Mandir Vani. Hindu Temple and Cultural Center of the Rockies S. Potomac St. Centennial, CO (Tax ID: ) Acharya ji

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Mandir Vani Hindu Temple and Cultural Center of the Rockies 7201 S. Potomac St. Centennial, CO 80112 (Tax ID: 84-1301209) Acharya ji 720-984-5108 www.hindutempleofcolorado.

1 Mandir Vani Hindu Temple and Cultural Center of the Rockies 7201 S. Potomac St. Centennial, CO (Tax ID: ) Acharya ji The mission of the Hindu Temple and Cultural Center of the Rockies (HTCC) is to provide a forum for religious worship and celebrations, and for cultural, religious, and spiritual development activities based on Hindu / Vedic / Sanatan - Dharma traditions. Editorial Board K. C. Upadhyay (Priest) Prabhakara Rao (Editor) Bhagavan Jagannath Reva Nayar (President) Ratha Yatra Hindu Temple and Cultural Center of the Rockies 7201 S. Potomac, Centennial, CO Volume 20 No. 2 1 August 2016 Mandir Vani Page 1

2 Dear Devotees, President s Page Greetings from the Hindu Temple and Culture Center of the Rockies. The Hindu community can be really proud of completing one year of 15,500 square feet of Temple Complex on 4.8 acres of beautiful land. It is indeed rare for a small community to accomplish such a feat. The Hindu religion is not simply a religion of rituals, since it integrates culture and religion into our daily lives and our Temple Complex provides a focal point for the religious as well as the cultural activities of our community. We wish to thank all the members of our community and hope that we will flourish in our religious and cultural endeavors at the Temple for generations to come. We should all make use of our beloved Temple to unite our community. We have witnessed a prosperous first half of the year, We are blessed to have such a great team of our priests, the board members and volunteers assisting with day-to-day activities of the Temple. Hindu Temple has been serving the spiritual needs of the Hindu Community in and around Colorado for the past two decades. We strive to improve the devotee satisfaction and experience when they visit their temple. We welcome suggestions to improve the devotee experience. Please feel free to contact us by at HTCC@hindutempleofcolorado.org. Recently our temple completed a major milestone, the first anniversary in June With the help of hundreds of enthusiastic and dedicated volunteers, our temple also hosted another major event, Jagannath Rath Yatra, July 10 th, I would like to take this opportunity to thank them all for their support and encouragement. I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to all the devotees who have participated in all the activities. We have grown as a community in the last several years and more and more devotees visiting the temple every day from Colorado and other states. This also has increased the need for spiritual services. On behalf of HTCC committee, I kindly request all devotees to support the temple through their generous Donation in addition to their Devotion and Dedication. Let us develop a strong temple and community not only for the present generation but for our future generation as well. Our Temple has been growing with so many different religious, cultural activities that are taking place on a regular basis. The Temple also hosts a variety of activities for all age groups. I encourage all of you to join us in the activities listed on our website. The Temple is soon adding new features to the Web page by setting up applications for: Booking Pujas on line. Ride sharing for devotees who need ride to and from temple. Active list of volunteers and recognition of their untiring efforts. As we all know that without a commitment of time and money, our Temple cannot continue to function properly. With this in mind, we have started pledge of $25 or more a month drive to meet our goal of $13, of mortgage per month on a balance of loan of $2.2 million.the pledges for next five years can then support the Temple financially for generations to come. In the meantime, we will also have to raise funds for the current operations of the temple for at least next five years. Please donate generously for both current operations of the temple as well Volume 20 No.2 1 August 2016 Mandir Vani Page 2

3 as long-term interests of the Temple. Please come forward and commit your resources to the temple. I want to thank each and every one of you for your donations and pledges as well as volunteering for the Temple. We are now able to do all much needed improvements to the Temple facility to keep it running smoothly. HTCC is currently seeking to hire two new priests: a North Indian Priest and a South Indian Priest. The priests in Hindu Temples in USA perform the duties performed by Pujaris as well as Purohits in India. Please see our announcement on the web site. On behalf of Board of Trustees, kindly accept our heartfelt appreciation for your continued support and looking forward to have the same in the years to come. Warmest regards to you and your family, Reva Nayar, President, HTCC ****************************************** Hindu Temple Management Team 7201 S. Potomac Street, Centennial, CO htcc@hindutempleofcolorado.org Website: Acharya ji Kailash Chandra Upadhyay Suresh Lakkaraju (Office Manager) (H) (C) (C) Board of Trustees Reva Nayar (President) (H) (C) C. P. Mishra (Temple Operations) (H) (C) Mita Mukherjee (Secretary) (H) (C) Satish Kumar Agarwal (Treasurer) (C) Prabhakara Rao (MandirVani) (H) (C) Sudhir Verma (Public Relations) (C) Arun Budhiraja (Fund Raising) (H) (C) Mahesh Jha (Special Projects) (H) (C) Asha Vasant (Cultural Events) (C) Madhu Mahajan Rajesh Agarwal Sridhar Talanki Ved Nanda (H) (C) (H) (C) (H) (H) (C) ***************************** Volume 20 No. 2 1 August 2016 Mandir Vani Page 3

