tl mbkhpf;f KUfd; Myak;

ahkpUf;f gankd;
A HAPPY, HEALTHY AND PEACEFUL
NEW YEAR TO ALL MURUGAN DEVOTEES

NON-VOTING MEMBERSHIP IN MTNA

Devotees are invited and encouraged to become non-voting members of
the temple. Annual fee for non-voting member is $50 per family or
individuals.
Benefits of non-voting membership are several:

They can qualify to be nominated for voting membership in the temple.

They can participate in annual MTNA general body meeting
They can be part of the decision-making process of the temple

As we welcome 2015 we wish all devotees of Lord Murugan a healthy,

happy and peaceful year ahead!
We can expect this year to be the most eventful of all the years in our
temples development because we will be completing the Rajagopuram
and Temple Expansion Project. Efforts are underway to finalize the
plans to celebrate Rajagopuram Kumbhabishekam.
It is a tradition around the world to make New Years resolutions just so
there is some kind of goal for the year. Well, it is better to make one
resolution and stick to it than to resolve to do several things and not
accomplish even a single one!
We sincerely hope your resolution this year will be to contribute generously to complete the MTNA Rajagopuram and Temple Expansion Project. This resolution is practical, achievable and worthy of our intense
devotion to Lord Murugan.
There is nothing more gratifying than to visit the Murugan Temple in
Washington DC area to see firsthand the progress we are making in the
construction of the Rajagopuram and interior architecture. We cordially
invite you to visit the temple as often as you can during the year to receive the bountiful blessings of Lord Murugan.
May Lord Murugan Bless us all throughout the year and beyond!
MTNA Trustees and Members of the Executive Committee

THAI POOSAM
AND
PAZHANI PERUVIZHA GRAND CELEBRATION
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2015
All Day Sponsorship $151 ~ Sponsors Welcome
10:00 am
10:30 am
11:00 am
12:30 pm
3:00 pm
5:00 pm

Ganapathy Abishekam
Palkudam and Kavadi
Murugan 108 Sangu Abishekam
Murugan Bhajan
Pazhani Murugana short talk
Deeparadhanai
Food distribution
Thirukalyanam and Murugan Procession
Carnatic Music Session
by local artists (MTNA auditorium)

Murugan Temple of North America

6300, Princess Garden Parkway, Lanham, MD 20706, USA

Children's Classes At
Murugan Temple of North America

MAJOR CELEBRATIONS AND

RELIGIOUS EVENTS AT MTNA
JANUARY MARCH 2015
Please check the MTNA calendar or visit our website:
www.murugantemple.org
Information is available with the Temple manager at:
301-552-4889

Murugan Temple of North America has been sponsoring Children's

Classes at the temple premises. The classes are open to children of all
devotees of our temple. Children's classes provide an effective, semiformal setting to teach our children Tamil language and to engage them
in selected religious and spiritual practices related to Hinduism. The
classes are taught by dedicated teachers/parents who contribute their
valuable time two Sundays a month for this cause. It is noteworthy that
several classes of students have emerged with impressive proficiency in
Tamil certified by the American Tamil Academy.

JANUARY 14
WEDNESDAY

Thai Pongal
Makara
Sankranthi
-

Children's classes include lessons in Tamil language at different levels,

Bhajan singing, Hindu Religion and Hatha Yoga. Parents accompany the
children enrolled in classes, stay around during the lessons and share
their experience with other parents. Once a group of children become
proficient enough in Bhajan singing, they get opportunities to sing Bhajans in the temple prayer hall. The value of these classes goes beyond
the lessons they learn; the setting provides an environment for children
to bond together and to engage in volunteer activities related to the temple.

JANUARY 18

Pongal Celebration by Children

10 am1 pm

FEBRUARY 7
SATURDAY
THAI POOSAM AND
PAZHANI PERUVIZHA
GRAND CELEBRATION
All Day Sponsorship: $151
___________________________
FEBRUARY 17
TUESDAY
MAHA SIVA RATHRI
Sponsorship: $125
______________________
MARCH 4
WEDNESDAY
At the present time there is no dedicated space in the temple to conduct
the classes, but the volunteers and the management have been successful in working together to organize and offer these classes to a number of children. When the Temple Expansion Project is completed, we
are expected to have a dedicated room in the lower level of the temple
to conduct the classes with minimal disruption.

MASI MAGHAM

PLEASE DONATE GENEROUSLY TO THE

MTNA RAJAGOPURAM AND TEMPLE
EXPANSION PROJECT

The usual schedule of events on the second and fourth Sundays of the
month includes:
Bhajan
Religion
Yoga
Tamil

Lord Murugan devotees are captivated by the steady progress of the

Rajagopuram project. This is a project of the devotees, by the devotees
and for the devotees. The Fundraising Team is pleased with the response thus far from the devotees in terms of the donations and
pledges so far. But, the project calls for steady stream of more funds to
move forward. Please contact the temple manager at 301-552-4889 to
see about the mode of donating to the project.

10:15 am - 10:45 am
10:45 am - 11:30 am
11:30 am - 12:00 noon
12:00 noon - 1:00 pm

To enroll your child(ren) in a class or to get more details about these

classes, please contact:
Dr. Pathmathevan Mahadevan
Mr. Vayudeva Varadhan

PLEASE DONATE TODAY!

