NEWSLETTER

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True happiness consists of making other people happy.

Temple Timings: Sunday

10:00 AM to 12:00 Noon Arati 10:30 AM Tues, Fri & Sat

4:30 PM to 6:30 PM Arati 6 PM

Temple website http://htsnm.org/

Balvihar 2 President’s Message 3 Committee news 4 Subhashita 5 Auspicious days 6 Reminders 7 Past/upcoming events 8-10

Table of Contents

February 2020

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Balvihar

Balvihar is up and running. Please come join us every

Sunday from 10:00 to 11:00 am.

Saraswathi pooja was celebrated grandly at the temple. Our Balvihar children sang the Guru Stotram

and did a Saraswathi Kautham dance in honor of goddess Saraswathi.

February 15th was Shabari Jayanti and the story of Lord Rama eating Half-Eaten Fruits was narrated.

As always—God accepts our devotion in

spite of our shot comings.

“When Laxmana felt that the offering

was slightly peculiar for Lord Rama,

an exiled prince of Ayodhya, Rama

told him to observe the innocent

and pure devotion of the old lady

and not her modes “

Place holder for pic

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Greetings, Happy February to everyone. It certainly has been a very busy month. Hope you were able to participate in the Saraswathi Puja and Maha Si-varathri events that took place at the temple. At the last count we have had 65 temple sponsored events in 2019 alone. We have grown tremendously in providing an avenue for the spiritual and cultural ac-tivities of our varied communities. We are also sharing our presence in the state with the visits by the Jewish congregation to our events both in January and February. As we continue to provide, we seek your help in being able to maintain our prem-ises and graduate to a more suitable location. Of course we thank all our contrib-utors so far and are looking for new streams of income. One such mode is the membership drive. We are officially rolling it out to en-courage the families in greater Albuquerque to come together for a common good. Please enroll yourself by providing contact information—email, phone num-bers… in order for us to provide you with current UpToDate information and a method for you to seek assistance if need be. Please look out for communications shortly.

I would also like to invite you to participate in The untold story of Kashmiri pandits event to be held at the temple on March 7th. Come and be an informed Hindu, and learn of the plight of the Hindus of the Kashmir Valley, and how they were forced to flee the area.

President’s message

Krishna Jaiswal President

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Committee Activities

Building Maintenance— as we grow and our participation increases—parking becomes a challenge at our premises. Please obey all parking signs as a courtesy to your fellow devotees, otherwise you might find a ticket on your windshield!

Annual function—April 18th Simms Auditorium, Albuquerque Academy, 6400 Wyoming Blvd NE, Albuquerque. Program runs from 4:00PM to 8:30PM. Complimentary dinner will be provided. Please RSVP at the following link as seats are limited : https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScvQdWOREjZ_vkmcGRqTqp2Ckv7dFmIhP9QfyFA1F3mIKEfXw/viewform?c=0&w=1

From the Treasury—2019 Donation receipts have been mailed out—if you did not get yours please contact p_shukla16@yahoo.com to have your contact information updated and to receive your receipts for tax

Ongoing activities—Ekadashi has started up again from 7:30—8:30pm on Ekadashi days—you are cordially invited to come and participate at the temple. Contact info Neela Sheth at 505-821-6555. Hanuman Chalisa every Saturday evenings 5:30 to 6:30—contact Ronak 505-453-8616. Balvihar every Sunday—10:00 –11:00am come join other children and parents who run the program. Everyone is welcome.

Website/Technology—current website http://htsnm.org/ has new updated information—please visit and provide feedback as to what you would like to see on it. A new website is in the works and will be rolled out shortly.

Kudos—This month Kudos went to Shukla Ji for his dedication to filling in the gaps, may it be visa application for the pujari, taking care of our books or attending to temple emergencies – he is always available with a smile!

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/why-talented-people-don-t-use-their-strengthshttps:/docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScvQdWOREjZ_vkmcGRqTqp2Ckv7dFmIhP9QfyFA1F3mIKEfXw/viewform?c=0&w=1

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Any good endeavor is begun with a prayer to Ganesh or

Saraswathi. Here is one for Saraswathi.

One who is as white as a garland of kunda flowers and wa-

terdrops, who has worn white apparel, whose hand is placed

on the stem of the veena who is sitting on a white lotus, and

who is always worshipped by Gods such as Brahma, Achyuta

(Vishnu) and Shankara, that Saraswathi, who completely

steals (one's) lethargy may bless me ...