4 April, 2016: Events held at the Hindu Temple from April 2016 to July 2016 By Dr. Suresh Lakkaraju In the month of April, 2016 several devotees witnessed the events of Vasanth Navaratri and Sri Rama Navami celebrations at the temple from April 7 th to April 14 th. Devotees got to see Sri Sita-Ram Kalyanam for the first time at Hindu Temple which was performed on a grand scale. On April 29 th & 30 th Dr. Rangan Ramakrishnan Ji delivered pravachan s at the temple during evening hours on Humanity and Hindu Culture and several devotees got to listen to his speeches. May, 2016: Adi sankaracharya Jayanthi celebrations on May 11 th were done at the temple with special Puja to Sankaracharya. Nrisimha Jayanthi pujas were done on in the evening hours and devotees got to take blessings from Lord Nrisimha. June, 2016: Graduation Puja was performed on June 5 th at the temple. Several young kids attended to this event and got to receive Graduation Certificates from Achrya ji after doing the Saraswati Mata puja. On June12th, Temple 1 st Anniversary event was held and on this day several devotees got to see 108 Sankhu Abhishekam puja which was held first time in US and that too at Hindu temple in Denver. Congressman Mike Coffman visited the temple as special guest for 1 st Anniversary event and participated in 108 Sankhu Abhishekam event. In the evening during Cultural events time Didi Gopeshwari Devi of New Zealand visited the temple and gave pravachan to devotees. July, 2016: Lord Jagannath Ji Rath Yatra was celebrated on July 10 th and 17th at the temple. For the first time in temple history a Rath Yatra event is being organized and a huge Rath is made in Denver with wonderful support from Mr. Amiya Mansingh and Raj Mansingh family. Rath Yatra event was planned on a grand scale with several pujas in the morning hours from 10 am to 12:30 pm and after lunch from 2:30 pm to 6:30 pm several Cultural events are planned at the temple. More than 1000 people attended the event. April to July, Regular Monthly events: On third Saturday of every month, regular monthly Jagannath Ji upacharas were conducted and were witnessed by several devotees. Cultural events were conducted after upacharas, bhajans, followed by aarti and lunch. Samoohik Satyanarayan Puja s was conducted at the temple on all poornima days every month which were conducted by Acharyaji. Every Monday of all weeks in the evenings, Rudra abhishekams took place at the temple. Volume 20 No.2 1 August 2016 Mandir Vani Page 4

Bhagavan Jagannath Ratha Yatra by Amiya Mansingh Rath Yatra, the Festival of Chariots is celebrated every year at Shri Jagannathji temple in Puri, India.

Rath Yatra is celebrated on the second (dwitiya) day of shukla pakshya of the month of Ashadh.

in a ceremonial procession to their chariots. The huge and decorated chariots are drawn by multitude of devotees on the grand avenue to the Gundicha Temple.

5 Bhagavan Jagannath Ratha Yatra by Amiya Mansingh Rath Yatra, the Festival of Chariots is celebrated every year at Shri Jagannathji temple in Puri, India. Puri is one of the Char Dhams (literally: 'the four abodes/seats' of pilgrimage sites in India that are widely revered by Hindus). Rath Yatra is celebrated on the second (dwitiya) day of shukla pakshya of the month of Ashadh. The presiding deities of the Jagannath Temple, Puri's main temple, Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra, with the celestial wheel (Sudarshana Chakra) are carried from the grand temple in a ceremonial procession to their chariots. The huge and decorated chariots are drawn by multitude of devotees on the grand avenue to the Gundicha Temple. After a stay for seven days, the deities return to their abode known as Bahuda Yatra (Return Journey). Keeping this age old tradition of Lord Jagannath, Hindu Temple and Cultural Center of the Rockies celebrated this annual event on 10 th of July 2016 and 17 th of July 2016 respectively. Our inaugural event had attracted a very large number of devotees to witness this event. Devotees participated in the ritual followed by a grand lunch feast and cultural events to show case our Indian culture and classical dance performances. We are looking forward to celebrating this annual event every year. Hindu Temple event photos Volume 20 No. 2 1 August 2016 Mandir Vani Page 5

