MEET OUR PRIESTS
Shri
Balasubramanian Kannan (right) and Shri Surendra Bhardwaj (left)
Balasubramanian Kannan (Sharmaji) has been with our Temple since January
1998. Born in 1963 in a priest family, Kannan studied Krishna Yajur Veda for
eight years (1972-80) in Bangalore and was a Gold Medalist. He further studied
Prayogam for two years at Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham Veda Pathashala in
Rameswaram. During 1986-1997, he worked at Asthika Vaidhika Sthapanam, New
Delhi; from 1994, he was the head of this group of about a dozen priests who
provided religious services to the Hindu population in and around Delhi. He
joined our Temple on January 1, 1998. His family (wife Seetha Laxmi, daughter
Priyanka, and son Mahesh) joined him in Haslett in February 1999, and daughter
Lakshmi was born in June 2001. Sharmaji is experienced in performing all
religious functions as per different practices in various parts of India. He is
fluent in Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, and Tamil, and can speak some English.
Surendra Bhardwaj (Shastriji) joined the Temple at the end of May 2002.
He comes to us from New Delhi. His family (wife Navodita, son Mayank, and
daughter Ritam) joined him in late 2002 and early 2003. He was born in 1960.
His academic qualifications include the Vidyadhikari degree (1983) from Gurukul
Kangari University, Hardwar; the Uttarmadhyama degree (1986) from Vedamau
Vaidic Vidyapeeth, Badayu; and the Shastri degree (1989) from Sampoornanand
Sanskrit University, Varanasi. During 1996 and 1997, he had his Karmakand
training (for performing rituals) in Delhi at Ramayan Vidyapeeth and Shri Lal
Bahadur Shastri Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth. He is trained to do all Pujas
and Samskaras and can teach Hindi, Sanskrit, and scriptural texts such as the
Bhagavad Gita and the Ramayana. Prior to joining our Temple, he was a teacher
of Sanskrit at International Public School in Delhi and the President of
Sanskrit Sewa Sansthan in that city. He is fluent in Hindi, Sanskrit, Punjabi,
Haryani, and Rajasthani, and is learning to speak English.
The two priests live in houses close to the
Temple. They are available for private
pujas at devotees’ homes or places of business. To schedule
priest services both in and outside the temple, please call them either at the
temple (phone number 517-339-6337) or at their homes (Sharmaji’s home phone
number: 517-339-5003, cell phone number: 517-974-9675; Shastriji’s home phone
number: 517-575-0888; cell phone number: 517-944-2100). Priest
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