Subhashita

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Upcoming Auspicious days

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1. No footwear allowed in the mandir and on the

second floor, unless worn due to medical

reasons. Our Temple requirements are that all

footwear be stowed in the cubbies provided to

prevent young children from tripping over

them.

2. During temple sponsored events Board

members and/or Advisory committee members

will be available to answer your questions.

3. For renting the HTSNM Community Hall,

which is available for private functions such as

birthdays, graduation, get togethers etc. the

cost is $250 which includes water and trash

bags. It is up to the organizing committee to

provide all others. There is a 20% discount for

members of Our Temple.

4. Please obey all parking signs to avoid fines.

5. If you would like to access the temple at any

time, keys are available to checkout from

Bombay Spice grocery store (505 232 6661).

6. Thank you for all you do to help ensure Our

Temple’s cleanliness.

Upcoming events Reminders

• Balvihar 10:00—11:00 Sundays

• Ekadashi March 5th and 19th

• Kashmiri Pandits talk March 7th

• Ugadi March 29th

• Year end function April 18th

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Saraswathi Puja

HTSNM celebrated Saraswa-thi Puja on 9th of February. A puja by a student from UNM was a first for our temple. The initiation of writing on a slate for toddlers to begin their formal education was performed by many that were present. It sig-nifies an auspicious start on their journey to a lifelong endeavor. Dance performance by balvihar and other children was also on the program followed by a delicious lunch cooked and served upstairs afterwards. Followed by performances by adults. All in all it was a very well organized and enjoyable event for all who participated and attended. We would like to thank Mamata Bhaduri and Moushumi Das for all their hard work and efforts.

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On this day the celebrations include chanting, fasting and meditating and an all night vigil is held to mark the festival. It is a day that honors Lord Shiva. Maha Shivarathri at Albuquerque was celebrated with pooja and Shival-inga abishegam from 7-9 pm. Many devotees came with pooja thali, flowers rice and milk to perform the rituals and to receive the blessing of the lord. The well attended event was organized by Neela Sheth and the program included Shi-va Namavali, Shiva Mahim-na Stotram, bajans, aarti and prashad afterwards.

Once again vedic chanting reverberated in the temple atmosphere. Found in the KrishnaYajurveda, the Sri Rudram is indeed regarded as the jewel of the Vedas for the sheer energy it generates, and the perfect set of vi-brations that it gives rise to. Madhavi & Yagnesh Pathak, Vijaya & Sam Sub-baswami, Rajen Chanchani and Venu War-rier chanted Chamakam , the first part of Sri Ru-dram. The Sunday event was presided by Chacha ji and the program included pooja and singing by Amit ji, Sopori ji, Wahi ji, Sameer ji and a speech by Tikare ji explaining the stories of Shiva for all who were present. Sopori ji ex-plained that it was auspicious in the Kashmiri regions as well. Bhang was served with lunch which is an auspicious drink served during this festi-val. The rains did not damper the spirits of the devotees and the children that came to spend the morning at the temple. We would like to thank Dr. Bhalachandra Kulkarni for providing a delicious lunch and organizing the Sunday event.

Maha Shivarathri 23rd

Maha Shivarthri 21st

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On this day the celebrations include chanting, fasting and meditating and an all night vigil is held to mark the event. It is a day that honors Lord Shiva. Maha Shivarathri at Albuquerque was celebrated with pooja and Shivalinga abishegam from 7-9 pm. Many devotees came with pooja thali, flowers rice and milk to perform the rituals and to re-ceive the blessing of the lord. Once again vedic chanting reverberated in the temple atmosphere. Found in the Krishna Yajurveda, the Sri Rudram is indeed regarded as the jewel of the Vedas for the sheer energy it generates, and the perfect set of vibrations that it gives rise to. Madhavi & Yagnesh Pathak, Vijaya & Sam Subbaswami, Rajen Chanchani and Venu Warrier chanted Chamakam , the first part of Sri Rudram. The Sunday event was presided by Chacha ji and the program included pooja and singing by Amit ji, Sopori ji, Wahi ji, Sameer ji and a speech by Tikare ji explaining the sto-ries of Shiva for all who were present. Bhang was served with lunch which is an auspicious drink served during this festi-val. The rains did not damper the spirits of the devotees and the children that came to spend the morning at the temple. Sopori ji explained that it was an auspicious event that is also celebrated in the Kashmiri regions.

Maha Shivarathri 23rd

Maha Shivarthri 21st