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7 Ganesha Chaturthi Celebration Sponsored by Colorado Kannada Koota Hindu Temple and Cultural Center of the Rockies 7201 S. Potomac St. Centennial, CO Sunday 11 September :00 am - 2:30 pm Program Time Ganesha Avahanam/Kalash Puja Ganesha Abhishek * Ganesh Puja & Astottara Program/ Bhajans** Arati - All Prasadam* Clean up 10:00 10:30 11:00 11:30 12:45 1:15 2:00-10:30 am 11:00 am 11:30 am 12:45 pm 1:15 pm 2:00 pm 2:30 pm If interested in participating in the sponsored Abhishek, please call Rajesh Kaul at (C ) ** If you are interested in participating in the program or preparing the prasadam, contact Prabhakara Rao at or PrabRao@comcast.net. Volume 20 No. 2 1 August 2016 Mandir Vani Page 7

8 HINDUISM Astavakra Gita Mita Mukherjee In this article, I seek to discuss a few ideas put forward in Astavakra Gita, It is said that this unique text book deals with the mystical experiences of an individual in his flight to the transcendental peace and bliss. We all know about the 18 chapters in Bhagavad Gita, where Lord Krishna advices Arjuna on the philosophy of life and the right way to deal with conflicts that are part of life, though ultimately He leaves it up to Arjuna to decide his course of action. It is said that Astavakra Gita was written before Bhagavad Gita. Astavakra Gita is a short treatise as a guide to advanced sadhakas who have purified their minds and have the capability to reach and conceptualize the highest truth, the nature of BRAHMAN or self. Asta is the number eight, vakra means crooked, Astavakra a man with crooked limbs is the teacher, and his disciple is king Janaka; The story goes that Astavakra was in his mother, Sujata s womb when his father, Kahor was reading excerpts from the Vedas, when the baby (fetus) interrupted the father saying, I am sorry to say you are making mistakes in your recitation,! At this reprimand Kahor got angry and cursed his child that he should be born with 8 crooked limbs, hence his name, Astavakra It is said that Kahor goes to King Janaka to beg for his patronage, but is defeated in an intellectual duel and is enslaved in the household of Sri Vandin the court philosopher. When Astavakra learns that his father is at Janaka s court he decides to try and bring his father back. When he reaches the court he is stopped by the guards, especially since he was so deformed, however he managed to see the king, who also felt an aversion to his deformities; Astavakra, noticing the king s reluctance, said; Oh King Janaka, just as the shape of the temple does not affect the sky, the crookedness of my physical body does not affect the ATMA the soul. A wise man has atmadrishti that is, he looks behind this manifested world, whereas the ignorant looks at carmadrishti and he gets lost in names and forms. The king was taken aback by such wisdom in such a young sage, not even 12 years old, that he gave Astavakra an honorable place in his kingdom, and released his father, Kahor from slavery. Astavakra Gita gives a description of BRAHMAN --- the absolute reality as THE ONE SELF IN ALL EXISTANCE AND ALL EXISTANCE IN ONE SELF According to Astavakra Gita, rooted in vivid experience of transcendental spiritual oneness, saint Astavakra never compromises, he rejects completely the world of objects, emotions and thoughts, perceived through the delusory body, mind and intellect. To him there is neither an individual ego, (JIVA), nor a creator (ISVARA), nor the universe (JAGAT), or the delusion of ego (Maya). There is none other than the one infinite consciousness THE SELF. There is one and only goal, for humankind to aspire for, and that is self- knowledge, through direct mystical Volume 20 No.2 1 August 2016 Mandir Vani Page 8