You can donate online at: www.murugantemple.org
2

appan69@hotmail.com
vayudeva@earthlink.net

2014 Tax Information for MTNA Donors

MTNA Gala Fundraiser Event of 2014

Your year-end contributions letter can obtained from our temple website
https://www.murugantemple.us. This is a secure website. Please register if not already done so. Click Register and then click Help adjacent
to the Devotee ID field. When you get your devotee ID, it is just a simple
step to access the information for your tax purposes.
__________________________________________

The Board of Trustees and the members of the Executive Committee

along with the volunteers of the Fundraising Committee planned and
organized a Gala Fundraiser Event for our temple on Saturday, November 15, 2014. To make the event a memorable one for the devotees, we
organized it at an attractive facility in Laurel, Maryland: Laurel-Beltsville
Senior Activity Center. About 150 devotees gathered for an evening of
light music entertainment, catered dinner and a presentation by MTNA
on the progress of the Rajagopuram and Temple Expansion Project.

Cultural Events

Light music was by Isailaya Artists led by Mr. Joseph Selvanathan and
his friends. The talented singers and the orchestra group performed
familiar film songs from Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam and Kannada
films catering to the diversity of audience. Mrs. Latha Kannan expertly
emceed the program. The nearly two-hour entertainment was very well
received by the audience, often accompanied by enthusiastic ovation.
At the event a tasty vegetarian menu was catered by Madras Palace,
Gaithersburg. A number of donated items were given out as door prizes
and several items were raffled off at the event.
The success of a fundraiser event could be measured in different ways.
One of the measures was the funds actually raised; nearly $91,000 was
collected prior to and at the event. The cost of the event was about
$8,000 including hall rental, catering, payment to the artists and publicity, leaving a net collection around $83,000 for the project.

Skanda Shashti and Thiruchendur Vetri Vizha CelebrationNovember 2, 2014

Artists in the photo (L to R)
Anirudh (Tabla), Abinav Seetharaman (Mridangam), Siddharth Kumar (Vocal),
Kamalakiran Vinjamuri (Violin), and Somiya Narayanan (Gatam)

Another measure of success was the number of dedicated devotees

who volunteered to help with the event at different levels. MTNA prides
itself in the countless hours devoted by volunteers at various temple
events. The Gala Fundraiser Event was no exception.
The annual fundraising campaign by mail between November-December
2014 to devotees across the US brought in about $9,000 demonstrating
the financial support to the temple.
We thank the devotees for their generous contributions and the volunteers for their time and enthusiasm. We look forward to future fundraiser
events when we can set our objective even higher and achieve it too
only with your help!

October 18, 2014 Meenakshi Kalyanam Dance Ballet

By students of Abinaya Natya Sala,
Directed by Mrs. Revathi Kumar

May Lord Murugan Bless us all!

MTNA Staff Members (L to R):

Back Row:

Sri Ganesan Bhattar Chief Priest

Sri A.S. RaghavanTemple Manager
Front Row:
Sri GowrishankarPriest
Sri Subramanian Assistant to Priest and Sri VisweswaranPriest

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

cUtha;
kUtha;
fUtha;
FUtha;

Devotees are the foundation of any temple. Volunteers are the pillars.
MTNA needs more volunteers. We cordially invite the devotees to volunteer a few hours a month to help on various occasions. Please join the
dedicated team of volunteers to show y our devotion to Lord Murugan.
Please contact Mr. Venkataramanan, the Chair of the Volunteer Committee, at venkataramanan@gmail.com or the temple manager at 301552-4889. Email contact: managermtna@gmail.com.

mUtha; csjha; ,yjha;

kyuha; kzpaha; xspaha;
capuha;f; fjpaha; tpjpaha;
tUtha; mUs;tha; Ffnd
- fe;jh; mEg{jp

TEMPLE HOURS: Monday Friday 9 am 12 noon & 5 pm - 9 pm;

Saturday, Sunday, & Holidays 9 am 9 pm.
TEMPLE SERVICES: MTNA Priests are available to perform religious
ceremonies for devotees. Please call the Temple Manager to discuss your
needs and make prior arrangements for ceremonies at the Temple or in your
home.
Also, ask for information about local hotels.
AUDITORIUM: The Temples auditorium capable of seating about 200 people
in the basement is available for rent by Devotees. The Temple has also ample
parking space. Please call the Temple Manager at 301 552-4889 for
reservations.
DIRECTIONS TO MURUGAN TEMPLE: From I-95 (also 495, Capital
Beltway), take exit 20-A, Lanham (Rte 450 East), then follow the signs to
Princess Garden Parkway. Turn right on Princess Garden Parkway. Murugan
Temple is on your left within half a mile (6300 Princess Garden Parkway).
From Baltimore-Washington Parkway take Exit to Rt. 193 East Greenbelt
Road. Turn left on Greenbelt Road. Turn right on Hanover Parkway, which
becomes Princess Garden Parkway. Drive about 2.5 miles. The temple will be
on your right.

The Murugan Temple of North America is a traditional Hindu Temple. It has a floor
area of 7000 sq. ft with main sannidhi for Murugan (Karthikeya) and separate
sannidhi for each of the other deities: Vinayaka (Ganesha), Durgai Amman, Siva,
Meenakshi Amman and Palani Andavar. Navagrahas are featured as well. Visit our
web site: www.murugantemple.org

MURUGAN TEMPLE OF NORTH AMERICA

6300 Princess Garden Parkway, Lanham, MD 20706, USA www.murugantemple.org 301-552-4889