The Hindu Temple of New Hampshire (HTNH) is pleased to announce that it has successfully crossed yet another milestone in its mission to serve our community. With the blessings of the Jagadgurus and the grace of the Almighty, the Temple has successfully closed the purchase of its own property located at 523-525 Broad Street in Nashua after obtaining the necessary administrative approvals, and is poised to relocate to these new premises within the next several weeks. The Temple gratefully acknowledges the Nishkaama Karma (selfless support) of the devotees, patrons and volunteers whose support made this possible. (http://www.hindutemplenh.org)

Mission and Brief History

The mission of HTNH is to serve the cultural and religious needs of the Hindu community in the New England area by establishing a permanent Hindu Temple in New Hampshire, that will be built and run according to the principles of the Agama Shastras, while embracing and drawing from the Hindu traditions and observances of both Southern and Northern India. The Temple started its operations 5 years ago in a small rented space in a commercial plaza in Taggart Drive that is located off the busy Daniel Webster Highway in Nashua, NH. As the number of devotees grew steadily, the Temple expanded to a larger, relatively more sequestered rented space located at 1 Progress Avenue in Nashua, NH, from where it has been serving devotees for the last 3 years. As the auspicious street name ("Progress Avenue") of the current premises suggests, the Temple has continued to enjoy steady progress and growth both in its devotee population and in the scope of its activities, and it became necessary and appropriate to look for larger premises owned entirely by the Temple. The property whose purchase was closed this month was finalized in August 2012, and the ball was then set rolling to acquire this property. This property will provide more space to establish independent shrines for individual deities, will be able to accommodate a larger number of devotees, and also support the expanding scope of cultural services that the Temple is engaged in. This will represent the next stage of growth of HTNH, as it marches towards its mission of establishing a permanent Temple structure built according to Agamic traditions.

Deities and Services

जो नाम चाहो वह नाम बोलो, प्रेम से बोलो, प्यार से बोलो |

In the Hindu Temple of New Hampshire, Lord Shiva is worshipped in the form of Sri Meenakshi Sundareswara along with his consort Goddess Meenakshi (Sri Meenakshi Sundareswara and Goddess Meenakshi are also the main deities in the historic temple in Madurai, Tamilnadu), and Lord Vishnu is worshipped in the form of Sri Srinivasa (Balaji) along with his divine consorts Sri Sridevi (Sri Mahalakshmi) and Sri Bhoodevi. Of equal importance and status are the other deities in whose forms the Almighty is enshrined and worshipped in the Temple. These deities include Sri Ganesha, Sri Subrahmanya with his consorts Sri Valli and Sri Devasena, Sri Ayyappa and Sri Hanumanji. Sannidhis for Sri Ram Parivaar, Durga Mata and the Navagrahas will be added in the near future. In addition to daily poojas (nitya aradhana), arati and darshan, the Temple conducts special poojas for various deities on occasions that are considered special for specific deities. These occasions occur regularly and include Pradosham (Sri Shiva), Chathurthi (Sri Ganesha), Sravanam (Sri Balaji), Poornima (Sri Satyanarayana), Amavasya (Sri Hanumanji), Shukla Shashti (Sri Subrahmanya), Prathama Shanivaram (Sri Ayyappa). In addition, special services are conducted on important religious and secular occasions that span the cultural traditions of the whole of India. These occasions include Ganesh Chathurthi, Maha Shivarathri, Sri Rama Navami, Navarathri (also known as Dussehra or Durga Pooja), Karva Chowth, Upakarma, Diwali and New Year’s Day. The Temple plans to expand this list to include festivals such as Vasant Panchami, Holi, Gudi Padwa, Bhai Dooj, Raksha Bandhan and Teej, as the diversity of the devotee base expands. The Temple has been providing the opportunity and facilities for devotees of Sri Ayyappa to observe the Irumudi Pooja and Vrata. The Temple also honors the great Hindu teachers, the Jagadgurus, on occasions such as Guru Poornima, Shankara Jayanthi and Ramanuja Jayanthi. The Temple is blessed to have the benefit of the services provided by Sri Lakshmana Shastri, the official priest, who is a Dwivedi (scholar in the Rig and Yajur Vedas) and who also holds a Master of Philosophy degree in Sanskrit. It is also supported by a dedicated corps of volunteers whose tireless efforts and deep involvement have been responsible for sustaining its operations and growing the Temple to this stage.

