Hindu Temple of Atlanta Hosts 2nd Fundraiser Dinner
The Hindu Temple of Atlanta organized its impressive 2nd fundraiser dinner on Saturday, October 8th. Attended by over 250 members of Atlanta's Indian community, including the community's leading lights and the temple's past and present trustees and officials, the dinner was preceded by a riveting cultural program. Dr. Hymavathi Mikkilineni and Jayasree Moparthy, the secretary and joint secretary respectively, made the dinner arrangements. The cultural program was spearheaded by Atlanta's well-known Sasikala Penumarthy of the Kuchipudi Dance Academy in cooperation with the Dance Academies of Padmaja Kellam, Revathi Komandury, and Sujya Dixit.
��� Emceed by Jayasree Moparthy, the program began with an invocation prayer by Shubhashini Krishnamurthy. In his informative address, the president Arunaprasad Kancherla welcomed all the guests and spoke about the temple's progress and some of the activities planned for the future. After scintillating Bharatnatyam and Kuchipudi dance performances by highly trained and talented students, the resident priests conferred their blessings on the occasion from the stage. The dedicated teachers, students and priests were each presented with flower bouquets in appreciation of their participation in the program.
��� While the guests were enjoying their sumptuous dinner, Dr. Hymavathi, with the help of a colorful slide show by Dr. Krishna Mohan, complimented Jayasree Moparthy for suggesting the fundraiser dinner. She thanked the indefatigable Phani Tummala and her husband Vijaya Prasad for their commendable and pivotal role in not only preparing the delectable dinner but also in making the housekeeping arrangements in the hall. She also thanked the Krishna Mohan family and other volunteers who helped Phani Tummala. She mentioned some of the milestones in the temple's historic journey: its establishment in 1984; the groundbreaking ceremony in 1986; Sri Ganapathi prathistapana in 1990; Sri Balaji prathistapana in 1992; Sri Anjaneya prathistapana in 1993; Mahakumbhabhishekam in 1996; and the opening of the Shiva Temple in 2004.
��� Dr. Hymavathi also referred to other activities of the temple ? yoga classes, dance and music classes, spiritual discourses and the ever-popular Bal-vihar classes. Dr. G.V. Raghu and Geetha Raghu started the Bal-vihar classes in 1992 with 7 students. Today there are 250 students and 25 teachers and the demand is still rising. (Applause) She recognized well-known philanthropists, Dr. G.V. Raghu, Geetha Raghu and family for their biggest donation to the temple and for their dedicated services. She appealed to the guests to donate generously to enable the temple to accomplish more projects, and to pay off the loan of $1 million. The current operating expenses are $70,000 a month. The temple has seven resident priests, one full-time manager and two part-time managers. She quipped, "The treasurer, Dr. Sujatha Reddy, likes to receive checks but does not like to pay checks; she will be happy to know that the tab for the dinner has been picked up by the volunteer trustees." The dinner has helped raise $50,000, she announced cheerfully. Dr. Sujatha Reddy said she was delighted with the attendance and funds raised at the dinner. This shows the trust, confidence and faith of the community in the Hindu Temple and its worthy role in shaping the lives of many, especially the young generation.
- Mahadev Desai
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