9 intuition and he calls it VIJNANA. The prerequisite to this aspiration of course is for an individual, is to be pure in mind and thought, just like soil has to be made ready for planting of seedlings, the mind has to be ready for planting of this absolute thought and the realization of it! Chapter 17, the first verse, says, A person of Pure Intelligence realizes the self even by instruction casually imparted. A man of impure intellect is confused in trying to realize the self even after enquiring throughout his life. (For example a mere touch from Sri Ramakrishna caused an absolute transformation in Vivekananda, and that changed his life completely.) Thus a man/woman of perfection who has transcended his mind, is void of all thoughts, (sunya chitta). Naturally he or she is free of all doubts, uncertainties and confusions, lives spontaneously in divine consciousness, with no ego sense at all. He or she revels in the DIVINE and is known as SATCHIDANANDA always peaceful and joyous. Many such individuals have come to earth to impart this knowledge, it is up to us to learn from the pearls of wisdom! (Excerpts taken from Astavakra Gita, commentary by Swami Chinmayananda.) **************************** The Battle For Sanskrit: Is Sanskrit Political or Sacred? Is Sanskrit Oppressive or Liberating? Is Sanskrit Dead or Alive? Book By Rajiv Malhotra, Published by Harper Collins Summary by Raghavendra Sametanahalli The Battle For Sanskrit (TBFS here onwards) is more about the Battle For Sanskriti than Sanskrit, where both Sanskriti and Sanskrit have Integral Unity in the context of Indian civilization and culture. Rajiv Malhotra particularly focuses on the leading American Sanskritist and researcher in Indic Studies, Prof. Sheldon Pollock of Columbia University. Rajiv employs the traditional Poorvapaksha (studying the other) in understanding Prof. Pollock s work and also provides Uttrapaksha (a critical response). In fact the book is dedicated to Poorvapakshins (opponents) and engage in debate with mutual respect. It is also a wakeup call for the traditional Indian scholars of Dharmic traditions to understand and study the Western Indology, develop expertise and provide appropriate responses. TBFS was initially a research paper on Rajiv s findings related to the establishment of Adi Shankara Chair in Columbia University spearheaded by Prof. Pollock, also blessed by the administration officials and the Shankaracharya of Sringeri Sharada Peetam. To date the decision on the chair is in abeyance due to several strenuous efforts by Rajiv and other liked minded individuals. Sadly, if the establishment of the Columbia Chair goes through, it a matter of time several universities will have these kinds of Chairs for many of the Sampradayas which will lack insiders perspectives. From the times of colonial Indology, we been the consumers of our Volume 20 No. 2 1 August 2016 Mandir Vani Page 9

10 knowledge systems, discourses are driven, dictated and controlled by European Orientalists (British, French, German, etc.) and handed over to the American Orientalists post WWII. The introductory chapter provides the details of why such an effort is detrimental to the traditional understanding of Indian philosophy as opposed to the Orientalist view which comes with inherent political intent, undermine the Dharmic traditions, particularly rejecting sacred dimensions (Paramaartika or Transcendental realm) and focus on Vyavahaarika (material world). Outsiders vs Insiders Rajiv evolves with these terms to identify two different camps on their approach to Sanskrit and Sanskriti. The Outsiders are westerners and western trained Indians researchers who s view are from Western one of the lenses (framework and history). The Outsiders label does not fit to any race or ethnicity, but the context in which they perceive the Indic Traditions. Outsiders views are that Sanskrit is a dead language, which has built in or encoded with oppressive constructs (toxins) and reject Shastras as dogma with inherent mystification. On the other hand, the Insiders (again not subjected to any race or ethnicity) but employs traditional lens to study the Sanskrit literature where the sacredness is central to their perspective. They are also the practitioners of non-exclusivist Sampradayas in the Open Architecture of Dharmic traditions. Unfortunately, the traditional scholars, ignore or unaware of western orientalist interpretation of Vedas, Shastras, Kavyas, etc. The outsiders have rights to interpret in their own framework but the Adhikara of studying, interpreting and directing the discourse must lies with insiders who are expert scholars and practitioners. If one observes other non-dharmic traditions, their scholars do critique in their own schools of thought and framework. Orientalism Rajiv distinguishes the European Orientalism and American Orientalism chapter 2. European encounters with India began since end of 1400s and by seventeenth century the English often romanticized the Indian Cultures and traditions with positive attitude. In parallel, European settlers encounters where with Native Americans and slavery while framing the opinions of non-western cultures or the other. The lens applied in either of the cases are very different. The colonial view of India and the European view developed in America culminates in to America Orientalism, post WWII. Readers will be able to distinguish the origins and the current mindset of the American academic research on Hinduism studies, where old European lens is rejected with different ones heavily influenced by Giambattista Vico (17 th century Italian thinker who impacted Karl Marx), Walter Benjamin (of Frankfurt School of Marxism) and Antonio Gramsci (20 th century Marxist thinker). Professor Sheldon Pollock derives his thinking and theoretical framework from these influential individuals on Sanskrit studies. The oral traditions of the Vedas are rejected as primitive and mystical with no empirical evidence, bifurcates Sanskrit based Shastras from Veda, politicizes Kavyas and interpreting Ramayana as a source of political and social oppression. He is of the opinion that the expansion of Sanskrit Cosmopolis across Asia implicating the nexus of Brahmin-King in this course. The raise of vernacular languages after the death of Sanskrit (about 12 th century) and yet they were encoded or built with oppressive and inherent political intent. Volume 20 No.2 1 August 2016 Mandir Vani Page 10

