The Hindu Temple of Massachusetts, Acton, MA, celebrated the first anniversary of its establishment from Thursday July 30^th through Saturday August 1, with various traditional Hindu devotional services seeking the well-being of all. Since its inauguration last year, the Temple has hosted a number of events including the celebration of various Hindu festivals at various times during the year, a weekly discourse on Srimad Bhagavatham, and cultural events featuring Carnatic music concerts by seasoned professionals and talented youth in the Boston area.

First Anniversary

The first anniversary celebrations spanned 3 days from Thursday, July 30^th through August 1^st. Bhagavati Seva was conducted on Thursday evening by Pandit Lakshmana Sastry. Bhagavati Seva, in which the almighty is worshipped in the form of the Divine Mother Sri Durga, is a devotional ritual that draws from the traditions of the South Indian state of Kerala. In this ritual, the Divine Mother is symbolized by a lamp placed at the center of a sacred Sri Chakra drawn on the floor. Hymns in praise of the Divine Mother, including the Sri Lalita Sahasranama Namavali Archana (a thousand names of the Divine Mother), were chanted, followed by shashtanga namaskarams (prostrations) by devotees. Sri Lakshmana Sastry also listed the other devotional services that were held. Sri Maha Ganapathi Homam, Sri Sooktha Homam, and Sri Satyanarayana Swami Pooja were conducted on Friday morning. On Friday evening and again on Saturday, Sri Dhanvantari Homam (seeking the blessing of health), Sri Sudarshana Homam (seeking the blessings of prosperity and well-being), and the Navamsa Ashtottara Sahasra Sankhabhishekam (prayer service with sacred conches) were conducted.

Guru Poornima

The anniversary celebrations also included the weekly “Srimad Bhagavatam” satsang with Sri Narayanan Sathiamoorthy, who is a gifted disciple of Sri Sri Muralidhara Swamiji. “Guru Poornima” fell on the same day as the satsang, and Sri Narayanan used the occasion to highlight the significance of “Guru Poornima” and the great sage Veda Vyasa. “Guru Purnima” marks the birthday of sage Veda Vyasa, who is the compiler of the Vedas, and the author of the Mahabharata and the Brahma Sutras. Sri Narayanan narrated a beautiful hymn that glorifies sage Veda Vyasa as Lord Brahma with only one head instead of four, as Lord Vishnu with only two hands instead of four, and as Lord Shiva without the third eye. He explained that Veda Vyasa is considered as an avatar of the divine who incarnated to establish dharma. He offered an interesting answer to the question of who should be considered the founder of Hinduism. For most religions, the founder is well-known, but when it comes to Hinduism most people find it difficult to identify a single founder. Sri Narayanan suggested that Veda Vyasa, who compiled the Vedas which form the basis of Hinduism, could be considered the founder of Hinduism! The rest of Sri Narayanan’s discourse was focused on the importance of the Guru in a devotee’s life, and he drew from “Srimad Bhagavatam”, “Dhruva Charitram”, and the story of Sabari in the Ramayana to illustrate the greatness and importance of the Guru. Sri Narayanan’s discourses, held every Friday evening from 7:15 PM to 8:15 PM, are very enlightening to attend and very enjoyable to listen to. The discourses are free and anyone is welcome to attend.

Hindu Temple of Massachusetts

The Hindu Temple of Massachusetts, located at 271, Great Road, Acton, MA (next to the Monsoon Indian Bistro) commenced services in the second half of 2014. The Temple, also known as “Vishnu Durga Temple”, was founded by Pandit Lakshmana Sastry, a Dwivedi (proficient in two Vedas – Rig Veda and Yajur Veda) with an advanced degree (M. Phil) in Sanskrit. The Temple is currently open for services from 6:30PM to 8:30PM Thursdays through Sundays, and plans to extends its days and hours of service, as well as space, as the base of devotees expands.

The Temple has held special events to celebrate important festivals such as Navaratri, Deepavali, Ugadi, Sri Rama Navami, Sankara Jayanthi, Ramanuja Jayanthi, Tyagabrahma Jayanthi, and Narasimha Jayanthi. It has also hosted music concerts by both seasoned musicians and upcoming young musicians in the Boston area including Smt. Aparna Thyagarajan (vocal), her students Amrita Pai and Mahati Athreya (vocal), accompanied by Sahana Srinivasan (violin) and Tarun Bangalore (mridangam), and Smt. Smitha Krishnan (violin) accompanied by Mahalingam Santhanakrishnan (mridangam).

The Hindu Temple of Massachusetts, Acton, MA is a 501(c) (3) tax-exempt organization. Pandit Lakshmana Sastry seeks your generous financial support for the Temple and your sponsorship of Temple events and hosting of fund raisers at your home, monetary donations to the Temple to procure vigrahams for worship, your active participation in services, and your enthusiastic involvement in its activities, to enable the Temple to serve the community well. The Temple also welcomes donations in kind such as flowers, fruits, dairy items and rice for prasad, and seeks volunteers to support various Temple sustenance tasks. For more information about the Temple, please contact Pandit Lakshmana Sastry at laxman_sastry@yahoo.com or visit the Temple web site at http://www.mahindutemple.org/.

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