October 14th - 21st

Puja of DurgaMata, the divine mother of all and center of all power, devotion and love with ten days Navratri
celebration were performed with great enthusiasm and dedication at The Hindu Samaj Temple this year. With
Diya Puja on the second day of Navratri by more than 150 people we have started the celebration. Avisekham
of DurgaMata was initially conducted by Shri Jagannadachari at the fourth day of Navratri. From that day and on every morning and evening, Shri Dev Mukhopadhyay conducted the pujas. From Day 6 to day 10, several people as well as organization such as SETU sponsored and involved the DURGAMATA puja with traditional Vedic style. Whole community joined, irrespective of their religion, nationality, or believes. Several devotees have been prayed and got blessing of DurgaMata. Everyone clearly spelled out the Mantras extolling the virtues of MaDurga, devotees
from all sections of the community crossing religious boundaries repeated them in unison.  Chanting of Ma DURGA, Lakhsmi, Saraswati and other GOD and GODESS’ shlokas, prayer with flower offerings (Pushpanjali) and Aarati by the devotees made the atmosphere divine.
Every morning and evening, the volunteers helped to distribute the prasadam and delicious lunch and dinner in particular (Day of 2, 4, 6-10) to the devotees and friends. These ten days, an average of more than100
people obtained prasadam (lunch or dinner) per day. This huge effort has been possible due to several
volunteers’ unconditional devotion. The devotees joined hands to pray to Durga Mata with Sangeet, Dance and Poems on Day 9th. The Temple air was filled with vibrations of melodious voices, sounds of complex dance talams and bols (steps/rhythms). Thanks to the participation by several children from Balagakulam, the cultural Program was a great success. Overall, the whole festival is a remarkable example of the involvement every part of our community in every aspect and eventually provided our whole community with blissful joy.
On, Thursday, October 25th, we also performed, Shri Satyanarayan Puja at noon and Kojakari Lakshmidevi Puja in the evening. Several devotees also joined in the puja with shlokas, prayer with flower offerings (Pushpanjali) and Aarati and made the atmosphere divine. Finally, with the offering of prasadam & wonderful dinner, every one departed happily.
 
September 15th, 2007

On the day of Ganesh Chaturthi (Saturday, September 15th, 2007), Sri Sri Ganapathi Puja and Homam was performed in a grand style at the Hindu Samaj Temple. Celebration started at evening when the priest performed the Homam of Lord Ganesh followed by Abhisekam. The devotees chanted slokas and bajans in different languages with extreme dedication to get rid of the all obstacles in our lives. Later, the devotees performed a big procession by carrying out Sri Sri Ganesh deity around the temple with chanting, great
zeal and enthusiasm. Several families sponsored this mega event, participated with their family members and received the grace of Lord Ganesh. The young devotees
also made colorful “Ganesha" by dough. The sponsors also helped in preparing prasadam for the deity and the devotees. The devotion, dedication and discipline of all Rochester devotees paved the way for such an organized and successful Utsav. May Lord Ganesh shower HIS blessings on every one to make the community lead a happy and healthy life.
 

June 30th,2007

Sri Sri Sudarshana Homam was performed last June 30th,2007 in the temple with a great eagerness, devotion
and purity. Initially, the priest performed the Abhishekam of Lord LaskhmiNrisinham followed by
chanting of Sudarshana Ashhtakam to get rid of the all obstacles in our lives. Later, the priest started the
main Homam with Agni Pratishtapana followed by Dhyanam, Agni alankaram. A divine atmosphere was
created when Sri Sri Sudrashana moola-mantra was chanted by persist and followed by the sponsors in the
process of Homam. Also special thanks to numerous volunteers who have put in their whole-hearted efforts
to make this puja a grand success. To the end, chanting of Bhajans by the devotees filled the temple
with an amicable atmosphere and Aarti illuminated the minds of all. Finally, with the offering of prasadam &
wonderful dinner, every one departed happily.

