Thousands of devotees thronged the Malibu Temple here, the largest and most famous temple in North America built like Thirumala, on California's Malibu Hills, to celebrate its 21st anniversary.
The event was marked with special poojas, Rathotsavam (Chariot Procession, and the impressive cultural extravaganza, with as many as 5,000 people attending the three-day event held from May 6.
The celebration also provided an opportunity for the office bearers and board members to re-dedicated the temple to the community and discuss some of their ambitious upcoming projects, according to a release.
The meeting, chaired by temple board President Nadadur Vardhan, affirmed that the temple would soon complete installation of deities in the newly built Shiva complex as well as the total renovation of the Balaji complex.
Dr SA Manohara, chairman of the board, shared his vision to take the temple to new heights.
According to temple executives, efforts are also underway now on acquiring the Padmavathy land and on the building of the new Hanuman complex. Further initiatives include the temple’s anticipated upcoming announcement of a major fundraising programme aimed at offering support to its renovation and future endeavors.
The weekend-long celebratory event was organised and brought together by volunteers of the temple under the leadership of Nadadur Vardhan, Giridhar Athreya, Ravindran Vardarajan, Jayashree Manohara, Devender Reddy, Raghava Pillai Manavalan, Krishna Kumar, and Krishna Koka. The special poojas and ceremonies throughout the celebration were executed by priests Narasimha Bhatta, Krishnamachary, Sastri, Kannan Bhattar, and Prasadam.
{{/usCountry}}The weekend-long celebratory event was organised and brought together by volunteers of the temple under the leadership of Nadadur Vardhan, Giridhar Athreya, Ravindran Vardarajan, Jayashree Manohara, Devender Reddy, Raghava Pillai Manavalan, Krishna Kumar, and Krishna Koka. The special poojas and ceremonies throughout the celebration were executed by priests Narasimha Bhatta, Krishnamachary, Sastri, Kannan Bhattar, and Prasadam.
{{/usCountry}}The Malibu temple, run by The Hindu Temple Society of Southern California, has a devotee base of over 200,000, with a member base of nearly 3,000.