Acharya Devo Bhava (Honor the Learned)

आचार्य देवो भव |

The Hindu Temple of New Hampshire has been visited, graced and blessed by many prominent religious leaders and scholars including the founder of the Art of Living movement Sri Sri Ravishankar, the prolific and popular Vaishnavite scholar and exponent Vellukudi Sri Krishnan Swamy, the Dasa Sahitya expert, Dr. Aralumallige Parthasarathy, who has been spreading awareness about the Bhagavatham and Sri Vishnu Sahasranamam all over the world, Prof. Subrahmonia Iyer, former Dean of Academic Affairs, IIT Bombay, Shri Shenkottai Hari, the well known Bhagavathar and expert in Divyanama Sankeerthana and Sampradaya Bhajans, and Smt. Poornimaji, a senior disciple of Sri Sri Muralidhara Swamiji, an advocate of Nama Kirtana.

Paropakarah Dharmah (Love All Serve All)

परोपकारः धर्म: |

The Temple is involved in various community service initiatives such as providing religious services based on Vedic traditions to devotees in the Greater Boston area, leading the celebration of Hindu festivals and observances that are of importance to multiple regions of India, Bala Gokulam (cultural classes for children), Sanskrit classes conducted in collaboration with Samskrita Bharathi, Geeta Vichara classes, classical music instruction, and hosting discourses by prominent personalities. Activities planned for the future include classes to instruct devotees in the proper chanting of stotras  including the Sri Vishnu Sahasranama Stotra and the Sri Lalitha Sahasranama Stotra, and language classes for children to impart language skills in various Indian languages including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam.

Dharmo Rakshati Rakshitah (Righteousness protects those who protect it)

धर्मो रक्षति रक्षितः |

The just-completed purchase of the new property would not have been possible without the loving support of devotees, patrons and volunteers. When the HTNH made the decision last year to purchase this new property, it had the seemingly impossible goal of having to raise a few hundred thousand dollars within several few weeks to meet the payment gap. The Temple engaged in an active fund-raising drive to raise the funds. It made a direct appeal to devotees and also initiated a postal mail campaign. Contributions, both large and small, came pouring in according to the abilities of the generous donors. The Temple's fund raising efforts received support from Poojya Swami Sri Dayananda Saraswathiji of Arsha Vidya Gurukalam, PA, who wrote a personal letter to his devotees in the New England area to contribute to the fund raising effort.  The Temple also engaged in a novel experimental volunteer-run initiative called "Chant for Dharma" (in which a choir of Ritwiks bring divine vibrations to the home of devotees through resonant Vedic chants), that was well-received wherever it was hosted. The various fund raising efforts have enabled the Temple to successfully achieve its goal of acquiring the new property. However, the HTNH will continue its fund raising efforts to ensure that the services and operations of the Temple can be autonomously sustained, while marching towards its next goal of establishing a permanent structure in New Hampshire built according to Agamic traditions. The HTNH continues to seek your support and patronage. Your donations are tax-deductible and may be made out to HTNH, PO Box 7041, Nashua, NH 03060. You can also sponsor a "Chant for Dharma" at your home to help raise funds for the Temple (please contact k_arvind@yahoo.com or rveermani@gmail.com), while receiving the blessings of "Veda Mantra Sravanam" (exposure to the divine vibrations of Veda Mantras). 

Samasta Loka Sukhino Bhavantu (May all be happy)

समस्त लोका: सुखिनो भवन्तु |

The HTNH welcomes you to visit and worship at the Temple, participate and volunteer in the Temple activities, and help us serve the community. Please call the Hindu Temple of New Hampshire at 1-603-598-HTNH for further information.

 à¤¸à¤°à¥à¤µà¥‡à¤·à¤¾à¤‚ स्वतिर्भवतु |

सर्वेषां शान्तिर्भवतु |

सर्वेषां पूर्णंभवतु |

सर्वेषां à¤®à¤™à¥à¤—लंभवतु |

Sarveshaam Swasthir Bhavathu | (May everyone be blessed with well-being)        
Sarveshaam Shaanthir Bhavathu | (May everyone be blessed with peacefulness)
Sarveshaam Poornam Bhavathu | (May everyone  be blessed with fulfillment)
Sarveshaam Mangalam Bhavathu | (May everyone be blessed with auspiciousness)      

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