6300 Princess Garden Parkway, Lanham, MD

20706. 301–552–4889, www.muruganTemple.org

NALLUR KATHIRKAMA KANTHAN

FESTIVAL

Murugan Temple will

celebrate the Nallur

Kathirkama Kanthan

festival with the chariot

run for the fourth

successive year on

August 10th and 11th. Please see

page 2 for more details of the

schedule.

EDUCATING THE GENX: MTNA’S FIRM

COMMITMENT AND ACTION

The Murugan Temple of North

America (MTNA), mindful of the

importance of nurturing the

glorious ancient traditions of Tamil

and Hinduism (Sanatana Dharma),

is dedicated to imparting this

distinguished cultural heritage to

the young children of its

congregation.

We believe that

it is imperative

to empower

our future

generation in a

way in which

they will be

knowledgeable,

confident and proud of their

heritage in this multi–cultural and

multi–religious society, so that they

become respectable members and

leaders of tomorrow. Teaching the

philosophy of Hinduism, especially

the monistic–theism, which is

worshiping God on the outside

(theism—taking part in the Hindu

rituals, festivals and pujas) and

(Continued on page 5)

Children rendering

bajans during a

Temple function

VINAYAKA CHATURTHI

Lord Ganesha or Vinayaka is the

remover of all obstacles. MTNA

will celebrate Vinayaka Chaturthi

on a grand scale on Sept 19th. . The

celebrat ions include Specia l

Abhishekam, Homam,

S a h a s r a n a m a m

r e c i t a t i o n a n d

Vinayaka procession.

Please mark your

c a l e n d a r s a n d

participate in the

celebrations.

KUMBABISHEKAM ANNIVERSARY

CELEBRATIONS

The Kumbabishekam anniversary

celebrations were conducted on a

magnificent scale on June 1st and

2nd to coincide with Vaikasi

Visakham. The celebrat ions

included special Abhishekams,

Alankarams, Procession of the

deities around the Temple, Kavadi

and Pal kudam and Thiru

Klayanam. Devotees from different

parts of USA were present. Refer to

the Temple blog for photos from

the grand celebrations.

Index

Vinayaka Chaturthi—Announcement 1

Kumbabishekam 1

Educating the GenX—Article 1,3

Nallur Festival 1,2

Rajagopuram and Temple Expansion 3, 4

Vilakku Puja—Article 5

Nandavanam and Temple Blog 5

Saiva Saints Guru Puja - Article 6

Calendar 7

2

3

4

5

realizing God within oneself (monism—realizing the Self

God through meditation), is central and essential. To help

this, students learn to recite Hindu devotional songs

composed by our Saiva Saints in Carnatic or classical Indian

music style (Bajan), learn Hatha

Yoga and Tamil language in

classes conducted by the MTNA

Learning Center on alternate

Sundays between 10:15 AM and

1:00 PM at the Murugan Temple.

The Tamil, Bajan, Hinduism and

Yoga classes are taught

by volunteers who have in–depth

knowledge in the respective

areas. These classes at MTNA

were started about nine years ago by dedicated volunteers

with a mission to teach Hinduism and Tamil language and its

rich culture to the young generation born and/or brought up

in the USA.

Bajan classes are conducted by Ms. Rathini Vijayaverl, a

well–trained, enthusiastic and experienced guru in this field.

Hatha Yoga classes are led by a longtime practitioner of this

ancient life science and Murugan Temple member. Hatha

Yoga (also called Hatha Vidya) is a system of Yoga

described by Yogi Swatmarama—a Hindu sage of the 15th

century India and the compiler of Hatha Yoga Pradipika.

Religious classes are taught by several longtime MTNA

devotees, who are blessed with deep religious knowledge

and visualization. They are also members of the Master

Course Study Group, which strives to learn the Saiva

Siddhanda way of life leading to Self–Realization; this

Group was formed with the blessings of Satguru Sivaya

Subramuniyaswami, who established the Kauai’s Hindu

Monastery in 1970 and who was the foremost disciple of

Siva Yogaswami of Sri Lanka. Periodically, the MTNA

Learning Center receives teaching materials on Hinduism

from this Hindu Monastery and its monks offer help and

advice to the Hindu religion teachers.

The Tamil language classes are taught by volunteers who

have deep interest and knowledge in this language.

Currently, about 25 students are enrolled at the MTNA

Learning Center. There are more than ten dedicated

volunteers helping to run this Center. Based upon the

speaking and writing skills in Tamil, students follow a

structured six–year syllabus that is derived from the

curriculum put forward by the American Tamil Academy

(ATA), which is an organization that attempts to standardize

the curriculum for all Tamil schools in the USA.

