10th and 26th—Pradosham

06:00pm Shiva special Abhishekam

Aug 12th and 13th—Nallur Kathirkama

Kanthan festival

Please refer to page 2 for more details

Aug 13th—Yajur Upakarma

07:00AM—upakarma starts

Aug 14th—Sun

12:00 noon Thiru Murai recital in front of

Shiva sannidhi

Aug 17th, Wed(Avani begins) —

Shankatahara Chaturthi

07:00pm Ganesha special Abhishekam

Aug 21st, Sun—Karthigai

06:00pm Palani Andavar special

Abhishekam

Aug 28th, Sun—Amavasya

02:30pm Adhi Parasakthi Puja

SEPTEMBER

Sept 1st, Thu—Vinayaka Chaturthi

09:00AM Ganapathi Homam and special

Abhishekam

07:30pm Ganapathi Sahasranamam

And procession

Sept 3rd, Sat—Vinayaka Chaturthi

celebrations

09:00AM Ganapathi Homam and

Abhishekam

05:00pm Bajan

06:00pm Ganapathi Sahasranamam and

procession

Sept 9th, Fri—Pradosham (Thiru

Onam)

06:00pm Shiva special Abhishekam

Sept 10th, Sat

06:00pm Nataraja Abhishekam

Sept 11th, Sun—,Purnima

12:00noon Thiru Murai recital in front of

Shiva sannidhi

06:00pm Meenakshi special Abhishekam

Sept 15th, Thu—Shankarahara

Chaturthi

07:30pm Ganesha special Abhishekam

Sept 17th, Sat—Puratadhi begins,

Karthigai

06:00pm Palani Andavar special

Abhishekam

Sept 24th, Sat—Sani Pradosham

06:00pm Shiva special Abhishekam

Sept 25th, Sun

02:30pm Adhi Parakasthi Puja

Sept 27th—Oct 5th—Navarathri

11:00AM Meenakshi special

Abhishekam

07:30pm Lalitha Sahasranamam

Monthly Friday bajans

July 3rd and 17th ; Aug 5th and 19th ;

Sept 2nd and 16th.

8

TEMPLE SERVICES: Please call the Temple

Manager at 301 552-4889 to make prior arrangements

for ceremonies at the Temple or in your home.

Also, ask for information about local hotels.

TEMPLE HOURS: Monday – Friday 9 am – 12

noon & 5 pm - 9 pm; Saturday, Sunday, & Holidays 9

am – 9 pm

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. 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.

Non Profit Org.

U.S. Postage

PAID

So. MD

Permit No. 3958

Murugan Temple of North America

6300 Princess Garden Parkway

Lanham, MD 20706, USA

CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

The Murugan Temple of North America is a traditional Saivite Tem-

ple. It has a floor area of 7000 sq. ft with main sannidhi for Murugan (Karthikeya) and 4 small sannidhis for Vinayaka (Ganesha), Nataraja

(Siva), Meenakshi and Palani Andavar. We also have an auditorium

that is available for community use.