February 8, 2011

Dear Devotees,

It is my great pleasure to let you know that Maha Shivratri is approaching and we are planning to celebrate the pious festival from 6AM on Wednesday March 2 to 6AM on Thursday, March 3, 2011.  Besides the five Abhishekams and the 24-hour continuous japa of "Om Namah Shivaya" that have formed part of this celebration in previous years, there will be a special 2-hour Yagna performed under the guidance of priests, with chanting of 1008 names of Lord Shiva, from 5:30PM to 7:30PM on March 2.

The Yagna is a sponsored event. We are looking for a total of at least 50 sponsors in the three categories of sponsorship: $1001, $501, and $251. Three different sizes of marble shivalingas will be given to sponsors in the above three categories, along with a brass plate (thaali) and puja saamagri. The sponsors will have the wonderful opportunity of performing the pooja themselves using their own Shivlingams.

Program Flier: http://lansingtemple.org/misc/Shivaratri2011.pdf

Yagna Flier: http://lansingtemple.org/misc/ShivaYagna.pdf

For Yagna sponsorship, please contact any of the following: our Priest Shastriji at (517) 339-6337, Ajay Bhargava at (517)347-3718, Bindu Kota at (517) 381-1644, or Sriram Kovai at (517) 699-1579.

In addition, we need volunteers for:

• Making prasad and preparing puja thaalies. Contact Ajay Bhargva (phone: 517-347-3718).
• Performing silent meditation (mauna japa) of the Panchakshari Mantra (Om Namah Shivaya) for 24 hours (commit to 30 min to 60 min). Sign-up sheet has been posted in the temple foyer.  You can also sign up by sending e-mail to raman@nscl.msu.edu

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I cordially invite all of you to join us in celebrating this great event.

Smruti Shah
Chair, Board of Trustees

Bharatiya Temple of Lansing
955 Haslett Rd
Haslett, Michigan 48840.
Phone: (517) 339-6337