(Continued from page 1)

Educating children in our

great tradition of Tamil,

music and yoga is an integral

part of the MTNA culture.

NANADAVANAM

We are always looking for volunteers, plants, and any other

material that you will like to donate towards the Temple

garden. We will be using the flowers at our daily Pujas.

Please contact the Temple manager or email to

temple.projects@gmail.com to volunteer or for more details.

CHITRA POORNIMA—VILAKKU PUJA

Many women participated in

the Vilakku Puja celebrations

held at the Temple on Chitra

Poornima. All Poornimas are

v e r y a u s p i c i o u s f o r

Meenakshi Amman. Chitra

Poornima, being the first

Poornima of the Tamil New

Year, is indeed very special. A

Vilakku Puja was conducted along with Lalitha Sahasranama

Archana for Meenakshi Amman to celebrate this auspicious

occasion. It is also the day when Chitragupta, the book-

keeper of all our deeds, starts his duty of book-keeping for

the year and worshipping on this occasion

guides us in good virtue. More than 50

women participated in the Puja and offered

Kumkuma Archana. This form of worship

is believed to bestow good health and well

-being to not only the women who perform

the Puja but to all their families, as it is

indeed a prayer by the motherly women to

the Mother of all worlds.

Holiness in red and yellow

hue

Prayer to the Mother

of all worlds

TEMPLE BLOG

Missed a Temple function? Want reminders for upcoming

events? You can catch up with photos from all past events and

get updates of upcoming events by signing up with blog

www.murugantemple.wordpress.com.

6

SAIVA SAINTS GURU PUJA—A UNIQUE FESTIVAL

OF THE MURUGAN TEMPLE

Saiva Saints Guru Puja is a

special celebration that is

unique to the Murugan

Temp le. T his fest iva l

commemorates the glorious

c o n t r i b u t i o n o f t h e

Nayanmars, the flag-bearers

of the Saivaite tradition, 63 of

them. Each one of them

d i s t i n g u i s h e d

themselves with their

immeasurable devotion

to lord Siva. They all

have shown us the way

to God by their lives

and deeds. We, their

fortunate descendants,

have been bequeathed a great treasure trove of

devotional literature in the form of Thirumurai,

Devaram, Thiruvempavai and many more. Each year,

this funct ion is

conducted at the

Murugan Temple on

the first Sunday of

April. This year, it was

held on April 1st. The

celebrations included

recitation of Thirumurai,

Pujas to all Nayanmars,

procession of Thirumurai

around the Temple and

religious discourse by a

Temple devotee. Students of

Temple’s religious classes attended the event and

rendered bajans. The kids also offered flowers and

fruits to the idols of the Nayanmars. Another very

special aspect of these

celebrations is that

along with the 63

Nayanmars, Late Sri.

Kripananda Vaariar, a

contemporary Saiva

philosopher and ardent

devotee of Lord

Muruga is a lso

felicitated during the

event. This is also one Temple event where the

participation of young

children is strongly

e mp h a s i z e d a nd

encouraged. And in

testimony to the

Temple’s efforts to

educate the next

g e n e r a t i o n i n

Hinduism, lots of kids

participated in the

ce le br a t io ns a nd

recited Tamil prayers and bajans.

Commemoration of

Thirumurai

Tamil Saints called the Nayanmars have bequeathed to us a

great tradition of devotion.

Procession of Thirumurai

Kids offering flowers and fruits to

idols of Nayanmars

Religious discourse by a devotee

during the guru Puja

Children rendering prayers and

Bajans was a key highlight of the

Guru Puja celebrations

7

Make Murugan Temple’s Rajagopuram Part of Your Legacy First Brick (Special) - $51 Ten Bricks – $1,010

North or South Gopuram $250,000

Sponsor Festival Days Panguni Uthiram All Day Sponsorship $101 Kumbabishekam Sponsorship: Both Days $251

Kumbabishekam Sponsorship: One Day $151

Sponsor Temple Operations Full day of temple operations $750

Full month: Garlands (all deities) $900 Full month: Abhishekam and Omam provisions $450

Full month: Milk $250 A full week of Garlands (all deities) $125

One day: Simple garland for a deity........ $ 15 Choice of Deity for garland :_________________________

Please indicate desired dates :_______________________________

MTNA Newsletter Printing and Mailing $__________

Check Enclosed for $__________ Name _________________________________________________ Address ________________________________________________ City State _________ ZIP __________________ Phone ____________E–Mail ________________________________ Family Gothiram _________________________________________ Birth Star (el:rj;jpuk;) ________ Name of Family Member

___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________

Please use separate sheet for additional family members

Mail: The Murugan Temple of North America, 6300 Princess Garden Parkway,Lanham, MD 20706 – Please address checks to MTNA.

