Samarpanam March 15, 2013

Samarpanam2012 Annual Report • March 15, 2013

A humble offering...

Vidya mitram pravaseshu

Bharya mitram gruheshu cha

Vyadhi tasyowshadham mitram

Dharmo mitram mrutasya cha |

--Subhashita

Knowledge is a friend in distant lands

Wife is a friend at home

The right medicine is a friend to the sick

Dharma (righteousness) is a friend even beyond the grave

Hindu Temple and CommuniTy CenTer of mid-miSSouri (HTCC)

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http://shanthimandir.missouri.org

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Contents

Business Advertisers

A&Y Global Market . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 AC Cleaning and Lawn Service . . . 13Boehmer Chiropractic . . . . . . . . . . 13Boone County National Bank . . . . . 7Days Inn/Budget Host . . . . . . . . . . 23House of Brokers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Inside Columbia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Kumon Center of Columbia . . . . . 13Landmark Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Little Gym . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43Missouri Cancer Associates . . . . IFCRamsey Shouman, DDS . . . . . . . . . 14Robinson Ries Orthodontics . . . . 26Seema Enterprises . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Seema World Travel . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Taj Emporium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42TigerSide Preschool . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Ultramart Arena/Speedy Mart . . IBCWeb Design Services . . . . . . . . . . . 26

MessAges froM fAMiliesGraduations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24-25 Personal Messages . . . . . . . 8, 26, 42Wedding Announcements . . . . . . 23

IBC: Inside Back Cover IFC : Inside Front Cover

Daily Prayer Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Message from the Board of Trustees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Map and Directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3HTCC Benefactors - 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Report from the Executive Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5In Memoriam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6HTCC Seventh Anniversary Celebrations Organizing Committee . . . . . . . . . . . .8A Foreword to the Committee Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9HTCC Executive Committee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9Communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10HTCC Fiscal Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11HTCC Picture Gallery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Cultural Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Facilities and Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Devotional Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18External Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Financial Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Educational Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Safety and Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Membership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Operations and Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Publications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Scheduling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Service Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Youth Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Shanthi Mandir Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33HTCC Directory 2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Cultural Association of India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Raagas of Columbia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38The Vedic Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39South Asia Student Association (SASA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Current Programs at Shanthi Mandir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40HTCC Volunteers 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41HTCC Membership Form 2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

shAnthi MAndir

Hindu Temple and CommuniTy CenTer of mid-missouri (HTCC) ColuMBiA, Missouri

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Daily Prayer Page

Morning Prayer This prayer is to be recited soon after waking up.

KARAAGRE VASATE LAKSHMI KARA MADHYE SARASWATI KARA MOOLE STHITA GAURI

PRABAHATE KARA DARSHANAM

On the tip of my fingers resides Lakshmi, the Goddess of prosperity and wealth. In the middle of my hands is Saras-wati, the Goddess of knowledge and learning. In the palm of my hands sits Mother Gauri, the Goddess of protection.

Visualizing in this manner, I take darshan of my hands every morning.

Meal Prayer This 24th verse from the 4th chapter of Bhagavad Gita is to be recited before every meal.

BRAHMAARPANAM BRAHMA HAVIR BRAHMAAGNAU BRAHMANAA HUTAM

BRAHMAIVA TENA GANTAVYAM BRAHMA KARMA SAMAADHINAHA

The act of offering is Brahman (The Supreme). The offering itself is Brahman. The offering is done by Brahman in the sacred fire which is Brahman. He alone attains Brahman who, in all actions, is fully absorbed in Brahman. (As we

chant this prayer we are offering the different types of food to Brahman).

Gayatri Mantra The Gayatri Mantra can be recited any time, but is ideally suited for morning prayer-time.

OM BHUR BUVAHA SUVAHA THATH SAVITHUR VARENYAM BHARGO DEVASYA DHEEMAHI

DHIYO YONAHA PRACHODAYATH

We contemplate the glory of Light illuminating the three worlds: gross, subtle and causal. I am that vivifying power, love, radiant illumination and divine grace of universal intelligence.

We pray for the divine light to illumine our minds.

Asotoma Sadgamaya Prayer This Prayer is typically recited as a conclusion to a meditation/prayer session

ASATOMA SADGAMAYA THAMASO MAA JYOTHIR GAMAYA

MRITHYOR MAA AMRUTHAM GAMAYA AUM SHANTHI SHANTHI SHANTIHI

Lead me from the unreal to the real. Lead me from darkness to light. Lead me from death to immortality. May there be peace everywhere.

Night Prayer This prayer is to be recited at bedtime.

KARA CHARANA KRITHAM VAAK KAAYAJAM KARMAJAM VAA SRAVANA NAYANAJAM VAA MAANASAM VAA APARADHAM

VIHITHAM AVIHITHAM VAA SARVAMETAT KSHAMASVA JAYA JAYA KARUNAABDHE SRI MAHA DEVA SHAMBHO

Oh Lord, please forgive me for all the wrong actions that I have committed with my hands, feet, speech, body, ears, eyes and mind. Please pardon me for all the wrong actions that I have done knowingly or unknowingly. Victory to

You, oh Lord of compassion and mercy.

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Message froM the BoarD of trustees

MaP anD DireCtions

direCtions:Take Exit 127 on Interstate I-70 Head north on Range Line St Right at first traffic light on Vandiver Dr Left on Parker St Right on Holly Ave Sign for Shanthi Mandir will be visible on the right after 5-6 homes

As we approach the seventh anniver-sary of the Hindu Temple and Com-

munity Center of Mid-Missouri (HTCC), it is appropriate to recall the message of the Bhagavadgita. We have had the good fortune to recite and study it on numer-ous occasions, thanks to the weekly com-munion at the Shanthi Mandir.

This sloka (Chapter 4, sloka 20) gives us a road map on how to proceed with ac-tions whose consequences are unknown despite our good intentions. “Do not be obsessed with the results of your deeds,” says the good book. “Do not yearn for

the fruits of your action. Be self-assured and detached. Focus on the task at hand without ego. Then things proceed as if you were not doing them.”

We pray for the wisdom imparted by the Bhagavadgita as we proceed into the future with a desire to remain strong and united, to expand opportunities to pray, learn and serve.

Samarpanam gives a summary of where we are at the present. With your support and active participation we are certain to forge ahead. We wish you a happy and peaceful 2013.

MeMBers

Holalkere R. Chandrasekhar1

Meera ChandrasekharBalakrishnan ElangovanSrinath GopalakrishnaAnantha GopalaratnamVellore S. GopalaratnamNila GuptaArun JainLeela Jashnani3

Kattesh KattiInder KhuranaJasmit KhuranaKiratadas Kutikkad 3,4

Sunder LalNirja LoyalkaAnil MalhotraKusum MalhotraRitcha Mehra-Chaudhary3

Kunal ChaudharyMoonmoon MitraRanadhir Mitra2

Kannappan PalaniappanHarsha PatelNitin PatelRavi PuriAnuradha RajagopalanV. RamachandranKannan Raghuraman3

Archana RamaswamyGagneesh RawatChandra RawlaniRamesh RawlaniToshi SehgalSanjiv SethiKrishna SharmaBharath SrinivasanHema SrinivasanRavi ThawaniDabir Viswanath

1. Trustee President 2. Trustee Vice-President 3. Elected Trustees 4. Trustee Secretary

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htCC BenefaCtors - 2012

in-kind donors, JAnuAry 1 - deCeMBer 31, 2012HTCC is grateful for donation of a Tabla set by Dr. Nripen Chanda, the donation of 3 four-shelf open book-cases, a two-drawer metal filing cabinet and a vacuum cleaner by Prof. Dabir Viswanath and Mrs. Pramila Viswanath, and two 26” table top Phillips TVs by Dr. Ravi and Mrs. Mona Puri. We also thank the following families for in-kind donations to the silent auction organized during the 2012 Anniversary Banquet. The auction generated over $1600 to benefit HTCC.

Anandhi Upendran and K. Raghura-man

Chandra and Ramesh Rawlani Dabir and Pramila Viswanath Kusum Chandrapal Meena and Ravi Thawani Meera and H.R. Chandrasekhar Namita and Sashi Satpathy

Patricia Coles Pennan Chinnaswamy Punam and Sanjeev Sethi Priya and Sudhir BatchuRajalakshmi and N. Rao Adusumilli Raji Subramanian Ritcha Mehra and Kunal Chaudhary Sandhya and Krishna Sharma

Sandra and Asit Basu Shakku and Pradeep Sahota Shamita and Madhukar Misra Sonali Kumar and Shiva Pennathur Sunilima Sinha and Rajiv MohanSurya MantralaToshi SehgalVasanthi Bhaskaran

$1-49Viswanath, Dabir and PramilaMohan, SarojRamesh, KrishnaPatil, Gunvant BaliramAdusumilli, Narayana and Rajalak-

shmiKumar, Adarsh and SangeetaMohan, Rajiv and Sunilima SinhaMohan, AmitabhPennathur, Shiva Kumar

$50-99Gopalakrishna, Srinath and UmaPuri, Ravi and MonaChaudhary, Kunal and Ritcha MehraCutkosky, Dale and Hema SrinivasanKatoch, Bandhana

$100-249Kumar, AshaSharma, Krishna and Sandhya

Balakrishnan, Elangovan and AbiramiBasu, Asit and SandraKannan, SankaranarayananManusmare, Purushottam and UshaNair, Satish and JyotsanaPandurangi, SandhyaPatel, Nitin and HarshaSahota, Pradeep K and ShakkuSandhu, KuljitKumar, Senthil and KalaiZambre, Ajit PrakashRaghuraman, Kannan and Anandhi

UpendranKrishnan, Hari and LathaDalal, PranavGupta, Ghanshyam and ManormaShukla, Shivendra and AshaMalhotra, Anil and KusumRawlani, Ramesh and ChandraKrishna, Gopal and SantoshAgashe, PushpaRefound Psychiatry Services LLC

Subramanian, Krishna and Raji

$250-499Mantrala, Murali and SuryaThawani, Ravi and MeenaKhurana, Inder and JasmitBatchu, Sudhir and Priya

$500-999Mahal, Satnam and JasvirRatneshwar, Srinivasan and Subbal-

akshmiAggarwal, Kul and ArchanaRawat, Gagneesh and AditiSehgal, Santosh

$1,000-2,499Sethi, Yash and AnjanaLoyalka, Sudharshan and NirjaGopalaratnam, Vellore and Anantha

donor ACknowledgeMent, JAnuAry 1 - deCeMBer 31, 2012We gratefully acknowledge the following monetary donations made during 2012. If we have inadvertently made an error in not including your name, please let us know. We will correct the error at the earliest available opportunity.

