Board of Trustees meeting: First Tuesday of the month at 7:30 PM
Sunday Puja at 11:30 AM: May 5, 12; June 2, 9; July 7, 14; August 4, &11, 2002
Soup Kitchen from 2:30 – 5:30 PM: May 11, June 8, and July 13, August 10, 2002
Havan at 11:00 AM: May 19, June 16, July 21, and August 18, 2002
Jain Puja at 11:00 AM: May 26, June 23, July 28, 2002, August 25, and Interpretation of Jain Sutra (Swadhyay) from 11:45 AM to 12:30 PM by Dr. Raju
Satyanarayan Puja: 6:30 PM: Sunday May 26, June 24, and July 24, 2002

"A Road To Success" program will be organized by Ranjan Thakur & Meena Sharma in the temple on June 1, Saturday at 11.30AM to 12.30PM followed by refreshments. All middle & high school children are requested to attend. It will be a unique opportunity for the students to prepare themselves to successfully manage their time for educational & extra curricular activities in order to achieve success. Shreena Gandhi, Graduate of Okemos high school & currently in the Masters program at Harvard, Boston; Satheesh Gunaga Graduate of East

lansing high school, currently in the MD program at MSU; and Payal Gupta, graduate of East Lansing High School, currently in the MD program at MSU, have kindly accepted to give a talk to enlighten the students with their experiences. A dinner will be hosted by Dr. Thakur in the honor of the invited students & for all the middle & high school students at 7 pm.

Registration is requested. Please call Dr.Thakur at 339-2370 or Mrs. Sharma at 347-0567.

June 2, 2002: Town Meeting will follow first Sunday Puja. Please come & join in question & answer session with the board or make suggestions or just have a relaxing time at the temple.

All Devotees are cordially invited to join us in celebrating these two great events at the Temple. This will be the fourth anniversary of prana pratishthapana, along with the Mandir Devata-Gayatri Purahcharan. The program will include Gayatri Japa conclusion along with Homa, Havan, Pujas, Archanas, Arati and Prasad. For Satsang, we are inviting Swami Bodhananda to give speech on the Vedic Rituals and Gayatri Japa. The program will start on Friday (June 14) evening and conclude on Sunday afternoon. This will be great religious and spiritual experience for all of us. Program details will follow through email and other venues.

Sponsorships: This type of ritual will be successful only with your active participation and donations. Our goal is to collect $24,000 (twenty four thousand) for this ritual. After the expenses all the money will go for building fund i.e. to pay off the remaining mortgage of the Temple. Suggested sponsorships are as follows:

1. Yajaman: For each pariwar of God/goddess in the Temple, we need a group of devotees to see that

all the japa is done as scheduled. Sponsorship in this category is $ 240 or multiples of 240.

2. Sponsorship of Homa/Havan: We plan to purchase all the Havan and Homa samagri. Your donation in this category will be used to purchase samagri and honorarium to the priests. If you have any specific item based on the above wish list, please bring that with you. Sponsorship in this category is $ 24 or multiples of 24.

3. Sahasra- Bhojan : As a part of this ritual, we are providing prasad to 1000 devotees. This will continue during the three day ritual as well as during our regular pujas. You have two options here, namely during the function, you can bring fruits and sweets for prasada and/or donate by a check. Sponsorship in this category is $ 96 and multiples of 96.

4. General Sponsorship:You may choose to sponsor all the activities by donating in the multiples of $24

5. Archana: For any mandir devata during this time, suggested donation is $ 12 or multiples of 12.

June 29 – 8:30 to 11:30AM, Adhar (18) Abhisheka to Lord Mahavir & Dhwaja changing ceremony, Lecture by Shree Narendrabhai Nandu & Bhajans by his group & Swami vatsalya (lunch)

Sri Krishna Jayanthi is on Friday August 30^th and continues on August 31^st Saturday.

Program will start on Friday at 7:30 PM with puja, bhajans and a devotional dance and conclude by 9:00 PM with arati followed by simple Prasad. The temple will remain open until after midnight for those devotees who want to stay and break their fast at midnight. Devotees interested in participating please, call Ved Gossain at 349-2886 or Meena Sharma at 347-0567 by August 10^th.

On April 17^th, for the first time in the young history of our temple, about 20 editors, copy editors, reporters and photographers from the Lansing State Journal visited the Temple for a meeting with your board members. The meeting was also attended by our priest Sharmaji, Jain Group Chair Ramesh Dedhia, and temple historian and librarian Raman Ananataraman.

Raman Anantaraman discussed the temple website. Sudhakar Kulkarni gave an overview of the main sanctum and explained each deity. Ramesh Dedhia explained the essence of Jainism. Following this we had a lunch meeting in the dining area. LSJ had lunch catered by Sindhu Restaurant. Everyone participated in the informal dialogue. Ved Gossain was appreciative of the fact that LSJ would now be more accessible. Founding member Prakash Kapoor gave some of the historical background of the Temple. Shashi Joshi mentioned some of the temple-sponsored activities. The "Q and A" session was very informative and helpful in understanding each other. The fundamental principle of our religion – non violence in action, words, and thoughts – was explained.

In summary, this meeting gave us an opportunity to talk about our faith and get acquainted with individuals who report news and events in the Greater Lansing community. That should help us in dealing with some publicity and public relations issues of the temple and its community in the future.

This meeting was the result of an initiative taken by Dhiraj Shah and the relationship that he cultivated for the temple with LSJ staff over the last few months. Thank you Dhiraj.