You can now make contributions and fill-out your donation forms on-line at www.murugantemple.org

Ganapati Tunai “Why Fear? I Am Within You and Protect You Always” — Murugan

JULY

Shashti—July 8th

Noon– thirumurai recital in front of

Siva sannidhi

06:00pm Murugan Abhishekam

Tamil month Adi begins—July 15th

Adai amavasai—July 18th

Adi Pooram—July 22nd

10:30AM Meenakshi Abhishekam

6:00pm Meenakshi Sahasranamam

Varalakshmi Vratam—July 27th

AUGUST

Yajur Upakarma—Aug 1st

Contact manager for more details

Nallur Festival Day 1—Aug 10th

09:15AM Ganapathi Homam and

Abhishekam

10:00AM subramanya Homam and

Abhishekam

06:30pm Ganapathi Sahasranamam

and Procession

07:30pm Palani Andavar Special

Abhishekam (Thiru Karthigai) .

Nallur Festival Day 2—Aug 11th

08:00AM Ganapathi Puja

08:45AM Kavadi, Pal Kudam and

Murugan Abhishekam

11:00AM Utsavar ascending Ratham

and procession

01:00pm Lunch

02:15pm Utsavar descending Ratham

03:00pm thiru Kalyanam and Murugan

procession inside Temple,

Sahasranamam and Archana.

Tamil month avani begins—

Aug 16th

Thiru Onam—Aug 29th

SEPTEMBER

Sept 9th

Noon Thirumurai recital in front of

Siva Sannidhi

Tamil month Purattasi begins—

Sept 16th

Sama Upakarma—Sept 16th

Vinayaka Chaturthi—Sept 19th

09:00AM Ganapathi Homam and

Special Abhishekam

07:00pm Ganapathi Sahasranamam

and Procession

Nataraja Abhishekam—Sept 28th

06:00pm Nataraja Abhishekam

Mahalaya Paksha Sraddha begins—

Sept 30th

MONTHLY EVENTS

Pradosham—July 1, 16, 30, Aug 14, 28

and Sept 13 and 27.

06:00pm Siva Special Abhishekam

Poornima—July 2, Aug 1, 30 and Sept

29.

Adhi Parasakthi Puja—July 29, Aug 26,

Sept 30 at 02:30pm

Shankatahara Chaturthi—July 6, Aug 5

and Sept 3

07:00pm Ganesha special

Abhishekam

Shashti—July 8, Aug 7 and Sept 6

06:00pm Shanmuga Abhishekam

Karthigai—July 13, Aug 10 and Sept 6*

07:30pm Palani Andavar Abhishekam

*- Abhishekam at 07:30pm

Friday Bajans—July 6, 20, Aug 3, 17

and Sept 7, 21

08:00pm Singing Bajans.

8

TEMPLE SERVICES: Please call the Temple Manager

at 301 552-4889 to make prior arrangements for

ceremonies at the Temple or in your home.

Also, ask for information about local hotels.

TEMPLE HOURS: Monday – Friday 9 am – 12 noon

& 5 pm - 9 pm; Saturday, Sunday, & Holidays 9 am – 9

pm

AUDITORIUM: The Temple’s auditorium capable of

seating about 200 people in the basement is available for

rent by Devotees. The Temple has also ample parking

space. Call the Temple Manager at 301 552-4889 for

reservations.

DIRECTIONS TO MURUGAN TEMPLE: From I-95

(also 495, Capital Beltway), take exit 20-A, Lanham (Rte

450 East), then follow the signs to Princess Garden

Parkway. Turn right on Princess Garden Parkway.

“Murugan Temple” is on your left within half a mile (6300

Princess Garden Parkway).

From Baltimore-Washington Parkway take Exit to Rt. 193

East Greenbelt Road. Turn left on Greenbelt Road. Turn

right on Hanover Parkway, which becomes Princess

Garden Parkway. Drive about 2.5 miles. The temple will

be on your right.

Non Profit Org.

U.S. Postage

PAID

So. MD

Permit No. 3958

Murugan Temple of North America

6300 Princess Garden Parkway

Lanham, MD 20706, USA

CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

The Murugan Temple of North America is a traditional Saivite

Temple. It has a floor area of 7000 sq. ft with main sannidhi for

Murugan (Karthikeya) and 4 small sannidhis for Vinayaka (Ganesha),

Nataraja (Siva), Meenakshi and Palani Andavar. We also have an

auditorium that is available for community use.