MAke regulAr donAtions to htCC viA direCt BAnk trAnsfersPlease consider making regular monthly contributions of $101, $51 or $21, or any other amount of your choice, as several families currently do. Slowly but surely your contributions will provide HTCC with the funds necessary to make timely infrastructure improvements. Please contact the Capital Campaign Chair or the Treasurer to set up regular donations.

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rePort froM the exeCutive BoarD

Our devotional, educational, ser-vice, outreach and youth programs

continue to serve Mid-Missouri’s Hindu community and Columbia residents well. We are able to do this by operating on a 100% volunteer basis. We salute our many volunteers and thank them for their de-votion, commitment and hard work.

Devotional event celebrations have be-come a tradition at the Shanthi Mandir. We are impressed by our community’s participation and engagement at these events - New Year Gayatri Mantra Recita-tion, Maha Shivaratri, Shri Ram Navami/Akhand Ramayan, Samuhika Satyanaray-an Puja, Janmashtami/Sri Krishna Jay-anthi, Ganesh Chaturthi, Navaratri Puja, Karva Chauth, Skanda Sashti, Deepavali/Lakshmi Puja, Guru Nanak Jayanthi and Gita Recitation. We held fewer talks this year than earlier years; however, we are receiving more calls to either host talks on religion for smaller groups at the Man-dir or elsewhere. For example, we hosted about 30 participants from the Columbia Chamber of Commerce Junior Leadership Columbia program and invited a Church group to attend Bal Puja proceedings. Tamil language classes are very well-re-ceived, and we are looking for volunteers to restart Hindi language classes. We also held cultural programs at the Mandir.

Our summer workshop series covering the recitation of Vedic chants, cooking, quilt-making and mysteries of the uni-verse were well received. Our service programs are also continuing to serve Columbia. Our youth assist in several service programs such as The Food Bank, Narayan Seva, Anna Daan, Adopt-a-Spot, Clean-up Columbia, CROP Hunger Walk and Sharing the Warmth. Several volun-teers also provide soup and sandwiches every 4th Monday to the Interfaith Day Center, a program that provides day-time

shelter and services to Columbia’s home-less population. HTCC also fulfilled its 2012 pledge of $1,000 to support the Co-lumbia Interfaith Resource Center (CIRC), an organization that operates two ongo-ing programs: The Interfaith Day Center and The Room at the Inn Shelter. We also contributed $1,000 to the Ahvad Memo-rial fund. In July 2012, a new website (http://columbiafavs.com/) dedicated to faith and values was launched. The Columbia FAVS site provides a discussion platform and an online forum for non-sectarian coverage of faith and values news from Columbia. H.R. Chandrasekhar serves as the HTCC representative on the ColumbiaFAVS web site. On a related note, we actively participated in the in-terfaith Thanksgiving event in 2012 as we have in years past. HTCC also sponsors a table at the Columbia Values Diversity Breakfast to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. These activities have helped us in building active ties with the interfaith initiatives in Columbia. We thank you for your contributions in representing HTCC at community-wide events.

In January 2013, we lost Robert F. Bus-sabarger, an honorary member of HTCC and a dear friend of the Indian commu-nity in Columbia. We pray for him and remember his generosity, compassion and love.

This year also marked the launching of an updated Shanthi Mandir website. Our thanks go to Indu Chandrasekhar for her creativity, Geetha Kutikkad for her diligence as the site’s Webmaster and Meera Chandrasekhar for coordinating the transition. The website is more user friendly and it has received very positive feedback.

We have achieved approximately 60% of our Capital Campaign target of $150,000 and continue to make steady ...continued on page 6

MeMBers

Inder Khurana1

Ravi Thawani2

Meera Chandrasekhar3

Abirami Elangovan4

1. President 2. Vice President 3. Secretary 4. Treasurer

Temple A. What is the name of the temple with this structure and where is it?

Temples of India Quiz: Watch for images throughout Samarpanam. Yes, the answers are in this issue too - don’t peek!

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in MeMoriaM

roBert BussABArger, 1922-2013 Dr. Robert F. Bussabarger, emeritus professor of Art at the University of Missouri and a dear friend of the Indian community in Columbia passed away on Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2013. He was 90 years old. He was inducted as an Honorary Member of HTCC in 2009 in recognition of his numerous contributions to various art forms of India and his valu-able donation of books to the HTCC library.

In 1961, Dr. Bussabarger was awarded a Fulbright research grant to study terracotta sculpture and temples in India. He lived in Calcutta in the state of Bengal, collaborat-ed with two local artists and produced his own ceramic sculptures and pottery. Over the next few years, he returned to India and continued to produce ceramics, which were exhibited in galleries in Mumbai and Calcutta. His work was received enthusi-astically throughout India. In 1968 he co-authored with Betty D. Robins an illustrated book, “The Everyday Arts of India.” In later years, he continued to sculpt, publish and paint. With his wife Mary Louise, he made several trips to India to establish many last-ing friendships. Our deep heart-felt condolences go to his lovely wife and family.

but slow progress, partly because of the downturn in the economy. As we wait on building a comfort-able cushion for our future plans, the HTCC Board of Trustees (BOT) considered strategies for the future including the option to buy property. The time demands on some of our volunteers stress the need for a plan to employ a manager and a priest, at least on a part-time basis. We now have two families who contribute monthly to partly fund the cost of our operations. We hope that more individuals/families would join them in assuring adequate sustained fund-ing to meet our operating costs. We thank members who have renewed their 2013 memberships and encour-age others to renew as well because these dues help us maintain our operations.

Several repairs and maintenance tasks were completed during the past year to provide a safe and se-cure facility. We installed one hand-

rail on the right wall as one leaves the prayer hall to get to the entrance hallway. We also hired contractors to install gutters and downspouts on the main building of the Mandir. Due to the torrid summer heat, the flower beds in the lawn needed more care than usual in the form of weeding and watering on a regular basis.

The Election Committee (consisting of Srinath Gopalakrishna, Gagneesh Rawat and Krishna Sharma) has been appointed to hold upcoming elections as per our Constitution and bylaws for the various open offices (Treasurer and Vice President of the Executive Board and an Elected Trustee position). Please participate in the elections by nominating indi-viduals and by voting electronically.

As a part of our 7th anniversary cele-brations, HTCC’s Devotional Program was held on Saturday, February 23, 2013. The program included a havan

officiated by Sri Sateesh Bhagwat of Chicago, followed by a scholarly talk on the significance of a yagna by Annayya R. Aroor, an HTCC member. If you recall, Columbia was hit with a snowstorm that left 10 inches of snow on the ground two days before the devotional program. We thank the stalwart devotees who braved the sometimes-snowy streets to come to the Mandir. We are look-ing forward to the 7th Anniversary banquet to be held on March 15, 2013, which is being organized under the leadership of Shiva Kumar Pen-nathur. Judging by the commitment of our members at the devotional program, we are confident that the annual banquet will reflect an even higher level of enthusiasm.

The Mandir needs your continued support as we are poised to grow to serve our community even better. May the spirit of caring, giving, posi-tive thinking and sharing strengthen in all of us!

exeCutive BoArd report

...continued from page 5

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Again for making us one of the Best Banks in America

THANK YOU

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You have made us all proud, with your sincere determination and serious efforts.

Best wishes from the Satpathys

htCC seventh anniversary CeleBrations organizing CoMMittee

Shiva PennathurRavi Thawani

Alagu Arunachalam Meera Chandrasekhar

Vellore S. GopalaratnamKavita Katti

Sumidha Katti

Nitin PatelInder Khurana Latha Krishnan

Lalit KumarLeela Jashnani

Kusum MalhotraRitcha Mehra-Chaudhary

Amy MessnerSonali PennathurChandra Rawlani

Punam SethiSandhya Sharma

Uma SrinathAnandhi Upendran

Temple B. What is the name of this temple and where is it?

Temple C. What is the name of this temple and where is it?

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a foreworD to the CoMMittee rePorts

htCC exeCutive CoMMittee

htCC exeCutive BoArd

President – Inder Khurana Vice President – Ravi Thawani Secretary – Meera Chandrasekhar Treasurer – Abirami Elangovan

htCC CoMMittee ChAirs

Assistant Treasurer – Kusum Malhotra Capital Campaign – H. R. Chandrasekhar Communications – Gagneesh Rawat Cultural Programs – Hema Srinivasan Devotional Programs – Punam Sethi & Hema Srinivasan

Educational Programs – Open External Relations – Leela Jashnani Facilities and Maintenance – Kiratadas Kutikkad Financial Policy – Krishna Sharma Library – H. R. Chandrasekhar Membership – Inder Khurana Operations and Maintenance – Kala Kumar Publications – Tarang Parashar Safety and Security – Kiratadas Kutikkad Scheduling – Anantha Gopalaratnam Service Programs – Anantha Gopalaratnam Youth Activities – Anandhi Upendran

Comprises Executive Board (elected) and Standing Committee Chairs (appointed)

As we celebrate the successful growth of the past seven years

and look forward to the future of HTCC with excitement, we must acknowledge the meticulous plan-ning and hard work provided by the members of the sixteen committees that goes to make HTCC and Shanthi Mandir the spirit of our community! This organizational structure pro-motes our devotional, educational, cultural, service, outreach and youth programs, and helps us achieve the mission of HTCC. The six core committees are Cultural Programs, Devotional Programs, Educational Programs, Service Programs, Pub-lications and Youth Activities Com-mittees. The other ten committees help support the key functions of the six core committees. All com-mittee members are volunteers, have a genuine desire to serve and a vested interest in the success and well-being of our Mandir and the community.

As you browse through this issue of Samarpanam, we encourage you

to read about the activities of each committee and notice how “service” fits into their programs.

Cultural Programs Committee pro-actively schedules programs by local and professional artistes that rep-resent all parts of India. This helps members connect with their rich cultural heritage.

Devotional Programs Committee helps organize and celebrate all the major festivals of India. It even keeps our Mandir open regularly for open prayers on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and during Ganesh Chathurthi and Navrathri celebrations.

Educational Programs Committee fosters educational programs. It is responsible for presenting and main-taining language classes, seminars, retreats and wellness programs for HTCC members. The ongoing activi-ties are Language Classes and Bhaga-vad Gita Study Circle.

