mtna newsletter - october november december 2014

8/11/2019 MTNA Newsletter - October November December 2014

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6300 Princess Garden Parkway Lanham MD

20706. 301

552

4889 www.muruganTemple.org

THEMURUGANTEMPLERAJAGOPURAMPROJECT

It is with the grace of Lord

Murugan that we have been

making steady progress on the

construction of the Rajagopuram

tower. The five-tier structure is

taking shape with the brick work

nearing completion. The next part of the construction

of the tower will involve plastering the whole

structure followed by adding ornamental temple

architecture. The timeline is short; we hope to have

this completed before old man winter arrives in

Maryland. Padmasri M. Muthiah Sthapathi is our

Temple's chief architect who designs and leads the

Indian temple architecture at the Temple. According

to him, the overall configuration of our temple is

similar to 'Somaskandar' architecture: inside the

prayer hall, we see Lord Siva on the right (facing the

devotees when they pray), Lord Murugan in the

(Continued on page 2)

NAVARATHRISEPT24TH

OCT2ND

Mark your calendars for the grand Navarathri

celebrations at the Murugan Temple from Sept 24th

to Oct 2nd. The major highlights of the Navarathri

celebrations are the specialAlankaramsto Meenakshi

Amman on each of the nine days and the Kolu.

The daily events also include Special Abhishekam to

Goddess Meenakshi in the mornings and recitation of

Sri. Lalitha Sahasranama Archana in the evenings.

Chandi Homam will be performed on Oct 1 st

Durgashtami. Oct 2nd is the Saraswati Puja and Oct

3rd is Vijayadasami. Please join us for all the

celebrations.

Rajagopuram Project 1,2,4,5

Nallur Festival 2,3

Navarathri and other forthcoming events 1,3,7

The Board of Trustees 2014-2015 6

Abhinaya Mala 7


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center and Goddess Parvathi Devi on the left. This

special configuration is inviting to all devotees who

receive Lord Murugan's blessings every day. Thiru

Muthiah Sthapathi is meticulous in designing the

configuration according to vasthu sastra and Agama

sastra.

We have ten silpis (temple artisans, specially trained

in South Indian temple architecture; see picture on

page 8) from Chennai working diligently to complete

the Temple

Rajagopuram

and the interior

of the prayer

hall. On the

north side ofthe interior, six

of the sixteen Anivetti pillars are nearly completed;

the work on the south-side pillars continues. Dr. Siva

Sri Pitchai Gurukkal of Pilliarpatti and the MTNA

priests performed Brammaranthra puja on Sept 24th

2014 to signal the successful completion of the tower

brick work and the start of ornamental work from top

tier.

The team of silpis isunder the leadership of

Sri M. Srinivasan

Sthapathi, a trained

temple architect and

the son of Sri Muthiah

Sthapathi. Some of

the silpis have been part of the team for over 25 years

and there are some who have put in about 10 year

experience under the tutelage of the chief architect.

The work of the silpis is meticulous, time-demanding

and quite detailed as we can judge from the

construction that is shaping up in the Temple.

May Lord Murugan guide us along so we can

successfully complete the Rajagopuram Project and

celebrate the grand Mahakumbhabishekam in 2015!

Sridharan Iyengar,

President, Executive Committee, MTNA.

(Continued from page 1) NALLUR FESTIVAL AT MTNA

This year the Nallur Ther (chariot) Festival

at our Murugan Temple in the Washington DC metro

was ushered in onAugust 8 and 9during the 25-day

Festival at theNallur temple in Jaffna, Sri Lanka for

Nallur Kanthan. Our festival was well attended, with

devotee count reaching over a thousand on the second

day. Devotees primarily from out of town areas and

the Greater Washington area reached Lanham,

Maryland by car and coach by the afternoon of Aug

7. They prepared the Ther for its ride, cleaned and

decorated the Temple and got ready for the

Annadhanam (free food distribution) on the second

day of the grand Nallur festival.

As always, the first day was devoted to

Homams

and Abhishekams in the morning forGanapati and Subramaniyar. A large number of

devotees sponsored the Homams and the

Abhishekams. The evening was devoted to Ganapati

Sahasranamam and GanapathiUrvalam (Procession

of Lord Ganesha within the Temple).

The second day of the Festival started

with Mela Thalam performed by a troupe of six

Nathaswaram and Thavil from Yarlpanam (Jaffna)

and some artists from Canada, all of Yarlpanam

origin. The day began with Ganapati Puja followed

by preparation of Sethil Kavadi and those carrying

Pal Kudam.It was a great sight to see the Kavadigal

dancing to the beat of the Mela Thalam and to the

chorus -'Arohara, Arohara'by those carrying thePal

kudam.

