120 Pinnacle Road, Pittsford, NY 14534-1008

Mail to: P.O.BOX 20061 Rochester, NY-14602-0061

http://www.hindutempleofrochester.com

Telephone: (585) 427- 8091

Jan & Feb 2017 Newsletter #1

President’s Column

Hari Om,

I am thankful for the trust bestowed on the EC team for the year 2017 members. Please join me in thanking our

2016 President Om P Gupta (who will now serve, on the EC, as Past President), Vice President Satya Agarwal,

Communications Secretary Aruna Bhargava, Facilities Secretary Vinod Bajaj, and Raje Sathasivam Education

Secretary who have served their terms. They have dedicated their personal time to support all temple activities

and many hours have been spent in planning the Poojas and various festivals in our Temple. Many of them are

still working with us in support roles as well as training the new comers. We are very fortunate to have Shanta

Srivastava as our Vice President, Ashok Gupta as our Communications Secretary, Jeganathan Azhwarsamy as

Facilities Secretary, and Shanthi Chandrasekar as Education Secretary in 2017. Our Temple is blessed to have a

dedicated team of EC, as well as tons of volunteers without whose support we would not have been what we are

today. We welcome Lakshmi Rao as the Chair of the Board of Trustees and Prem Gupta to the Board of Trustees

in 2017.

Our Poojariji is always guiding us towards religious prayers and is very supportive of spiritual paths to persons

of different aptitudes. He also respects and places emphasis on individual spiritual experience. Hinduism

embraces a beautiful cultural quilt of all inclusivity, love and family values and we will pursue that path forever.

Hinduism being the oldest living religion with its uniqueness in tolerance of other religions we at our Temple are

observing increasing participation of schools, interfaith communities as well as parents visiting with young

children to learn about Hinduism. Hospitals, law firms and nursing schools are inviting us to discuss issues of

religion and cultural etiquette that are of importance. We have a huge responsibility to diligently share our

knowledge.

Our Temple has become more beautiful as we now have a Shikhar and we are thankful to the dedicated hard work

of the Shikhar Committee. We are continuously evaluating the needs of our community. Our Yoga class is running

successfully, we are eager to introduce a Sanskrit class and open the Temple Library. We will embark on a few

sessions on Health and Wellness which is also a growing need.

2017 focus areas include

Next Generation Project – Assess the needs, engage the 25 to 45-year-old generation in our Temple.

Share religious books with hospitals and participate as Hindu supporters when need arises.

Expand Religious Activities and Hall Rental opportunities.

Focus on Preventive Building Maintenance as the property gets old.

Promotion of educational programs to maintain religious diversity.

Enhance Community service and interfaith engagement.

Enhance Temple website for on-line bookings, donations, self –service capability

Centralized Electronic Office.

Thanks to all the patrons and donors, temple has met 90% of its Shikhar obligations and has paid $530K without

taking any external loan. We still need about $150K additional funds to complete the Phase IV exterior

improvements including Kitchen. Temple will be mailing the donation letters for tax purposes at the end of

January, please direct all queries to the Treasurer.

We need trust and continued support to make our Temple grow and become beautiful.

Please email feedback@hindutempleofrochester.com for your feedback. I am also available at

president@hindutempleofrochester.com for new ideas and areas of support. I am fortunate and honored to have

an Executive Council and Board of Trustees in place that will guide our temple through its short term and long

term Vision and Mission.

Sincerely,

Sanjay Mathur

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL 2017

President Sanjay Mathur 201 - 757 - 2278

Vice President Shanta Srivastava 941 – 735 - 9634

Secretary Ramana Adibhatla 585 – 329 - 3698

Treasurer Chetna Chandrakala 773- 704 - 8817

Cultural Secretary Madhavi Devarakonda 585 – 732 - 9793

Communications Secretary Ashok Gupta 585 – 755 - 2420

Educational Secretary Shanthi Chandrasekar 585 - 381 - 7577

Facilities Secretary Azhwarsamy Jeganathan 585 - 545 - 4557

Past President Om Parkash Gupta 585 – 385 - 1020

Priest L.V. Govind 585-427-8091

This is your temple. If you have any suggestion, input, comment, or observation to make it better,

please let us know at feedback@hindutempleofrochester.com. We will make every effort to

incorporate all feedback received. EC and BoT

Alka Phatak Anita Kumar Arti Talwar

Aruna Bhargava Jyothi Bhagavatula Kanchan Shaligram

Kiran Verma Kusum Shah Kusuma Vulapalli

Madhavi Dixit Manika Mohan Manisha Srivastava

Mukta Mande Nidhi Singh Priyanka Singh

Radhika Ramesh Rajashree Bhagwat Raje Sathasivam

Ramana Adibhatla Ridhi Malik Sandhya Nambiar

Sangeetha Ramkumar Sangita Amin Sarada Mahalingam

Sastry Bhagavatula Shruti Pandya Sujatha Rajan

Suma Potini Sunetra Deore Uma Thangavel

Amita Bhagat

Volunteer GURUS & Student Assistants

Shiva Linga and Ganesh Abhishekam( to Small Linga/Utsav Murthy) Every Monday 10:00 AM

