Swami Jagdishwarandanji, founder of Geeta Temple Ashram 
and Divya Dham in Queens, passed away at around 9 PM 
on Thursday, December 15.

 Swamiji, as he is often referred to by his congregation came to New
York City in the late 1960s and started a temple in the basement of an
Indian-American family. Seeing an influx of Hindus from India moving to New York City post 1965 into the 1970's, Swami moved the Hindu temple to a Proper building in 1970-71 with the help of a Jewish friend and the
Indian-American community.  This temple was called the Geeta Temple Ashram and became officially incorporated as a non-profit religious organization in 1973.

 As the Hindu congregation grew, Swamiji with the support of the
Indian-American Hindu community bought a site that was a former A& P supermarket in 1979, and it became the permanent home of the Geeta Temple Ashram.

 In 1993, Swamiji's envisioned to build a Hindu museum-like heritage
center. He funded Divya Dham which means "sacred pilgrimage" and converted a formerElectronics warehouse site into New York's largest temples. He was the motivating force for the construction of many temples in the NY area and India which were later donated to the local communities.

 Prior to coming to the US, Swami Jahdishwarand was the Mahant of Geeta
Mandir, Calcutta for 7 years and was closely associated with the Geeta Mandir In Ahmedabad, Gujarat for 25 years. He is the founder of Bharati Sanskrit Sangam in Madras and Gujarat.

 Swamiji stressed the importance of never underestimating anyone. A
story that he liked to tell his devotees was that of an experience he had with a
homeless man outside his temple. On a cold, snowy night, Swamiji went to tend to his dog for a few seconds outside, and the door accidentally closed behind him locking himself out barefoot. He looked outside, and nobody was around except for a homeless  man that he always saw loitering around.

Swamiji used to fear him, but on that night, he called for him. The homeless
man came to his aid, had a quarter, and called Swamiji's friend for assistance.

 
Swamiji greeted everyone and said bye to everyone with the traditional
Holy line "Hari Om." His last word while dying was "Ram," .

http://www.geetatemple.net

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