Service Programs Committee, besides executing regular service

programs, introduces special proj-ects each year that may become part of the Mandir’s regular programs. A recently introduced program is the once a month Soup and Sandwich service.

Publications Committee produces the quarterly newsletter Shanthi Sandesh, available on the Mandir Website and shared with members and friends of the Mandir via mail.

Youth Activities Committee serves to encourage, challenge and engage the young members of HTCC to par-ticipate in youth-centric activities like Summer Workshops, Anniversary Contest and Youth Day/Picnic. The objective is to involve, mentor and reward youth.

We are looking for new volunteers to be a part of these committees so that new ideas are incorporated in their operations. We hope you will join one or more committees and contribute to a community with a focus and purpose! Together we can! Yes we sure can...

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CoMMuniCations

The Communication Committee plays a focal role and assists all

other HTCC committees by providing timely communication and publi-cizing various HTCC events to the “Membership” and “Friends of the Mandir” lists. The Committee has kept the membership informed in a timely manner with regular email updates on upcoming events and reached out to “Friends of the Man-dir” via quarterly emails at the time of newsletter publication.

The Committee continued with sev-eral initiatives started in the previous years while bringing in some new ones.

1. The Mandir now has a new feature-rich website that allows dynamic content posting and has a very professional and fresh look. The revamp of the Mandir website had been a project that the committee had in mind for quite some time and it finally became a reality due to diligent and sustained efforts from sev-eral volunteers. Many thanks to Indu Chandrasekhar for her creativity, Geetha Kutikkad for her diligence as the site’s Webmaster and Meera Chandrasekhar for coordinating this effort. Further details about the Mandir website are described elsewhere in this issue of Samarpanam.

2. PayPal functionality on the web-site has been improved since its implementation a year ago. Many more members used PayPal to make online donations and to renew their membership this past year. Please consider using PayPal functionality for renewals, new memberships or for a monthly

donation (one-time or a recurring) for the Mandir.

3. The Yahoo address book and con-tact list reorganization has been ongoing and has allowed us to send out emails to specific mem-bers and friends list such as annual membership reminders. Some of the major categories for grouping email lists are Annual Members, Sustaining Members, Late/Non-Renewals, Trustees, Interfaith Representatives and Friends of the Mandir. It has also helped provide accurate and up-to-date information to the HTCC Election Committee regarding members eligible for HTCC Elections and for reconciling memberships with QuickBooks data.

4. Membership renewal emails and reminders were sent out to Annual members and Friends of the Mandir. This has helped with timely annual membership renew-als and some new memberships.

5. Substantial progress was made with efforts to obtain a second email address on file for all HTCC Family members. Now there are only a few HTCC family members with one email address on file.

housekeeping reMinders

The Committee reminds all members to review the essential housekeep-ing tasks listed below that will help us all.

1. Add our email address [email protected] to your address book/contacts list. This will ensure that all Mandir emails get delivered to your Inbox and you don’t miss out on any

events.

2. Email address change: please re-member to send us a quick email with your new email address and we will update our records.

3. Moving away or opting-out: should you no longer wish to receive Mandir emails then please send us an email with subject “Re-move” and we will take your email address off our mailing list.

4. Two email addresses for family members: family members need to provide us two separate email addresses for election-related communication. Yes, we can limit non-election communication to a single email address if desired.

Please feel free to get in touch with us and/or provide us feedback at our email-id. Also remember to check our website on a regular basis for the most up to-date information on Mandir events.

We feel blessed as we celebrate our seventh anniversary milestone. Our journey this far would not have been possible without your support, dona-tions, volunteer help and feedback. See you at the Mandir!

teMple eMAil: [email protected]

teMple weBsite: http://shanthimandir.missouri.org

MeMBers

Gagneesh Rawat1

Meera Chandrasekhar2

Geetha Kutikkad3

1. Chair 2. Executive Board Liaison 3. Webmaster

Samarpanam 11



htCC fisCal suMMary

The charts above show the revenue streams and expense categories over the last 7 years.

The revenue streams (left) shows an average revenue of $67,760/year. The annual expenditures (right) during the same period average $22,491/year. Note that the special events category appears in both the revenue and expense charts. This category is associated primarily with the annual anniversary banquet (revenues ~$12,000, expenses ~$9000). Hence the average annual operating expense of HTCC (Shanthi Mandir) is ~$13,500 ($22,500-$9000), or an average monthly expenditure of $1,125.

Our 100% volunteer-run operation that has been in place for seven years has allowed us to keep our operating costs to a minumum. A big THANK YOU to our many dedicated volunteers who generously share their time and talent to provide the community with diverse programs and support our numerous service projects.

As you contemplate making donations to our Capital Campaign, please consider the following facts:• The Shanthi Mandir property is wholly owned

by HTCC, a non-profit corporation.• Donations to HTCC are tax deductible.• HTCC is exempt from Boone County property

tax.• Purchases for HTCC are exempt from Missouri

sales tax.• Each year since inception we have logged

in excess of 15,000 volunteer hours annu-ally, which keeps our operational costs to a minimum. This is equivalent to 7.5 full-time employees.

• HTCC serves over 150 Mid-Missouri Hindu fami-lies and also the larger Columbia community.

• HTCC has approximately 100 member families/individuals, including 70 sustaining members.

• 100% of donations made to the Capital Cam-paign will be available exclusively for capital expenditures.

ContriBute generously to our CApitAl CAMpAign!

HTCC Revenue, Expenditure and Capital Growth Chart, 2005-2013

Samarpanam12


Samarpanam12

htCC PiCture gallery

Ganesh Puja

Samuhika Satyanarayana

Puja

Vedic Society on a spiritual visitYouth Day Picnic

Sixth Anniversary Banquet

Samarpanam 13


Samarpanam 13

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Samarpanam14


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Samarpanam 15


Samarpanam 15

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Samarpanam 17



Cultural PrograMs

Cultural Programs Committee seeks to bring cultural events that are of inter-

est to the members of HTCC. The Mandir hosts ongoing tabla and music classes at the temple, as well as cultural programs to accompany, augment and enhance the devotional part of various festivals such as Krishna Jayanthi, Ramanavami, Dussehra and New Year. We also work with other related groups interested in a similar culture, such as Cultural Associa-tion of India, Raagas of Columbia, and Vedic Society.

The Committee showcased local tal-ent during Bhakti Geetam on May 12, 2012. We heard the melodious music of Sreemati Lakshmi Kannan and Sreemati Shuba Ratneshwar, skillfully accompa-nied by our own Tabla player Sri. Nandhu Radhakrishnan. Both Lakshmi and

Nandhu have now moved away from Co-lumbia. We wish them continued success in all fronts, and welcome them back when they can to come and perform in our Mandir.

Goddess Andal or Godha as she is affec-tionately called exemplifies spirituality, music, culture, as well as determination. We celebrated her birthday, ThiruAdi-pooram, on June 21 at our Mandir with recitation and musical rendering of Thir-uppavai, Nacciyar Thirumozi.

We also had short cultural programs to accompany Janmashtami and Durga Puja, Navarathri Celebrations, as we do every year.

We would very much like to hear your ideas or suggestions for programs. Please do volunteer to be on the commit-tee.

MeMBers

Hema Srinivasan1

Abirami Elangovan2

Anand ChandrasekharAnandhi UpendranBimal RayRajagopalan Thiruvengada-thanRanadhir MitraShuba RatneshwarShubhra Gangopadhyay

1. Chair 2. Executive Board Liaison

Temple D. What is the name of this temple and where is it?

faCilities anD MaintenanCe

The Facilities and Maintenance Sub-Committee is responsible for the

general maintenance and making the necessary repairs to the Shanthi Mandir building.

The following items were completed in 2012 for the maintenance and upkeep of the Mandir:

• Repaired the roof of the storage shed. The old plywood was replaced with with new plywood, and new underlay-ment and architectural asphalt shin-gles were installed.

• Repaired and/or replaced the dam-aged gutters and downspouts around the main building of the Mandir.

Samarpanam18



Devotional PrograMs

Devotional Programs are naturally the main events in the Mandir. We con-

duct regular weekly programs, regular annual programs and special programs.

weekly regulAr progrAMs: Saturday, 9 – 10 am: Suprabhatam

Saturday, 6:30 – 8 pm: Open prayers and Hanuman Chalisa

Tuesday, 6:30 – 8 pm: Open prayers, Gita Paath and discussions

Thursday, 7 – 8 pm: Sai Bhajans

Sunday mornings: 1st Sunday Kirtans, 2nd Sunday Bal Puja

Sunday afternoons: 4th Sunday Bal Sab-ha, a cultural and educational program

AnnuAl regulAr progrAMs:New Year: Meditation, Chanting, meeting and welcoming new and old friends

Maha Shivarathri – Puja, chants and mu-sic (February 18)

Annual devotional program, Sita Rama Kalyanam (described in detail later in this article, February 25)

Sri Rama Navami and Akhand Ramayan Paath – overnight reading of the entire Tulsi Ramayan, followed by music and arati (April 14 and 15)

Krishna Jayanthi or Janmashtami – chil-dren’s program, puja and aarti (August 11)

Ganesh Chaturthi – children make idols of Ganesh out of clay the previous week. Puja, aarti and visarjan (Sept 20-24, 2012)

Navarathri, Durga Puja and Dussehra – group recitation of Lalitha Sahasrana-mam, the thousand names of Goddess Parvathi at select evenings at the Mandir. Puja, aarti and visarjan (Oct 16-23)

Karva Chauth – Thali Puja by married

women (November 2)

Diwali and Lakshmi Puja – puja, sparklers, aarti (November 17)

Guru Nanak Jayanthi – celebrated with Gyani Malkit Singhji of St.Louis ( Decem-ber 2)

Gita Paath – our way of celebrating Gita Jayanthi (December 8)

Dhanur Masa Puja – to celebrate the holy month from Dec 15 - Jan 14

All these events were organized with significant help from volunteers in the community.

speCiAl progrAMs:In addition to the regular programs, we also celebrate other events that are spe-cially organized.

As part of the Annual Devotional Pro-gram, Sita Rama Kalyanam was per-formed on February 25th, Saturday at 10:30 am. This is the first time such a function was done in Columbia and especially by HTCC. This was part of our annual program to mark the 6th anniver-sary of HTCC.

People perform Sita Rama Kalyanam for many reasons beside celebrating the cos-mic union of Sita and Rama and seeking the blessing of Divya Dampathis – divine couple. Sita Rama Kalyanam is conducted in the community to bestow long produc-tive lives, remove all negative forces and to promote universal prosperity.