Sri Hanuman & Sri Kartikeya Every Tuesday 10:00 AM

Sri Venkateshwara & Sri Padmavathi 1st Saturday 9:45 AM

Sri Radha Krishna 2nd Thursday 6:30 PM

Sunderkand Puja 2nd

Saturday 9:45 AM

Lord Murugan Sri Valli & Devayani 3rd

Sunday 9:45 AM

Maa Durga 4th

Saturday 9:45 AM

4TH Sunday Puja 4th Sunday 10:00 AM

Shiva Linga Every Pradosham 6:00/6:30 PM

Sri Ram Parivar Punarvasu star day

Satyanaryana Puja Purnima day 

Sri Vishnu Murthy abhishekam Sukla Ekadasi

Sri Ganesh Abhishekam Sankata hara Chaturthi

MONTHLY ABHISHEKAM AND PUJA SCHEDULE

Temple Hours

Day Time Mon-Fri 9:00AM – 11:30AM

6:00PM – 8:30PM Sat & Sun 9:00AM – 12:00PM

4:30PM – 8:30PM Wed Closed except for special occasions

Please check the web-site for details.

Weekly Learning Activities

Bal Vihar Sundays 9:30 AM

Hindi Class Sundays 10:45 AM

Tamil Class Sundays 2:30 PM

Mrudangam Class Sundays 9:30 AM Dance Class Yoga Class

Sundays 3:00 PM Mondays 6:15 PM

BOARD OF TRUSTEES Virendra Gupta

Prem Gupta Rajesh Mehrotra

Bal Narang Manoj Rajgarhia

Lakshmi Rao (Chair) Anil Sawhney

Nagin Shah Don Shetty

Jaimala Thanik

Shiv Parvathi Kalyan Utsav Sunday, February 26th 2017 5:30 PM - Kalyana Utsava Puja 7:30 PM – Bhajans 8:00 PM – Bhog & Aarti 8:30 PM – Maha Prasad Main Hosts: Usha and Vijay Kanthala. Uma and Ashok Gupta All are welcome to participate in the event. Devotees are encouraged to sponsor the puja. Contact Cultural Secretary or Pujariji for details.

Vasanta Panchami/Sree Panchami Goddess Saraswati is offered prayers for enlightenment through knowledge.

Wednesday, February 1St 2017 6:30 PM – Saraswati Puja 7:30 PM – Bhajans 8:00 PM – Bhog & Aarti All are welcome to participate in the event

Ratha Saptami Lord Vishnu in the form of Surya Narayana is offered prayers.

Friday, February 3rd 2017 10:00 AM – Vishnu Murthi Parikrama 7x 12:00 PM – Bhog & Aarti All are welcome to participate in the event

Hindu Temple of Rochester

Membership Form (January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017)

FAMILY: $50.00 STUDENT: $25.00 SINGLE: $35.00 SENIOR CITIZEN FAMILY (≥62 yrs.): $35.00

LIFE MEMBERSHIP: $1000.00 (Can be paid in 4 installments. Contact President / Treasurer for more information)

Make check payable to: Hindu Temple of Rochester (mail to: P.O.BOX 20061 Rochester, NY-14602-0061)

(Please write "Membership 2017" in the memo area on the check)

Please PRINT all the information to keep our records updated. Thank you!

Last Name:

First Name:

Street Apt.#

City State Zip

Phone#:

Spouse’s Name:

Check this box if address has changed Check this box for other information change

Email address (Please PRINT clearly):

I am interested in volunteering at the temple

Please support the temple in its environment friendly consciousness goal by choosing the option of paperless delivery of the newsletter. The newsletter is also available for download from the temple website.

Please send me the newsletter by e-mail ONLY

Please send me the newsletter by U.S. Mail ONLY

-----------------------------------cut along this line, complete and include the form with your check ------------------------------

Do you believe that your Temple provides a place of comfort and peace for you?

Do you believe that your Temple helps you and your children connect with your roots?

Do you believe that your Temple helps you and your children follow your traditions and culture?

Do you believe that your Temple is a valuable resource worth supporting?

Do you believe that your Temple is worth preserving and nurturing?

o Then, as a first step, become a member and get involved in Temple activities

Temple needs your involvement—here is HOW?