The Temple Chief Priest Siva Sri Kalyana Ganesa

Bhattar performed the

Pal Abhishekam toMoolavar Vigraham of

Lord Murugan

followed by a

Religious Discourse by

Satguru Bodhinatha

Veylanswami and Bhajans during the Alankaram of

Moolavar together with Valli and Theivaiyanai.

(Continued on page 3)


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Sangalpam was then offered to all the devotees

responsible for conducting the Thiruvila. The Utsava

Moorthigalwere then taken in procession within the

Ullpiragaram of the Temple to theNathaswaraBeat

inRagam Malari. At the Veli Piragaram, the Utsava

Moorthigalwere mounted on a wooden Simmasanam

and taken to the Ther with the deities riding on the

shoulders of the

devotees to chanting

of devotional hymns

and music.

At the auspicious hour,

Utsava Moorthigal were taken up the Ther. To the

chanting of 'Arohara, Arohara' the Ther was pulled

by devotees along the entire perimeter of the Temple,

followed by those

carrying the Kavadi.

The Devotees went in

procession chanting

Thevarams. Along the

sides of the perimeter

were banners depicting

the Six Houses of Lord Muruga (Arupadaiveedu).

The Therwas brought to rest after a ride around the

perimeter lasting about two hours. Only after

the

Ther was brought to rest,were Archanasallowed. It

lasted about a few hours. Then, the Utsava

Moorthigal were dressed in green and taken in

procession into the Temple. Once the devotees

enjoyed Annadhanam, the stage was then set for the

Thiru Kalyanam. It

was conducted on a

similar note as a

wedding.

At the conclusion of

the divine wedding,

special Prasatham was distributed, and Kalanji

offered to those privileged to conduct the Festival.

By

Kanagasabai Loganathan.

(Continued from page 2) KANDASASHTIMAHOTSAVAM

Please join us for the grand Kanda Sashti

celebrations along with your family and friends at the

Murugan Temple from Oct 24th to 29th and

Tiruchendur Vetri Vizha on Nov 2nd. The festive

celebrations include special Abhishekams,

Alankarams and Soora Samharam. Kanda Sashti, the

Shukla Sashti thiti (6th day of the waxing cycle) in

the Tamil month of Aippasi is the auspicious day on

which Lord Muruga vanquished the demons

Tarakasura, Simhamukhan and Soorapadman. Refer

to the calendar for more details.

KARTHIGAIDEEPAM

Karthigai Deepam festival will be celebrated on a

grand scale at the Murugan Temple of Dec 5th and on

the 6thas Swami Malai Guru Vizha. The highlight is

the beautiful decoration of the Temple interior with

many Deepams. Refer to the Temple calendar for

more details.

RUDRAHOMAM

The annual Rudra

Homam was

conducted at the

Murugan Temple on

Sept 6th to coincide

with the auspicious

Sani Pradosham. More than 13 Ritwiks and priests

performed 11 rounds of Rudra Japam followed by

Homam and Poornahuti. The vibrations from the

recitation of Rudram by the Ritwiks was very

enriching and uplifted the ambience into a divineether. Following the Poornahuti, Kalasabhishekam

was done to Lord Siva

with consecrated waters.

More than 150 devotees

attended the function

and received the

blessings of Lord Siva.


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CHAIRMAN'S LETTER TO MURUGAN DEVOTEES

My dear fellow devotees of Lord Murugan,

With the blessings of Lord Murugan and the tirelesswork of fellow devotees such as yourself who arecommitted to the noble cause of the Murugan TempleRajagopuram Project, we are making significant progress.

The first phase of the construction of the Rajagopuramtower and the Indianization of the interior are going wellunder the leadership of Sri Muthiah Sthapathi and his groupofsilpis from Tamil Nadu. This phase will be completed by

the end of 2014.

The second phase involving the construction of akitchen, a dining hall and interior decoration of the prayerhall and a madapalli is scheduled to be completed in 2015.

We aim with all our efforts to celebrate Rajagopura Kumbhabishekam.

The cost estimate for the Rajagopuram and Templ

Expansion Project exceeds $4.2 million dollars. With thunflinching support of Murugan devotees from all over thUS and India we have raised about $1.7 million thus fa

and also acquired a bank loan of $1.5 million.

In the past 33 years your moral and financiasupport has been of immense help for this noble cause. Athis critical juncture your continued financial support imore important than ever. As his highness Variar Swamyonce said, if you give to Lord Murugan with your twohands, He will shower His blessings on you with Hi

twelve hands throughout your life.