Sri Ramavataram (Incarnation of Vishnu as Sri Rama) was to establish Satyam / Truth and Dharmam / good conduct. Sri Vishnu took the form of a man and completely hid his “parathvam” and lived amongst us as an example of how to conduct oneself in various situations while upholding truth and Dharma. Sita makes it possible for him to accomplish

MeMBers

Hema Srinivasan1 Punam Sethi1 Inder Khurana3

Anandhi UpendranChandra RawlaniHema SrikantaKusum Malhotra2

Meena Thawani Nirja Loyalka Srinath Gopalakrishna Sushma MalikVinita Khanna

1. Co-Chairs 2. Secretary 3. Executive Board Liaison

events - 2012New Year Jan 1Maha Shivarathri Feb 18Annual devotional program Feb 25 Sri Rama Navami & Akhand Ramayan April 14-15Janmashtami Aug 11 Ganesh Chaturthi Sep 22Navarathri, Durga Puja and Dussehra Oct 16-23Karva Chauth Nov 2Diwali Nov 17Gurunanak Jayanthi Dec 2Gita Paath Dec 8 Dhanur Masa Dec 15-Jan 14

Samarpanam 19



it. In Sita Rama Kalayanam, the wedding of Sita and Rama, Sita’s father, the great sagely king Janaka, says that Sita will help accomplish all that Rama wants to do. The entire story of Ramayana that follows after Balakandam illustrates this.

Members participated in Sita Rama Ka-layanam by bringing offerings for Prasad and Puja. We also had music and ended the program with a havan.

Samuhika Sathyanarayana Puja was held on August 23, 2012. The community came together to perform the traditional

Sathyanarayana Puja. Several families conducted the puja, while several others attended.

Holi Celebrations were held on March 11. Holi was celebrated with colors and games.

Devi Puja, a special puja for Goddess Lak-shmi was performed by women.

These religious events by no means exhaust all the special days of religious significance to the members in our com-munity. We invite suggestions from all the members for activities at the Mandir.

Top left: Samuhika Satyanarayana PujaTop right and bottom: Children make clay idols for Ganesh Chaturthi

Samarpanam20



external relations

We began the year with prepara-tions for the Annual Anniversary

Celebration for the Hindu Temple. The planning committee worked hard putting together the annual report Samarpanam, the banquet dinner, silent auction and entertainment. As always it was an enjoy-able evening with a purpose.

Once again, we participated in the Diver-sity Breakfast celebrations in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and HTCC was a sponsor at the festivities.

In April the Faith in Education group held an annual conference on the subject of “How faith affects your life and beliefs.” Representatives from various faith com-munities gave their perspectives, par-ticipated in table discussions and shared thoughts within the group. H.R. Chan-drasekhar represented our community and shared some beautiful thoughts.

Also in April, HTCC participated in Colum-bia’s Earth Day celebration. A tent was set up, and volunteers manned the both that included artifacts from India. A large number of people stopped by at the booth.

In July 2012, a new website was launched in Columbia, dedicated to faith and values (http://columbiafavs.com/). This website receives publicity from several local venues, including KBIA. The site pro-vides a discussion platform and an online forum for non-sectarian coverage of faith and values news from Columbia. H.R. Chandrasekhar serves as the HTCC repre-sentative. Several members have written articles that are published on the site.

Just prior to the Thanksgiving weekend the Interfaith Community hosted the Ecumenical Interfaith Thanksgiving Cel-ebration. There were several participants from various faith communities. It was a very auspicious and thought provoking occasion. After sharing religious and indi-vidual thoughts about the significance of Thanksgiving from the different commu-nities everyone was treated to a feast of International foods brought by various individuals and groups to be shared by all the attendees.

The Hindu Temple also hosted a group of Junior Leadership students from Columbia Public Schools to participate in a workshop on diversity as part of their curriculum.

Finally as the year began so did it con-clude with initiating plans for the anniver-sary celebrations for the Hindu Temple.

We encourage members to join us and participate in these fun and educational processes hosted and attended by the members of our committee.

MeMBers

Leela Jashnani1

Meera Chandrasekhar2 Gagneesh RawatH.R.ChandrasekharVellore S. Gopalaratnam


The HTCC Earth Day booth

Samarpanam 21



finanCial PoliCy

The Financial Policy Committee (FPC) oversaw the HTCC record keeping

and HTCC cash assets for 2012, interact-ing with the Executive Board officers (President Inder Khurana and Treasurer Abirami Elangovan). The FPC has con-ducted the year-end internal audit of the attached balance sheet of HTCC and veri-fied various expenses and entries.

We report the following:

• Proper books of account as required by HTCC board and law have been kept by the Treasurer so far as appears from our examination of the books.

• The balance sheet and revenue and expenses account dealt with by this re-port are in agreement with the books of account.

• The expenditures were justified and recorded. The major expenses were utilities, upgrades and repairs.

• Member donation is the major source of revenue. The donors are acknowl-edged as per mandated by HTCC practices.

• Among the HTCC activities the annual banquet was the single event that generated the highest surplus.

• Excluding the Anniversary celebration expenses the average monthly ex-pense was around $1300.

• Charitable donations, hundi collec-tions, membership dues, cook book sales and residual from the annual function have added about $12,593 to HTCC net balance in 2012.

• Approximately 75% of HTCC cash as-sets were in a money market account and the rest as a CD and operating checking accounts at two other local banks.

MeMBers

Krishna Sharma1

Kannan RaghuramanSurya MantralaAbirami Elangovan2


2012 finAnCiAl report Period: January 1, 2012 – December 31, 2012Prepared by Abirami Elangovan, Treasurer, HTCC, dated Feb 19, 2013

Balance Forward (From December 31, 2011) $304,528.03

Interest Income $1,005.12 Interest from CDs, Money Market account $1,005.12Membership Dues $3,111.00 Annual Family Member (AFM) $900.00 Annual Individual Members (AIM) $210.00 Upgrades to Sustaining membership (AFM to LFM)

$2,001.00

Donations $15,445.01 Check Donations $13,478.01 Prayer Services/Hundi $1,351.00 Facilities Use $616.00Other Revenues $17,896.60 Mandir Cook Books $4,753.20 Miscellaneous $138.40 Sixth Anniversary Celebrations $12,865.00 Summer Workshops $140.00TOTAL REVENUES $37,457.73Expenses Administrative Costs and Insurance $1,176.41 Lawn/Garden $1,022.83 Maintenance and Supplies $226.46 Printing and Mailing $1,372.90 Special Events Sixth Anniversary Celebrations $8,516.58 Sponsorship - Aditi Avhad Mem. Fund $1,000.00 Sponsorship - Interfaith Res. Center $1,000.00 Other $3,871.23 Start Up $205.92 Upgrades and Repairs $1,971.38 Utilities $4,500.56TOTAL EXPENSES $24,864.27

ENDING BALANCE (December 31, 2012) $317,121.49**

* Includes $1,631.36 in uncleared checks and $601.00 in pending deposits.

Samarpanam22



eDuCational PrograMs

The HTCC Educational Committee fosters the development of educa-

tional programs for adults and children. It is responsible for presenting language classes, seminars and wellness programs for HTCC members.

Tamil Class is a regular program that meets twice a month on the first and third Sundays from 3:00-4:30 PM. Classes are taught by volunteers and are free to members of HTCC.

suMMer sessions: Beginning Quilt-Making: A three-session, quilt making class was conducted by Meera Chandrasekhar and was attend-ed by five people. The partici-pants leaned the fundamentals of quilt making and by the end of workshop they quilted a top

for a cushion cover or bag. Presentations used in the class are available on the Mandir website.

Veda Chanting: Coordinated by Tarang Parashar, with assistance from Vellore Gopalaratnam, six to ten participants attended four sessions. They learnt to chant several shlokas from the Vedas with emphasis on devotion, correct pronunciation and proper diction. They worked on

Ganapathi PrarthanaMantra PushpamPurusha SuktamKshama Prarthana

All participants were provided the text and audio files necessary for self-study and practice on their own as well. Texts included the original Devanagri version along with English transliteration and translations so that learning was well rounded.

Two other educational classes, Adven-tures in Astronomy and Beyond Pasta are described in the Youth Activities section.

MeMBers

Krishna Sharma1

Kannan RaghuramanSurya MantralaAbirami Elangovan2


Temple E. What is the name of this temple and where is it?

safety anD seCurity

The Safety and Security Committee is responsible for ensuring that the

Shanthi Mandir building is safe for the use by the community and it complies with the applicable City of Columbia codes and regulations.

The following items were completed with regard to safety of the Mandir dur-ing the last year:

• Completed annual safety inspection of the Mandir and the educational center.

• Kept the fire extinguishers recharged and recertified as per the code.

• Helped with parking at the Mandir during several events that were well

attended by the community.• Coordinated the safety of the mem-

bers and children during the annual Diwali celebrations involving firecrack-ers.

• Coordinated snow removal for the safety of the members during inclem-ent weather.

MeMBers

Das Kutikkad1

Ravi Thawani2

V.S. GopalratnamLalit Kumar


Samarpanam 23


Samarpanam 23

Congratulations, Reena and Kevin on your wedding

November 10, 2012 Best Wishes

Jashnani Family

With best wishes from the Katwa familyLaxman, Geeta, Pranita, Shaum and Prashant

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Samarpanam24

2012 and 2013 Graduates

Congratulations Vidya! We are proud of you and love you

always!

Amma, Nanna and Ashwini

Congratulations and Best Wishes!

Love, Mom and Dad

Nikhilesh Sharma (Rock Bridge High School, 2012) Sangita Sharma (BS Aerospace Engineering, Georgia

Tech., 2013)

Congratulations, Nahush and Sumidha, on

your graduation.

Good luck as you begin your

higher education!

Congratulations, graduates!Blessings for your future endeavors!

With best wishes,The Bal Sabha Group

Congratulations to all

graduating students of 2013

from the Ramachandrans

Samarpanam 25


Samarpanam 25

Congratulations Vikram! Our best wishes and support will always be with you in your journeys.

Love,

Dad, Mom, Aiyya, Appatha, Visu Aiyya, Aaya, and of course Vishnu!

Congratulations and Best Wishes!From Mom and Dad

Neeta Thawani, Missouri Academy, High School Diploma and AS degree, 2013

Neil Thawani, BS, Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Missouri, 2013

Congratulations to Maya Cutkosky, Hickman High School Class of 2012. Maya is now at the University of Minnesota and intends to major in Chemistry.