1. By becoming a member or renewing your membership. 2. By taking an active part in the administrative team or Temple committees. 3. By attending and participating in the functions/events. 4. By taking advantage of Temple services -- Special pujas, Language classes, Balvihar classes,

Dance classes. 5. By volunteering to teach classes (Temple’s Volunteer “Gurus”) 6. By volunteering and signing-up for regular help. 7. By volunteering and signing-up to help during special pujas. 8. By extending your strong, consistent financial support. Your Temple needs to be financially

strong to serve you.

For the latest news, activities and pictures please visit the facebook page of the temple at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hindu-Temple-of-Rochester/356997137647036

New Year 2016

Akhanda Ramayana

Janmashtami

Janmashtami

Maha Shivaratri

Shikhar Sthapnaa

Shikhar Sthapnaa

Shikhar Sthapnaa

Shikhar Sthapnaa

Shikhar Sthapnaa

! NEW! SANSKRIT CLASS STARTING FEBRURARY 2017

SANSKRIT 101.  Basic Veda Mantras

Learn  Sanskrit (Pronunciation, sentence structure, grammar etc.) and chant

with understanding the meaning  of the following  Veda Mantras

1. Gayathri Mantra - Om Bhur...

2. Abhyaroha Mantra -Om  Assato Ma sadgamaya ...

3. Maha Mrityunjaya Mantram - Om Trayambakam Yajamahe

4. Ganapati Mantra - Om Gananam tva ...

5. Shanthi Mantra - Om Saha Na avatu

6. Shanthi Mantra - Om Sum No mitra

7. Shanthi Mantra - Om Bhadram Karnebhi ...

8. Shanthi Mantra - Om Tatcham yo vrahune mahe

9. Shanthi Mantra - Om Poorna Madah..

10. Siva Mantram - Om Namh Sambhavecha..

Following advanced workshops will be considered based on the interest.

SANSKRIT201,  Sooktas ( Sri sooktam, purusha sooktam, mantra pushpam)

SANSKRIT301 , Visnu Sahasra Namam

SANSKRIT401,  Lalith Sahasra Namam

SANSKRIT501,- Rudram

ONE CLASS A WEEK, TUESDAYS 7PM TO 8.30PM FOR 20 WEEKS.

GURU: SANSKRIT SCHOLAR, SRI RAMANA ADIBHATLA.

DONATION: $200 PER SESSION OF 20 CLASSES, INCLUDING STUDY MATERIAL.

For more information please email Shanthi Chandrasekar at shanthisekar@hotmail.com

OR just show up on Tuesday Feb 7th at the temple for an orientation/info session.

Message from Board of Trustees Chair. Hari Om Happy New Year It’s my privilege to serve for this year as the chairperson of the board. I take this opportunity to thank Dr. Anil Sawhney, who served as the chairperson of the board for the last two years, for his leadership and dedicated service. We pay our tribute to Surendar Johar ji for his lifelong service to the temple. We welcome Mr. Prem Gupta and Mr. Sanjay Mathur who have joined the board this year. As we have all witnessed, our long-held dream of completing our temple with Shikhar has finally come true. This project would not have been possible without the generous support of you - all our community members. Going forward, we plan to continue with Phase IV which includes finishing the kitchen and certain improvements to the interior and exterior of the temple. Our temple has become a very vibrant place with a lot of religious and educational activities taking place. There is increasing need for the temple to be kept open for all 7 days and for more hours on weekends. To meet the ever increasing religious and spiritual needs of our community the Board is looking into the process of hiring a second priest. We look forward to your continued financial support to finish the remaining projects. Sincerely Lakshmi Rao

Akhanda Ramayana 2017

Dates: January 28-29

Time: 10:00 AM (SAT) – 12:00PM (SUN)

Contacts for Sponsorship Neelam Bajaj

Surekha Gupta

Lakshmi Rao

For more details: Please contact the cultural secretary Madhavi Devarakonda at cultural@hindutempleofrochester.com

Hindu Temple of Rochester, Inc.

Mailing Address: P.O. Box 20061 Rochester NY 14602 – 0061 Phone: (585) 427-8091 www.hindutempleofrochester.com

Newsletter: January - February 2017

Apply/Renew Hindu Temple Annual Membership For 2017

(Rig-Veda – First Sukta)

Mark your calendars for!!

Akhand Ramayan January 28-29, 2017

Maha Shivaratri February 24, 2017

Holika Dahan March 11, 2017

Holi Celebrations March 12, 2017

Annual Banquet November 18, 2017

AGBM November 19, 2017

Non Profit Organization US Postage

Paid Rochester, NY

Permit NO. 372

If the code next to your name does not

have “2017” or

“LM”, PLEASE renew your membership by filling out the enclosed form and returning with your check. Thanks.