11 Professor Pollock also indicates that the Europeans where influenced, particularly Germans, by the built-in structures of oppression and fascism, culminating in the holocaust. Thus bringing the blame to the door step of Sanskrit itself. Professor Pollock intent is to remove the toxins in Sanskrit and its literature and secularize it. For this purpose, he employs Philology (study of texts) to understand textual inferences, particularly focused on Political Philology and apply correctives by deploying liberation philology (borrowed from Christian liberation theology). To counter such efforts, Rajiv suggests to employ Sacred Philology. Professor Pollock s fundamental intent is to reinterpret the past and transform the Indian society by reframing its civilizational underpinnings in secular terms. He observes that to transcend inequality by mastering and overmastering those discourses through study and critique. You cannot simply go around a tradition to overcome it, if that s what you wish to do; you must go through it. You only transform a dominant culture by outsmarting it.. In summary, Rajiv proposes a holistic revival of Sanskrit ecosystem, Sanskrit non-translatables in to mainstream, Shastras to be seen as innovative platform, new itihasas and smritis to be written, encounter political & liberation philology with sacred philology, Poorvapaksha & Uttrapaksha revived and adapted to analyze non-dharmic traditions, etc. This book is for everyone who is concerned about Sanskrit & Sanskriti to understand the dominant western discourse - Particularly traditional scholars who need to study and respond to western hegemonic framework. ****************** 2016 Festivals Celebration Calendar (Aug to Oct) Naaga Panchami Vara-Lakshmi Vrat Upaa-karma/Rakshaa Bandhan Shri Krishna Janmashtami August 07 Sunday 12 Friday 17 Wednesday 24 Wednesday September Hari Taalika Teej Vrat 04 Sunday Ganesh Chaturthi 04 Sunday Shri Vaman Jayanthi 13 Tuesday Poornima/(Satyanarayana Katha) 16 Friday Pitri Paksh (Shraddha) Begins 16 Friday Pitri Paksh (Shraddha) Ends 30 Friday 6:45 pm October Sharada Navaratri Begins 01 Saturday Durga Ashtami 09 Sunday 7:00 pm Dashahara/Vijay Dashami 10 Monday Sharad Poornima/S. N. Puja 15 Saturday 6:45 pm Karavaa Chauth 18 Tuesday 4:00 pm 6:00 pm Deepavali/Lakshmi Pooja 29 Saturday 6:00 pm Govardhana (Annakoot) Pooja 30 Sunday Volume 20 No. 2 1 August 2016 Mandir Vani Page 11

12 Hindu Temple and Cultural Center of the Rockies 7201 S. Potomac Street Centennial, CO Non Profit Organization US Postage Paid Permit No 237 Littleton, CO Return Service Requested Donation Appeal Please continue to show your support by making generous donations at the Temple or by mail (cut and enclose the coupon printed below) to : 7201 S. Potomac St., Centennial, CO The contributions are tax deductible. The Tax ID Number for the Hindu Temple and Cultural Center is Enclosed is a check for $, my/our contribution for the Hindu Temple and Cultural Center of the Rockies. Name:, Spouse Name: Address: City, State, Zip: Phone:, Volume 20 No.2 1 August 2016 Mandir Vani Page 12

Mandir Vani. Editorial Board K. C. Upadhyay (Priest) Prabhakara Rao (Editor) Reva Nayar (President) Ganesh Chaturthi Celebration at Hindu Temple

Mandir Vani. Editorial Board K. C. Upadhyay (Priest) Prabhakara Rao (Editor) Reva Nayar (President) Ganesh Chaturthi Celebration at Hindu Temple Mandir Vani Hindu Temple and Cultural Center of the Rockies 8375 S. Wadsworth Blvd., Littleton, CO 80128 (Tax ID: 84-1301209) www.hindutempleofcolorado.org 303-948-9693 email:htcc@comcast.net The mission