Congratulations to Ashok Cutkosky, Harvard University Class of 2013, BA honors in Mathematics. Ashok will be going to graduate school for a PhD in Computer Science.

Samarpanam26


Samarpanam26

Values to live by...

Satya TruthDharma Right ConductShanthi PeacePrema LoveAhimsa Nonviolence

Temple F. What is the name of this temple and where is it?

Is your website old, slow or out of date?Need an update, or a new website?

Indu ChandrasekharWeb Design Specialist

For samples, visitinduchandrasekhar.com

Samarpanam 27



oPerations anD MaintenanCe

MeMBershiP

We have over 160 members on our roster. The schedule of membership

fees is as follows:

Sustaining Membership:• Individual (SIM Dues, $600)• Family (SFM Dues, $1,000)Annual Membership:• Individual (AIM Dues, $30)• Family (AFM Dues, $50)

The Committee requests that

• Annual members become sustaining members

• Annual members renew their 2013 memberships

• All members to update their email ad-dresses if there are any changes

• Existing members approach non-mem-bers to become members by highlight-ing the devotional, service and cultural programs and youth activities under-taken under the umbrella of HTCC.

It is important that you keep us informed of any changes in your email or mail-ing addresses. Emails are sent to “TCC members 1 to 2 weeks prior to upcoming celebrations/festivals. We also publish Shanthi Sandesh, a quarterly newsletter in February, May, August and November. Printed copies of Shanthi Sandesh are also mailed at that time. You can submit a write-up for the newsletter by send-ing us an email at our Yahoo address. In January of each year, members collect HTCC’s Calendar for the New Year.

Membership dues are crucial for main-taining our operations. Therefore, growth and retention of members are keys to our success. Please visit the temple website to learn more, at http://shanthimandir.missouri.org. We welcome you to attend HTCC organized events and to be a part of our commit-tees so that we can serve our community better.

MeMBers

Inder Khurana1

Gagneesh RawatAbirami Elangovan2

1. Interim Chair 2. Executive Board Liaison

Operations and Maintenance Commit-tee coordinates the upkeep of the

Mandir, indoors and outdoors.

We sincerely thank our volunteer fami-lies who continue to clean the Mandir every week by vacuuming the premises, wiping down the surfaces and scrubbing the kitchen and bathrooms. We have often been asked which cleaning service we use! The Mandir cleaning schedule continues to be posted online, and email updates are sent monthly.

Since the 2006 construction of the garden on the berm and near the mail-box in front of the Mandir, volunteers plant flowers every year. The perennials and annuals are watered and weeded

during the summer – and this was a hard job during the dry summer of 2012. Nevertheless, the flowers survived. We continue to hold an annual Seva Day each summer when we plant flowers. Young and old turn up that day, lending a fes-tive atmosphere to seva. A contractor mows the yard during the summer and clears the snow during the winter.

Please do volunteer to clean the Mandir. We currently have 21 volunteer families. Increasing the number to 26 families will allow us to call on each of you only twice each year.

Thank you to the volunteer families that keep Shanthi Mandir so clean, neat and tidy! We appreciate your service.

MeMBers

Kala Kumar1

Meera Chandrasekhar2 Anantha GopalaratnamShuba Ratneshwar


Temple G. What is the name of this temple and where is it? Hint- this image is an etching from the late 1800s.

Samarpanam28



PuBliCations

In 2012, the Publications Committee co-ordinated publication of Shanthi Sand-

esh, Samarparnam, HTCC’s annual report and a cookbook, Masala Magic.

Shanthi Sandesh is an information-packed colorful quarterly newsletter. The news-letter includes information on the temple celebrations, special events, upcoming events schedule, a lead article in every issue and articles on Bhagwadgita, Yoga, Health and other topics. The youth continue to express their thoughts in the Bal Sandesh section of the newslet-ter. These are contained in the center 2-4 pages of the newsletter and include poems, articles, book reviews and kudos information.

Shanthi Sandesh is featured online at http://shanthimandir.missouri.org. A hard copy of the newsletter is also sent by USPS to the membership. If you wish to receive a hard copy of the newsletter, please provide us your mailing address. Printed newsletter copies are also avail-able at the temple. Remember to pick

one up on your next visit!

The Publications Committee welcomes feature articles from our readership for inclusion in future editions of Shanthi Sandesh. Submission guidelines for ar-ticles are available on the temple website at http://bit.ly.sandeshsubmit. Please send your ideas and suggestions/feed-back to the Publications Committee at [email protected] or [email protected].

Samarpanam is HTCC’s annual report (this publication), which summarizes the Mandir’s activities on an annual basis.

Masala Magic, a community cookbook was published in 2012. It features over 80 vegetarian recipes written by 30+ HTCC members, including appetizers, salads, chutneys, breads, rice, vegetable entrées and desserts. The cookbook also contains an extensive glossary and index. Over 350 copies have been sold thus far. The cookbook is available online through the Mandir website, and at the Mandir.

MeMBers

Tarang Parashar1 Meera Chandrasekhar2

Bandhana KatochH. R. ChandrasekharVellore Gopalaratnam


Samarpanam 29



sCheDuling

The scheduling committee is happy to report a new feature incorporated

in 2012 that facilitates reservations for use of the Mandir. The changes to the Shanthi Mandir website now provide a link for Mandir reservations. Once the request is approved, the Mandir calendar on the website is updated. This calendar is available for public view on the Mandir website. Reservations can be made at http://bit.ly.reservetemple.

The operations of this committee over the past year have been smooth. Besides the annual pujas, festivals and programs already in the Devotional Calendar, there were a few requests for use of the Man-dir for regular and one-time programs.

The regular program for which the Man-dir has been used is Bal Sabha through which the Mandir received facilities-use donations. In addition there were educa-tional programs in the summer such as a youth workshop on astronomy and a Veda-chanting workshop.

Besides these, the Mandir has also been used for private family pujas, birthday parties and farewell get-togethers and for practices for Pongal. Visits were also scheduled for Hickman High School’s World Religions Class to get a better understanding of worship in a Hindu tem-ple. A similar visit was arranged for the Columbia Chamber of Commerce’s Junior Leadership Program to give the youth a glimpse of Hinduism.

Timely communication with the Presi-dent and Treasurer of the Executive Board has al-lowed us to track facilities-use donations. Constant reprogramming of the ther-mostat to facilitate all regu-lar and special programs has allowed us to keep the Mandir at comfortable tem-peratures while at the same time conserving energy and leaving as small a carbon footprint as possible.

MeMBers

Anantha Gopalaratnam1

Inder Khurana2


Hickman High School World Religions class visits Shanthi Mandir. Photo by Kellie Kotraba, Columbia FAVS

Temple H. What is the name of this temple and where is it?

Samarpanam30



serviCe PrograMs

Hindu Temple Helping Hands, our community service group stays

actively involved with several regular and other occasional projects. Some service projects that predate HTCC have also benefitted from the participation of HTCC members during the last seven years, including service projects coordi-nated by Bal Sabha and the Sai Bhajan group. One new monthly service project and two other recent projects involving our youth are highlighted below. Other ongoing service projects are described briefly. Members interested in participat-ing in any of these projects are encour-aged to contact the Chair of the Service Programs Committee listed in the inset.

highlighted proJeCts

Interfaith Day Center Soup and Sand-wich Service (SSS) Project: The Sai Bhajan group with assistance from other HTCC members meets at the Shanthi Mandir on the fourth Sunday of every month at 5:30 pm, to prepare 30-40 vegetable sandwiches and approximately 8 quarts of fresh minestrone soup for the Interfaith Day Center (IDC). Participant volunteers take turns each month to host the SSS project by buying the ingredients required for the project. Prasad is shared by the volunteers after the meal is first offered to the Lord with the recitation of Brahmaarpanam. The sandwiches and soup are delivered to the IDC on the next morning.

CROP Hunger Walk/Run: Hindu Temple Helping Hands raised $625 for the CROP Hunger Walk/Run 2012. We had 6 runners in the 5K run and 16 walkers at the event, making it one of the largest groups at this year’s CROP Walk/Run. We are proud of our youngsters Akhilan, Vishnu, Ashwath, Kavin, Nila, Suryanshi and Aarti who spared their Saturday afternoon and braved the nippy weather to partici-

pate in the walk/run. This is the fifth year that we have participated in the CROP Hunger Walk. Twenty-five percent of the funds raised by CROP Hunger Walk/Run are designated for these local agencies: Loaves and Fishes Soup Kitchen, Russell Chapel Christian Methodist Episcopal Food Pantry, Latter House Kingdom Ministries Food Pantry and Fifth Street Christian Community Meal. Seventy-five percent of the funds are designated for worldwide ministries of the Church World Service, including the ministries in the U.S. such as Joplin, MO. and areas af-fected by the recent hurricane, Isaac.

Sharing the Warmth: This annual service project, initiated and coordinated by HTCC Youth with help from a few adult mentors, has now become a regular proj-ect during Thanksgiving time. The 2012 project was coordinated by Nidhi Khura-na with assistance from several youth members of HTCC. The group included: Vikram Arun, Nahush Katti, Sumidha Katti, Urmila Kutikkad, Ashwini Mantrala, Nila Palaniappan, Maya Ramachandran, Suryanshi Rawat and Anmol Sethi. These volunteers made phone calls to HTCC member families and arranged for col-lection/drop-offs of lightly used winter jackets, scarves and winter boots. A small group of volunteers met on Saturday, November 24, inspected and neatly fold-ed the donated items and sorted them into cardboard boxes based on men/women and youth/adult sizes. The 2012 Sharing the Warmth drive resulted in the collection of approximately 40 coats, 6 scarves and several winter boots. The items collected in the drive were donat-ed to the Refugee Services of Columbia, MO, which assists with refugees as well as non-refugee immigrants from Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe and Latin America, regardless of their origin or creed.

MeMBers

Anantha Gopalaratnam1 Ravi Thawani2

Bandhana KatochChandra RawlaniKala KumarPranavi TellaRajini TolaniShuba RatneshwarSushama NagarkarTarang ParasharVellore Gopalaratnam


Temple I. What is the name of the temple with this structure and where is it?

Samarpanam 31



regulAr Monthly And ongoing proJeCts Most of our other service programs are organized on a monthly basis while a few are carried out only at specific times during the year, such as Clean-up Columbia and Adopt-A-Spot.

