HATCC-Volunteer Appreciation and Vigil for Sandy Hook School Victims

New Jersey: December 16th: Hindu American Temple Cultural Center (HATCC) a.k.a Sri Guruvaayoorappan Temple (Krishanji Mandir) www.krishnatemple.org Morganville, NJ organized the Volunteer appreciation day on Sunday, Dec 16, 2012 and conducted special prayers and a two minute vigil for the victims of Sandy Hook Elementary School victims, Newtown, CT.

This is a UNIQUE event organized by HATCC to honor and appreciate all the volunteers who worked hard for the successful completion of the Kumbhabhishekam (opening of the new temple) event and several volunteers providing assistance throughout the year for successful operation of the day to day activities.

The volunteer group consists of nearly 500 volunteers formed under 20 committees with their specific functions. The volunteer with their families were invited for the event. Each volunteer was called out by their lead, (Chairperson for the committee) to the stage and honored by HATCC Chairman, Dr. Yegnasubramanian.

Srinivas Ganagoni (Chair, Volunteer Committee) invited the Temple Officers consisting of Dr. Yegnasubramanian (Chairman), Dr. R.G. Krishnan (Vice-Chairman), Nandu Balija (President) & Dr. S.S. Iyer (Secretary) on to the stage to conduct the program.

The program started with a traditional Sloka and the invocation rendering by a youth volunteer. The HATCC priests chanted Shanti mantras in memory of the Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newton, CT victims and observed a 2 minute silence to pay tribute to the victims.

Dr. S.S Iyer (Secretary) introduced the members of the Board of Trustees, and Chairpersons of Kumbhabhishekam executive committee following which Nandu Balija (President of the HATCC Executive Committee) introduced the members of the executive committee and welcomed all present.

He then asked Dr R.G.Krishnan, Vice Chairman of the Board to express a few words and introduce the Chairman of the HATCC Board, Dr. Yegnasubramanian to address the audience.

Dr. Yegnasubramanian explained the importance of volunteers and provided an inspirational message to all the attendees how fortunate we are to associate to this UNIQUE temple and it is a life opportunity for all of us to witness the Maha Kumbhabhishekam which was conducted with authenticity, professionally with utmost care and dedication.

He also said that all the volunteers those who are working selflessly for the betterment of the temple are already recognized by the almighty Lord Sri Guruvaayoorappan and what we are doing is a formal token of appreciation on behalf of HATCC.

Later on all the Chairs of each committee invited their committee volunteers on stage and each one of them are honored by the Chairman. The program ended with the vote of thanks by Srinivas Ganagoni (Chair, Volunteer Committee) and the dinner was served to all the attendees.

About Krishna Temple:

The Krishna temple is built on a ~40 acre property with parking for over 300 cars, located at 35 Wooleytown Road, Morganville, NJ 07751, and is one of the largest temples in USA. The Temple built the priest's quarters consisting of twelve, fully-furnished apartments in 2010.

The upper level of the temple houses all the sanctums within an area of ~17,500 sq. ft. The lower level has a multi-purpose hall, facilities, gift-shop, Board room. The magnificent granite steps lead to the temple in the upper level. We have 18 steps in the south side of the front that lead to the Ayyappan sanctum.

The presiding deity of the Temple is Lord Sri Guruvaayoorappan. In addition, the temple houses, Ganesha; Subrahmanya with Valli and Devasena; Siva with Ambika; Balaji with Sridevi & Bhudevi;; Ayyappa; Satyanarayana; Kannikaparameshwari; Bhadrachalam Rama, Krishna, Durga/Lakshmi/Saraswati, Gayatri, Kalabhairava, Hanuman and Navagrahas.

All images are of Granite and sculptured by traditional artisans of Tamilnadu. Lord Ayyppa sanctum will have the 18-steps similar to those in Sabarimala in Kerala.

In addition, the temple has several unique features. It houses the utsava murty's of Lord Kalyana Srinivasa with Sridevi and Bhudevi from the Tirumala-Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) and Lord Satyanarayana from the Annavaram Satyanarayana Swami Devasthanam.

The temple hosted a spectacular Kalyana Utsavam of this Kalyana Srinivasa by TTD in May 2010, with the participation of 20 officials and others from TTD.

Similarly, Satayanarayana Vratam was hosted by the Temple when the Annavaram Devasthanam performed it in 2010 also. The sanctums and vimanams of Guruvaayoorappan and Ayyappa are similar to those in Kerala, with wood-copper finish.