 
June (16th) 2007 Monthly Puja was sponsored by
Malabika and Kalyan Bhattacharyya
  • Archana and Nirupam Dutta
  • Indrani and Shamit Dutta
  • Moushumi and Kaushik Lahiri
  • Sujata and Chittaranjan Patra
  • Asish K. Ghosh
  • Pataki Charan Bandyopadhyay
  • Shila and Sushital Chowdhury
  • Ashokakumar M. Patel
  • Seema and Deepak Sharma
  • Mamta and Shiv Gupta

    The June monthly Puja was performed with great
    aenthusiasm and devotion at The Hindu Samaj Temple. It
    began with prayers to Sri Panchadevata (Lord Ganesh,
    Sri Surajadev, Sri Sri Narayan, Lord Shiva, and Devi
    Durgamata), followed by the group chanting with the
    prayer to Sri Ramkrishna and Sri Sharadama. Puja and
    slokas were led by Kalyan and Malabika Bhattacharyya.
    Later, all the devotees chanted the sloka of Lord
    Ganesh and the prayer of Lord Hanuman (Sri Hanuman
    Chalisa) to get rid of the all obstacles in our lives.
    Our President, Suresh Chari, gave Temple as well as
    the community updates. Afterward, some devotes sang
    bhajans of Lord Krishna and Durga Mata. Again,
    chanting of Bhajans by the devotees filled the temple
    with an amicable atmosphere and Aarti illuminated the
    minds of all. Finally, with the offering of prasadam &
    wonderful dinner, every one departed happily.

May (26th) 2007 Monthly Puja was sponsored by

  • Nitu and Nitin Nimkar

  • Anju and Mukesh Awarwal

  • Pavithra and Neil Krishnaswamy

  • Puspa and Balaji Prasad

  • Barnali and Dev Mukhopadhyay

  • Rita and Ananda Basu

  • Momita and Debashis Nandy

    The Puja was performed with great enthusiasm and devotion at The Hindu Samaj Temple. It began with a prayer to Lord Ganesh followed by the group chanting. Shlokas were led by the sweet voices of our Balagokulam kids (Sanjivini, Dhriti, Abhishek, Thor, Sahil and others). Later, all the devotees chanted Nama Ramayan and the prayer of Lord Mahabir (Sri Hanuman Chalisa) to get rid of the all obstacles in our lives. Our President, Suresh Chari, gave Temple as well as the community updates. Afterward, some devotes sang bhajans of Lord Krishna and Durga Mata. Again, chanting of Bhajans by the devotees filled the temple with an amicable atmosphere and Aarti illuminated the minds of all. Finally, with the offering of prasadam & wonderful dinner, every one departed happily.
April (21st) 2007 Monthly Puja was sponsored by
 
  • Nirmala and Suresh Kotagal
  • Neeru and Mukesh Bhatia
  • Daksha and Naresh Chuggani
  • Sridevi and Suresh Yanambaka
  • Parinita and Diganta Borgohain

Puja was performed with great enthusiasm and devotion at The Hindu Samaj Temple. It began with a prayer to Lord Ganesh followed by the group chanting. Shlokas were led by sweet voices of Balagokulam kids (Sanjivini Suresh and others). Later, all the devotees chanted seven times the prayer of Lord Hanuman(Sri Hanuman Chalisa) to get rid of the all obstacles in our lives. Our President, Suresh Chari, gave Temple as well as the community updates. Afterwards, all devotees prayed for the peace of victims and their families related to the Virginia Tech massacre. Again, few melodious Bhajans filled the temple with an amicable atmosphere and Aarti illuminated the minds of all devotees. Finally, with the offering of prasadam & wonderful dinner, every one departed happily.

1/22/2007 : A news article was published in KAAL TV channel's website about importance on Surya Namaskar. Read more...
The link to the video is here.

1/21/2007 : Annual General Meeting was held at the temple where current plans and future vision was shared with the public. The event was well attended in a friendly and upbeat environment. Dr Suresh Chari, president of the temple board, and other members explained about various aspects of the temple operations and finances. They also answered questions from general public.

1/20/2007 : Monthly puja was held with sponsorship from Durga and Santhi Swaroop Vege, Yamini and Gowrishankar Radhakrishnan, Veena and Murali Iyer, Sumi and Sanal Kumar, Pratibha and Sridhar Dwarkanath, Anuradha and Rajesh Mishra.

1/1/2007 : New Year 2007 began well at the Hindu Samaj Temple with an offering of Pearl Suit (Muthu Angi ) to Lord Balaji, Shri Devi and Bhu Devi.   With the group chanting of Vishnu Sahasranamam, Lakshmi Ashtotharam and Sudarshana Ashtakam, all the devotees felt the vibration of the mantras.  Few melodious Bhajans filled the temple with an amicable atmosphere.  Venkatesa Mangalasasanam along with Aarti illuminated the minds of all devotees.  Finally, with the offering of prasadam & exchange of New Year greetings, every one departed happily for beginning a healthy and prosperous new year.

Special thanks:
Decoration (Alankaram) performed by Dharani and Baskar family.
Prasadam prepared by Raji Avula, Kavitha Ranga Rao, Sumathi Dharani and Ranga Mahesh