Adopt-A-Spot: Bal Sabha youth have participated in the Adopt-a-Spot program for several years now. Twice a year, the youth and parent mentors meet at Ridgeway Elemen-tary School and pick up trash in the playground and in the streets sur-rounding the school.

Anna Daan: This is our ongoing program of collection of non-perish-able food items for the Food Bank. Visitors to the Mandir are requested to donate food during attendance at various cultural and devotional programs. Two drums have been set up at the Mandir and visitors are requested to drop their donations into the drums. When these are full, the food is transported to the Food Bank warehouse.

Beat the Heat: Early in summer, HTCC Youth with help from adult

mentors collect monetary donations as well as fans to support the City of Columbia’s Voluntary Action Center (VAC). VAC arranges for fans to be delivered to the elderly and families with young children as a relief to beat the summer heat.

Clean-up Columbia: In April every year, the City of Columbia orga-nizes this event in which residents of the city can, singly or in groups, undertake to pick up trash around the city. Bal Sabha has been volun-teering since 2003 to clean up the area around Ridgeway Elementary School. Since the formation of the HTCC in 2006, this activity was ex-panded to two groups; the Bal Sabha youth and a few parents continue to clean up around Ridgeway each year and the second group of HTCC mem-bers cleans up around the Shanthi Mandir and along Holly Avenue.

Food Bank Volunteering: This activ-ity has been in place since October 2006. Volunteers meet at the Food Bank of Central and Northeast Mis-souri warehouse on Vandiver Drive on the first Tuesday of every month to assist in repackaging bulk food received at the Food Bank.

Narayan Seva: Since 2001, the Sai Bhajan group has been cooking a lunch and serving it at the St. Francis House, a shelter for homeless men, on the 2nd Sunday of every month from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. For the last several years many members of HTCC also help out with this service project on an ongoing basis.

Shram Daan (Volunteer Labor): This is a project to carry out maintenance and improvements to the Shanthi Mandir property. In preparation for winter, the flower bushes were pruned and spring bulbs were also planted. The siding was primed and painted. This has given the Mandir a fresh look. As part of Shram Daan, a group of volunteers mowed the lawn during summer months, aside from the regular mowing service, to help keep the costs low.

Towels and Blankets Project: This has been started as an occasional on-going program to collect donations of lightly used towels and blankets for donation to St. Francis House, a shelter for the homeless. Members are requested to bring their dona-tions to the Mandir and these will be taken to St. Francis House .

Left: Volunteers prepare sandwiches for the Interfaith Day Center on the fourth Sunday of each month.Below: CROP Walkers

Samarpanam32



youth aCtivities

Youth are an integral part of society and they are the building blocks for

the progress of HTCC. Every year a blend of educational, fund raising and recre-ational events are hosted at HTCC and they are always appreciated and sup-ported with enthusiastic participation. This year the Youth Activities Committee organized summer workshops and sev-eral other events.

suMMer workshops

Adventures in Astronomy: H. R. Chan-drasekhar conducted a 90 minute session on the mysteries of the Universe. This workshop provided fascinating informa-tion on the evolution of the solar system, concepts of time and space, and the mo-tion of stars and planets.

Beyond Pasta: The goal of this cooking class was to prepare teens to learn the rudiments of Indian cooking. The class focused on students who were getting ready to spread their wings and fly away to college. Five teens cooked a fancy dinner using HTCC’s 2012 Masala Magic cookbook. We hope to repeat this work-

shop for all those who are hungry to eat – and cook!

other events Fundraising, recreational and in-formative events were conducted during the year.

CROP WALK: Hindu Temple Help-ing Hands raised $625 for the CROP Hunger Walk/Run 2012. We had 6 runners in the 5K run and 16 walkers at the event, making it one of the largest groups at this year’s CROP Walk/Run. Suryanshi and Pal placed second in the 5K Run for the under-18 girls and 50+ men’s categories, respectively. We are also proud of our young-

sters Akhilan, Vishnu, Ashwath, Kavin, Nila, Suryanshi and Aarti who spared their Saturday afternoon and braved the nippy weather to participate in the walk/run. This is the fifth year we have partici-pated in the CROP Hunger Walk.

Bike Ride: A bike ride on the Katy Trail from Columbia to Rocheport was orga-nized as a recreational event on August 21st. This is a major event that attracts many youngsters and kids every year. This year was no different. The pleasant weather and make-your-own-sandwich stall made the occasion entertaining.

Museum Visit: Another interesting event was the visit to the Museum of Art and Archeology at MU. The Museum held a special exhibit on artworks and sculp-tures portraying Hinduism. The exhibit clearly depicted the spread of culture across boundaries. Six adults and chil-dren visited the museum as a small group and others went on their own to view the display of some rare Indian artifacts.

We thank the coordinators of all events for their time, effort and zeal for organiz-ing these activities. KUDOS to all kids and encouraging adults for their participa-tion!

Ideas are created!! If you have an idea for a youth activity, please contact us so that we can explore it further. We hope to capture the same interest and involve-ment from the community in 2013.

“We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future” -Franklin Roosevelt

MeMBers

Anandhi Upendran1

Ravi Thawani2

Gagneesh Rawat


Temple J. What is the name of this temple and where is it?

Samarpanam 33



shanthi ManDir weBsite

Same address, new website. In case you did not notice, Shanthi Mandir’s website got

a makeover in 2012. Our old website served us excellently for many years, but with the ad-vent of new technology, the update enhances our look and functionality. We have moved to a new web hosting service, which allows us to use the latest versions of software and keep our security up-to-date.

What’s on the site?• A photo slider on the front page that

updates as we post new events. Do send us your pictures of Mandir events for the website.

• A calendar with all Mandir events. Great for the viewer, but also one with a convenient back-end! We’ll let you in on the secret – it can be updated by more than one person through a shared Google calendar.

• Information about upcoming events at the Mandir.

• News about temple events, usually posted

within days of the event, with photo-graphs. If you wish to write an article about an event, just let us know.

• Easy links to pay your membership, donate or buy a copy of Masala Magic, HTCC’s cook-book, through an easy PayPal interface.

• Resources – the constitution, for starts, and room for more in the future.

• An archive of Shanthi Sandesh and Samarpa-nam, set up so you read them in magazine-like format on your screen.

• Electronic forms that you can submit if you wish to volunteer or reserve the temple for an event.

• Directions, as always. It is easy to get to the Mandir!

What else would you like on the website? Let us know, and we’ll try to make it happen.

Be sure to visit us often!


Samarpanam34



htCC DireCtory 2013

Nagar, Murarilal Norman G. Barrier, Ginny Morgan, Art Robins and Robert Bussabarger, our other Honorary Members, are deceased.

Aggrawal, Kul and ArchanaAnand, Satish and SushmaArunachalam, Vairam and AlaguBal, Sharanjit and RanjitBalakrishnan, Elangovan and Abirami Banerji, Shanka K Basu, Asit and SandraBatchu, Sudhir and PriyaBattula, Ravindra and Vijaya Kattu-

muriBhaskaran, Rajagopalan and Vasan-

thiChandrasekhar, Anand and Chieng-

kham BaccamChandrasekhar, Holalkere and MeeraChaudhary, Kunal and Ritcha MehraChockalingam Anand and Smrita

DorairajanCutkosky, Dale and Hema SrinivasanDhand, Rajiv and UpinderFaizer, Rumi and Archana Ramas-

wamyGangopadhyay, Keshab and ShubhraGopalakrishna, Srinath and UmaGopalaratnam, Vellore and AnanthaGowda, Bhaskar and ShobaJain, ArunJashnani, Ghansham and LeelaKatti, Kattesh and Kavita

Khanna, Sanjeev and VinitaKhurana, Inder and JasmitKrishna, Gopal and SantoshKrishnan, Hari and LathaKulkarni, Rajesh and IndiraKumar, ArpitaKumar, LalitKumar, Senthil and KalaiKutikkad, Kiratadas and GeethaLal, Sunder and Nila GuptaLoyalka, Sudarshan and NirjaMahal, Satnam and Jasvir KaurMalhotra, Anil and KusumMantrala, Murali and SuryaManusmare, Purushottam and UshaMitra, Ranadhir and MoonmoonMohan, Rajiv and Sunilima SinhaNaik, Yogesh and RashmiNair, Satish and JyotsnaPalaniappan, Kannappan and VisalaPanneerselvam, Ayyakannu and

GandhiPatel, Nitin and HarshaPendurthi, KavitaPuri, Ravi and MonaRadhakrishnan, Nandhu and SelviRaghuraman, Kannan and Anandhi

Upendran

Ramachandran, V. and Anuradha Rajagopalan

Ramadoss, Umasankar and SasiRangnekar, Nitin and KirthiRatneshwar, Srinivasan and ShubaRawat, Gagneesh and AditiRawlani, Ramesh and ChandraSadhu, Vijay and SmitaSahota, Pradeep K and ShakuSatpathy, Sashi and NamitaSeghal, ToshiSenthilkumar, Annamalai and

SmruthiSethi, Sanjiv and PunamSethi, Yash and AnjnaSharma, Krishna and SandhyaShukla, Shivendra and AshaSingh, Amolak and KuljitSrinivasan, Bharath and Manjula

NarasimhanSubramanian, Krishna and RajiTejwani, Lokesh and Varsha Pher-

waniThawani, Ravi and MeenaVasudevan, Ajit K & Deepa AjitViswanath, Dabir and Pramila

honorAry MeMBers

sustAining MeMBers

Samarpanam 35



htCC direCtory 2013 (Continued, 2/4)

Samarpanam36




AnnuAl MeMBers

Aroor, Annayya Rao and SudhaBanerjee-Budd, RoopaEdara, Praveen and SowjanyaGupta, Ghanshyam and ManormaJain, Nishant Katoch, Bandhana Khosla, NidhiKumar, Adarsh and SangeetaKumar, Gaurav and PragatibMalik, SushmaMittal, Mayank and Dhuper, SonalMookan, Muruganantham and

Menaka

Nupur, Meena and Ravipudi, Shelly Nelson

Pennathur, Shiva Kumar and Sonali Premnath, Venkatesan and VasanthyPuri, Raman and RachnaPuri, VivekPuttur, Santhoshkumar and ShubaRaghu, Deepak and BetsyRaghu, Krishnan and AparnaRaju , Murugesan and Sudha Muru-

gesanSengalvarayan, Arunkumar and

Menaka KuppanSrikanta, Nanjangud and HemalathaThakkar, Mahesh and JollyinThiruvengadathan, Rajagopalan and

Rama KannanTolani, Bhisham and RajiniVenkatesan, Sriram and Udhaya Lak-

shminarayanaYerrapu, Suresh and Swarnalatha

Seva

Samarpanam 37




Counter clockwise from bottom left: Lunch during Samuhika Satyanarayana PujaGuru Nanak Jayanthi Paath Aarti during Deepavali Puja

Samarpanam38



Cultural assoCiation of inDia

Cultural Association of India (CAI) is the first International Student

Organization at the University of Missouri, Columbia (MU). It was formed on October 4, 1957, to let the students from India organize and pursue their cultural traditions; how-ever as faculty and staff of Indian ori-gin started to join MU, the organiza-tion began to include them, adding new programs and events as it grew. Thus for the past five decades, the CAI has been involved in organizing and participating in dozens of events on MU campus, in the public schools and in Columbia and neighboring towns all throughout the year.