This year's fundraising goal is at least $500,000before the end of 2014! We have planned a Gal

Fundraiser Event for the Rajagopuram Project on Saturday, November 15, 2014 at Laurel, Maryland. Please se

the information flyer on the next page and try to attend the event.

If you live away from Washington DC area, please try to arrange a Fundraiser event at your place fo

Lord Murugan.

Please donate generously to Lord Murugan. Thank you for your consistent financial and moral support.

May Lord Murugan Bless

you and your family!

Dr. Gopal Guruswamy

Chairman,

Board of Trustees.

L to R: Srinivasan Sthapathi, Gopal Guruswamy,

Muthiah Sthapathi, Siva Sri Pitchai Gurukkal andSri Ganesa Gurukkal


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THEBOARDOFTRUSTEESOF2014-2015

The following are the members of the Board of Trustees.

Dr. Gopal Guruswamy ( Chairman)

Dr. Krishnan Ramaswamy (Co-Chairman)

Mr. Vijay Kandaswamy (Secretary)

Mr. Ramu Arumugam

Dr. Sridharan Iyengar

Mr. Sivakumar Kareesan

Mrs. Suseela Krishnan

Dr. Seenivasan Lakshmipathi

Mrs. Saraswathi Ranganathan

Mrs. Avayam Shankar

Dr. Mouna Selvam

Dr. Manimekalai Saravanan

Mrs. Puvaneswary Satchithanandam

On August 9, 2014 the Board of Trustees of MTNA voted to appoint Dr. Sridharan Iyengar as the President of the

Executive Committee of the temple for a two-year position. Under this administrative leadership, Dr. Iyengar will make efforts to

bring in volunteers to join the team to make improvements in every day operation of the Temple. The current officers of the

Executive Committee are:

Dr. Sridharan S. Iyengar President

Ms. Puvaneswary Satchithanantham Vice President

Dr. Manimekalai Saravanan Secretary

Ms. Avayam Shankar Treasurer

Ms. Suseela Krishnan Joint Treasurer

Mr. Ezhil Govindasamy Joint Secretary

It is expected that some reorganization at the officers level will take place in the next few months, subject to approval of the Board

of Trustees. The following are the various committees that operate under the guidance of the Executive Committee. The currentchairs of some of the committees are:

Religious Committee Ms. Puvaneswary Satchithanantham

Cultural and Entertainment Committee Mr. Sivakumar Kareesan

Food Committee Mr. Saravanan Seetharaman

Fundraising Committee Dr. Mouna Paneer Selvam

IT Committee Mr. Venkatt Guhesaan

Publications Committee Mr. VidyaRamanan Ganesan

Public and Community Relations Committee Dr. Kalpana Ramiah

Infrastructure Committee

Mr. Suresh Packirisamy

The Executive Committee officers and committee chairs are all volunteers serving Lord Murugan and His devotees. The

various committee chairs are looking to strengthen the committee work by enlisting volunteers to serve with them. If you are

interested in joining any MTNA committee please contact the following people:

Dr.Sridharan Iyengar [email protected]

Dr. Manimekalai [email protected]

Dr. Kalpana Ramiah [email protected]

Feel free to contact the Executive Committee members to share your thoughts and ideas for the improvement of our temple.


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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 5 sannidhis for Vinayaka (Ganesha), Durgai

Amman, Siva, Meenakshi Amman and Palani

Andavar. We also have an auditorium that is

available for community use.

SANIPEYARCHI -NOV4TH

The Murugan Temple will conduct Navagraha

Homam and Navagraha Abhishekam on Sani

Peyarchi, Sunday, Nov 4th

. Please refer to the Templecalendar for more details. Please participate with

family and friends and receive Lord Murugans and

Navagrahas blessings.

COMBINEDFEDERALCAMPAIGN

Federal employees can make year-end contributions

to the Murugan Temple of North America. The

CFC# for the Temple is 69386.

NEWYEAREVE DEC31ST2014 -TEMPLEOPENTILLMIDNIGHT BAJANSANDSPECIALPUJAS

OURGRATITUDE

The MTNA management wishes to extend its

warmest and most sincere gratitude to all devotees

and contributors.

Please bring own Vilakku if possible

Rajagopuram Silpis

Front Row: Ammaiappan, Srinivasan Sthapathi, Panneerselvam

Back Row: Murugesan, Sivasubramanian, Nagarajan, Subramanian, Annamalai, Mohan and AlaguPandian

mtna newsletter - october november december 2014

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