Annual Activities of CAI:• Commemoration of Republic Day

and Independence Day of India• Celebration of Holi, Baisakhi and

Diwali• Promotion of local talents in per-

forming arts by staging India Nite – a cultural extravaganza featur-ing songs, dances, and skits in the

fall; and Sargam, a classical music and dance event in the winter.

• Presentation of India’s history, religions, culture and display of art and craft at MU campus, public schools and city events.

• Participation in Diabetes Walk and other fund-raising events.

• Promotion of diversity on cam-pus through International Night, International Welcome Party, and more.

Special Events:• Bringing in famous artists of India

for performances on campus (past performers include Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan, Nikhil Banerjee, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Shivakumar Sharma, Shahid Parviz, Ronu Ma-zumdar, Barun Pal, Mohan Singh, Lalitha Krishnan, Vinayak Torvi, Padmini, Indrani Rahman, Amita Dutt, and Raja and Radha Reddy troupe).

• Hosting diplomats and dignitaries, including three ambassadors and

four consuls of India; renowned authors Drs. Subhas Kak, Robert Kanigal and several MU dignitar-ies, among others.

• Shram daan and fundraising for victims of natural disasters (e.g., Rocheport-Missouri flood, Latur and Gujarat earthquakes, India/Indonesian Tsunami).

Thanks to the enthusiastic and ever expanding Indian Diaspora in Columbia-Jefferson City area, CAI, from the first seed planted way back in 1957, has consistently flourished and branched out like a Banyan tree, providing multiple platforms to organize and further the diverse cul-tural heritage of India – promoting cross-cultural understanding in the community in more ways than one. Irrespective of religious faith and nationality, the membership of CAI is open to anyone interested in India or her diverse culture.

Web: www.missouri.edu/mayur/

Email: [email protected]

raagas of ColuMBia

Raagas of Columbia promotes classical music, dance and other

cultural and educational heritage of India. Hema Srinivasan, Shuba Ratneshwar, Anand Chandrasekhar Manjula Narasimhan, Rajagopalan Thiruvengadathan, Dabir Viswanath and Anandhi Upendran founded this group in 2009.

The inaugural program of Raagas of Columbia was the saxophone concert of Dr. Kadri Gopalnath, ac-companied by the renowned violin-ist Kanyakumari and accomplished Mridhangist B. Harikumar. Videos

and audio recordings of that pro-gram are available for a nominal charge at the Mandir. The proceeds from the videos benefit Shanthi Mandir. A short synopsis of this con-cert appears in the Feb 2010 issue of Shanthi Sandesh.

During 2011, Raagas organized two major events. On May 18, 2011, Raa-gas hosted one of the giants among the new generation of Carnatic musi-cians, Vidwan T.M. Krishna (vocal) accompanied by Vid. Shriramkumar on violin and Vid. Arunprakash on mridhangam. On November 19,

2011, Raagas hosted an afternoon of Indian classical music featuring Chris Stevens on sitar accompanied by Raj Satpathy on tabla and Shivaprakash Shivasankalp on violin accompanied by Shiva Narasimhamurthy on mrid-hangam.

During 2012, Raagas collaborated with HTCC Cultural Programs to showcase local artists Nandhu Radhakrishnan, Lakshmi Kannan and Shuba Ranteshwar. Raagas con-tinues to be interested in bringing quality and special cultural programs to Columbia.

Samarpanam 39



the veDiC soCiety

The Vedic Society, a student orga-nization of University of Missouri,

is dedicated to promoting spiritual awareness and harmony, by em-phasizing the need to recognize the spiritual basis and relating it to life for the upliftment of personal and social well-being.

The word Veda, to which the orga-nization owes its name, is derived from the Sanskrit root ‘Vid’, which means to know and thus literally translates in English as knowledge. The Vedas essentially refer to a body of knowledge, consisting of eternal universal self-evident truths that were directly experienced by seers called ‘Rishis’ and compiled in writ-ten form much later. They are the fountainhead of Indian culture, the basis of all philosophy and religious traditions that go by the name Hindu and the source of the spirit of universal acceptance that marks Hinduism. The philosophical part of the Vedas, called the Upanishads or

Vedanta, contains the essence of all religions and thus, without denying any religion, serves as a great means of harmony, especially necessary in modern time.

The activities of the Vedic Society are primarily directed towards encourag-ing students and others to manifest spirituality in their personal life, to find spiritual solutions to the prob-lems of life and help others do the same, in the spirit of harmony.

Weekly Meeting: Study and discus-sion of different spiritual topics, understanding their connection with the problems of life and well-being; Meditation; Prayer.

Spiritual Talks and Workshops: Oc-casional talks, Meditation and Yoga workshops by invited guests.

Trips: Occasional trips to spiritual places and talks.

MU Events: Participation in various on-campus events throughout the year.

Membership of the Vedic Society is open to any person or family, student or non-student, from any country, caste or religion. Donations are sincerely appreciated.

Website: http://vedicsociety.stu-dents.missouri.edu/

Email: [email protected] or call 573-529 4054 to join or know more details.

vediC soCiety prAyer

May He, who is Father in heaven of the Christians, Holy One of the Jews, Allah of the Muslims, Buddha of the Buddhists, Tao of the Chinese faith, Great Spirit of the native Americans, Ahura Mazda of the Zoroastrians and Brahman of the Hindus, lead us from the unreal to the real, from darkness to light, from death to immortality. May the all-living being manifest Himself unto us and grant us abiding understanding and all-consum-ing divine love.

Peace, peace, peace be unto all.

south asia stuDent assoCiation (sasa)

SASA was established in 2004 as SANGAM, which aimed to pro-

mote South Asian culture for the students of the University of Mis-souri, Stephens College and Colum-bia College. Our organization has evolved since its establishment. The overall purpose of SASA is to orga-nize students of the South Asian race through tradition and heritage. We have five integrated goals:

• To establish a social network for students for the exploration of shared cultural experiences.

• To provide a support network for

South Asians at MU.• To program events reflecting and

revealing the rich traditions of South Asian culture, history and philosophies giving mainstream society a more complete picture of the world outside their domi-nant culture.

• To educate people and create awareness that discrimination transcends the polarization of black/white issues and to work for accurate inclusions of South Asian culture, history and issues into society’s cultural awareness.

• To bridge schisms found among the various cultures we represent in order to work more effectively towards establishing a true com-munity, as well as lending more strength to our collective voice to address issues that affect us as a whole.

SASA welcomes all students inter-ested in learning about South Asian culture and issues to become mem-bers and participate in our events. We hope to build stronger ties with the University of Missouri and the greater Columbia community.

Samarpanam40



Current PrograMs at shanthi ManDir

These regular programs held at Shanthi Mandir are open to all who are interested. While all events listed below are compatible and support HTCC goals and objectives, events not organized by HTCC are appropriately listed,

along with contact information for each activity. Please visit our website for information about special festival cel-ebrations, pujas, and other educational programs, such as short courses and workshops. We strive to keep our web site up-to-date on an ongoing basis.

Open Prayer Time (Tuesdays and Satur-days from 6 pm-8 pm, Aarti at 7:45 pm)

Shanthi Mandir is open for devotees to meditate, offer their prayers and participate in the Aarti. We will have CDs of Bhajans and other devotional songs handy that can be played during prayer times. Please help us in volunteering to keep the Mandir open at these times. If there is interest in this type of open prayer time, and we receive adequate

volunteer support to keep the Mandir open, we will consider longer and more frequent access to the Mandir. For more information, contact Chandra Rawlani at 446-5960.

Shram Daan (Some Fridays from 6-8 pm and Saturdays from 10 am-12 pm at the Mandir as needed)

Service projects at the Mandir and other locations run throughout the year. For more information, contact Vellore or

Anantha Gopalaratnam at 446-0663.

Suprabhatam and Sahasranaamam Prayers (Every Saturday from 9-10 am)

The Saturday morning prayers are dedi-cated to Lord Venkateshwara, another form of Lord Vishnu. He is also known af-fectionately as Balaji or Srinivasa. These recitations are in Sanskrit, the language used for most Hindu scriptures. For more information, contact Vellore S. Gopalaratnam at 446-0663.

Bal Puja* (2nd Sunday from 10 am-1 pm at the Mandir)

Bal Puja meetings are intended to cre-ate an awareness of Hinduism among community youth, with a focus on Hindu Gods and Goddesses, mythology, tales, beliefs, rituals and practices. Bal Puja offers an opportunity to explore the core essence of Hindu faith and philoso-phy and to explain how mythology and varied practices emanate from the core essence.

For more information, contact Inder Khurana at 874-9647.

Bal Sabha* (4th Sunday from 3-5 pm at the Mandir)

The objectives of the Bal Sabha of Mid-Missouri are to create among young-sters an awareness of India’s history and culture; to provide youngsters an av-enue to research topics related to India and present it to Bal Sabha membership; to provide youngsters a means of acquir-ing knowledge about India from their peers; and to provide youngsters with a means of being involved and to serve

the Columbia community. Bal Sandesh is published along with the HTCC quarterly Shanthi Sandesh.

For more information, contact Anand Chockalingam at 256-2572.

Carnatic vocal music classes* (Typically on Sundays from 1-3pm)

For more information, contact Shuba Ratneshwar at: 875-5228.

Kirtan* (1st Sunday from 10 am-1:30 pm)

The Kirtan program brings together local Sikhs and other followers of Guru Nanak Dev. Hymns and prayers are recited. A sacred pot-luck lunch called Langhar concludes this program. Members read Sukhmani Sahib, the set of hymns divided into 24 sections which appear in the Sri Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh Holy Scripture. The word Sukhmani literally means peaceful mind. This set of hymns or Bani is very popular and is frequently recited in Gurdwaras and at home.

For more information, contact Kuljit Sandhu at 442-4471 or Chandra Rawlani at 446-5960.

Sai Bhajans* (Bhajans Thursday from 7-8 pm; Narayan Seva 2nd Sunday from 11:30 am-12:30 pm at St. Francis Home on Rangeline)

Sai Bhajan Group meets for a sing-along devotional program every week and on pre-announced special festivals. It is a non-denominational group. All interest-ed persons are welcome to attend. Fol-lowers of Bhagawan Shri Satya Sai Baba strive to live the five important human values. These include: Truth (Sathya), Righteousness (Dharma), Peace (Shan-thi), Love (Prema) and Non-violence (Ahimsa). The group also cooks a com-plete vegetarian lunch every 2nd Sunday and serves it at the St. Francis Home, a local shelter for the homeless.

This group also coordinates the prepa-ration of soup and sandwiches for 30+ people at the Interfaith Day Center on the fourth Sunday of each month.

For more information, contact Anantha Gopalaratnam at 446-0663.

events orgAnized By other groups

other events orgAnized By htCC

Samarpanam 41



htCC volunteers 2012teMples of indiA Quiz: Answers

Give yourself 3 points for each correct answer (1 point each for the name of temple/structure, the place where it is located and the state.)

Temple A. Northern Gate at Sanchi Stupa, Madhya PradeshTemple B. Laxminarayan Temple (Birla Mandir), DelhiTemple C. Sri Swaminarayan Sampraday Temple, Ahmedabad, GujaratTemple D. Hoysaleshwara Temple, Halebidu, KarnatakaTemple E. Trimurthi at Elephanta Island, MaharashtraTemple F. Kedarnath Temple, Kedarnath, UttarakhandTemple G. Kalighat Kali Temple, Kolkata, W. Bengal. This sketch dates to 1887.Temple H. Kanchi Kamakshi Temple, Kanchipuram, Tamil NaduTemple I. Chariot Wheel at Konark Sun Temple, Konark, OrissaTemple J. Tirumala Temple, Tirupati, Andhra PradeshIf you got... 30 points: genius! 20-29: excellent! 10-19: good! Below 10: better luck next time! All images were obtained from Wikipedia

Aarti NagarkarAbirami ElangovanAditi RawatAjit VasudevanAkhilan ElangovanAlagu ArunachalamAnandhi UpendranAnantha GopalaratnamAnmol SethiAnoma SenaviratneAnuradha RajagopalanAroor Annayya RaoAroor SudhaArun PrabhuAshwath ElangovanAshwini MantralaBandhana KatochChandra RawlaniChavinda SenaviratneDabir ViswanathDale Cutkosky

Deepa ViswanathanGagneesh RawatGeetha KutikkadHarsha PatelHema SrinivasanH.R. ChandrasekharInder KhuranaIndu ChandrasekharIpsa ChaudharyJasmit KhuranaK. PalaniappanKala KumarKattesh KattiKavin ChockalingamKavita KattiKiratadas KutikkadKrishna SharmaMaya CutkoskyMaya RamachandranMeena ThawaniMeera Chandrasekhar

Methma UdawattaMihiri UdawattaNahush KattiNeeta ThawaniNeil KotandeniyaNidhi KhuranaNila PalaniappanNitin PatelPranavi TellaPuspha AgasheRajini TolaniRajiv MohanRanadhir MitraRavi ThawaniSaathvik RaghuramanSandhya SharmaSavitri KotandeniyaSenthil KumarShalini ArunShiva PennathurShuba Ratneshwar

Siddharth KutikkadSonali KumarSrinath GopalakrishnaSumidha KattiSunilima SinhaSurya MantralaSuryanshi RawatSushama NagarkarSushma MalikTarang ParasharTrisha ChaudharyUma SrinathUrmila KutikkadV. RamachandranVedavalli SrinivasagopalanVellore GopalaratnamVikram ArunVisala PalaniappanVishnu Arunachalam

Tabla Class* (Typically 2nd and 4th Sun-days; schedule and locations change as convenient). For more information, con-tact Pradeep Sahota at 874-0443.

Tamil Language Class* (1st and 3rd Sunday from 3-5 pm at the Mandir)

Tamil Classes have been held in Columbia since 1996, hosted at participating fami-lies’ homes predating Shanthi Mandir. The hosting of these classes in Shanthi Mandir since October 2005 has allowed a better learning experience, given the state-of-the-art audio-visual infrastructure at the Mandir. Children learn conversational Tamil so that they are comfortable talking to relatives back in India, learn rudimenta-ry written Tamil, learn the culture through language and songs, develop a strong peer support structure, and generally have fun during the social time following each class. Classes are taught by volunteers. For more information, contact Alagu Arunachalam at 872-4518.

* Facilities use and infrastructural support are provided by HTCC but not organized by HTCC

Samarpanam42



hindu teMple And CoMMunity Center of Mid-Missouri

2006 holly Ave, ColuMBiA Mo 65202-2043(note: this form is also available online on the Mandir website)

individuAl MeMBership Choose from the following options:

☐ Upgrade from existing Annual to Sustaining Individual Membership by Dec 31, 2013 (SIM, Additional dues $570)

☐ New Sustaining Individual Membership (SIM, Dues $600

☐ Annual Individual Membership (2013 AIM Dues $30)fAMily MeMBership

Choose from the following options:☐ Upgrade from existing Annual to Sustaining Family Membership by Dec 31, 2013 (SFM, Additional Dues $950)

☐ New Sustaining Family Membership (SFM Dues $1,000)

☐ Annual Family Membership (2013 AFM Dues $50)Payment information: ☐ Check number: ___________ Make check payable to HTCC

Key: AIM - Annual Individual Membership AFM - Annual Family Membership SIM - Sustaining Individual Membership SFM - Sustaining Family Membership Membership renewals are required by January 31 to be eligible to vote on HTCC ballots. However, we accept new members at any time of the year. Sustaining membership is perpetual and does not require renewal.

HTCC Membership Directory Listing info: Please complete the membership form below for important directory listing information (only if you are a new mem-ber or wish to change personal information from last year):

☐ No change from last year

☐ New information or changes:

Name(s): _______________________________ Phone:________________________________

Address:__________________________________________________

E-Mail(s): __________________________________________________

Additional names for directory (children and other family members with age information is desirable to facilitate targeted notices): __________________________________________________

Designated voters (two voters for family and one for individual membership category):

Voter 1: ___________________________ Voter 2: __________________________

Signature ______________________________ Date _________________________

Please send the completed 2013 Membership Form along with your check to:Dr. Inder Khurana, 1200 Elsdon Dr., Columbia, MO 65203 orDrop it off in the Shanthi Mandir Hundi. Please include “Membership” in the memo line of the check. Thank you!

htCC MeMBershiP forM 2013

Samarpanam 43


Samarpanam 43

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Taj Emporium1400 Fellows PlaceColumbia, MO 65201Phone/Fax (573) 442-5201

HoursMonday: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . closedTuesday to Friday: . . . 4 pm – 8 pmSaturday: . . . . . . . . . .11 am – 7 pmSunday: . . . . . . . . . .11 am – 5 pm

Samarpanam44


Samarpanam44

ULTRAMART ARENA3101 Providence RoadColumbia, MO 65201Ph: 573-443-3144

SPEEDY MART1300 Fellows PlaceColumbia, MO 65201Ph: 573-449-0777

Serving the Columbia community with convenience store and gas station!

Best wishes and Congratulations to HTCC on theirSeventh Anniversary Celebrations

Patel family (Dirgesh, Shilpa, Harsh and Dhruv)

January Tuesday 1 New Year Puja Sunday 6 Guru Gobind Jayanthi (5)

FebruarySaturday 23 HTCC 7th Anniversary (Devotional)

MarchSaturday 9 Maha Shivaratri Puja (10) Thursday 14 Maha Shivaratri Special Bhajan (10)Friday 15 HTCC 6th Anniversary (Banquet)Sunday 30 Holi (27)

AprilSaturday 20 Akhand Ramayan Paat (19) Sunday 21 Akhand Ramayan Paat (19)

MaySaturday 25 Buddha Jayanthi Talk (25)

JuneYouth Workshops* (Jun.—Aug.)

JulyThursday 25 Guru Purnima Special Bhajan (22)

AugustSaturday 3 Samuhika Satyanarayana Puja Saturday 17 HTCC Youth Day and Bal Sabha/Bal Puja Picnic Saturday 24 Janmashtami/KrishnaJayanthi (28)

SeptemberSunday 1 Ganesh Idol Making Monday 9 Ganesh Sthapana Puja (9-18) Saturday 14 Ganesh Chaturthi Puja (9-18) Thursday 19 Special Bhajan & Visarjan Puja

OctoberSaturday 5 Navratri/Devi Jaagran (5-13) Saturday 12 Durga Puja (5-13) Sunday 13 Vijaya Dashami (14) Tuesday 22 Karva Chauth (22)

November Saturday 2 Deepavali Puja (3) Sunday 10 Skanda Sashti (10) Sunday 17 Guru Nanak Jayanthi (17) Sunday 24 Interfaith Thanksgiving (28)

DecemberSaturday 7 Gita Paat Sunday 15 Dhanurmaasa Puja

HTCC Calendar of Events for 2013

The actual festival dates are noted in (brackets), when these do not coincide with the date of the Mandir celebration. Date for the HTCC Anniversary Banquet is tentative at the present time. * Look for details on the Youth Workshops and related youth activities on our web site by early May. The workshops are typically held during June-August.

January S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

February S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

March S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 1617 18 19 20 21 22 2324 25 26 27 28 29 30

April S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1314 15 16 17 18 19 2021 22 23 24 25 26 2728 29 30

May S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

June S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

July S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1314 15 16 17 18 19 2021 22 23 24 25 26 2728 29 30 31

August S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1011 12 13 14 15 16 1718 19 20 21 22 23 2425 26 27 28 29 30 31

September S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

October S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

November S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 1617 18 19 20 21 22 2324 25 26 27 28 29 30

December S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 1415 16 17 18 19 20 2122 23 24 25 26 27 2829 30 31

Hindu Temple and Community Center of Mid-Missouri (HTCC) 2006 Holly Avenue, Columbia, MO 65202-2043 http://shanthimandir.missouri.org (573) 814-1286

Samarpanam March 15, 2013

Documents

Transcript of Samarpanam March 15, 2013