TABLA CLASSES for all ages are now offered at the Bharatiya Temle of Lansing. TABLA, the most popular Indian percussion instrument is a set of 2 drums with leather heads, and leather straps for tuning. Tabla is made of wood and the Dagga of metal.

Classes started: March 23rd (Sunday)

Time: 10:00AM to 11:00AM

Place: Bharatiya Temple of Lansing

If you are interested in joining or have questions regarding charges/schedule, please come to the class on any Sunday at 10:00AM or call

Nishad Parmar (517) 420-6549, Sandip Shah (517) 347-7876

Bharatiya Temple performed Satyanarayan Puja in March and April. It was well attended by devotees (35 to 50). Next puja is on Sunday, May 26, 2002, a Paurnima day at 6:30 PM. Puja will be followed by Katha, Arati and Prasad. This Puja will end at 8:00 PM. All of you are cordially invited to attend and sponsor the Puja. Sponsors will perform Puja, and distribute fruits and Halwa as Prasad. Please plan Prasad for about 50 people.

The temple is planning to have this Satynarayan Puja every month on a full moon day. Please join us with all your enthusiasm and devotion to perform this most rewarding Puja. Devotees outside Lansing area are also encouraged to sponsor and attend the Puja.

For sponsorship and further information call: Shashi K. Joshi @ 517-349-6225 or shashikjoshi@yahoo.com

Utpal and Paula Gangopadhyay recently organized a program: Ek Rangeen Shaam, an evening of Indian light music, dances and audio visuals at the Hannah Community Center. The event was attended by nearly 300 people. Many youngsters from our community also performed along with Utpal and Paula. The event raised $1,500 (including the Gangopadhyays’ personal contribution of $515) which was donated to the Bharatiya Temple. Special thanks to the Gangopadhyays for taking the initiative, mobilizing the community and thinking of a creative way to donate funds to the temple. Special thanks also to the sponsors, Grewal Companies, Schroeder Homes, Symbiosis International, Quantech Global Services, Sanjeev and Anu Deshpande, Aajay and Jayshree Shah and Veena's Indian Deli whose contribution made this program possible. Our appreciation also goes to the Arohi families (parents of the accompanying singers) who volunteered for this cause.

"MAA BHAGWATI CHOWKI" (Bhajans in Praise of the Goddess) PROGRAM was sponsored by Harish and Pushpa Tekchandani on April 28^th. Shri Ishwarlal Adwani has been giving such programs to audiences all over the world for more than 20 years. He is one of the foremost exponents of this style of singing. We are fortunate that he visited us and gave this program in our community. About 100 audience joined him in some of the singing. Thank you Harish & Pushpa for giving this opportunity to our community members.

One day, one of the American devotees of our temple said that he would like to do some Seva for our temple. When he was asked, What kind of Seva would you like to do? He replied, "I would like to paint the front lobby of the temple". We got him some paint. Soon after that he did a marvelous job and very meticulously painted the entire lobby. Thank you, Dave Zopf, you are a true ‘Sevak’.

If you happen to see Dave on a Saturday morning simply sitting and meditating in the temple, please thank him for painting our temple lobby.

New Priest: We are pleased to inform you that our second priest Bhardwajji has obtained his visa and we are in the process of making his travel arrangements for him to be here by the end of the month. Board wants to acknowledge the guidance we received from Attorney Preeti Kapoor (Prakash's daughter) in putting together the paperwork necessary for the visa and also wants to thank Manohar Naga for calling Mr. Gowda whose office guided us well. Sharmaji has been working hard, being only one priest on duty, and the Board would like to thank him.

Maha Shivaratri Celebration

Maha Shivratri, ‘the great night of Lord Shiva’: More than 250 people attended the event during 24 hours. Thanks to Dr. Raju for assisting us when we have only one priest (Sharmaji). Thanks to all those community

members who prepared the Prasad and especially to Meena Sharma for coordinating this and the cultural program.

It was brought to the Board’s attention that during Mahashivaratri celebrations that some of the devotees came to the temple in work clothes and also performed shivlingam puja without observing the "Om Namh Shivaya" japa 108 times. We made a special request in the last news letter and also in the special pamphlet to devotees to please shower, wear clean clothes (no work clothes) etc. etc.. before coming to the temple. Since we could not enforce our own rules, our temple may have lost some of the sanctity. Our priest, Sharmaji conducted some corrective pujas to restore the sanctity and the board is reviewing other possibilities to restore the original sanctity of the temple. If any of you have any other ideas on this please, call Sudhakar Kulkarni at 485-1060.

Chaitra Gauri Haldi-Kumkum

Bharatiya Temple of Lansing and the Indian Womens Association celebrated Chaitra Gauri Haldi-Kumkum on the 13th of April. This is a "New Years" spring celebration that women celebrate at home. It recognizes the domestic offerings of women. The decoration of the altar is an important aspect of this event. In keeping with the theme of "its a small world", the altar was beautifully decorated with miniatures of unusual cooking utensils from India. Participating children went home with lovely decorated clay pots and pansies. The menu for this event was traditional and was inspired by the newly forming mangoes. Spring is a magical season offering hope and beauty. May each and every one of you be blessed by goddess Gauri. This event was the result of an initiative taken by Veena Mandrekar and the Indian Womens Association. Thank you Veena.

Ramanavami Celebrations

Ramayan reading took place every day starting from April 13 to April 21. The main function was on Sunday, April 21 from 6:00 to 7:30 PM. This function was attended by about 160-180 devotees. The program was concluded with conclusion of Ramayan reading followed by prasad. Thanks to Prakash Kapoor, RamPal

Agrawal and Meena Sharma for organizing and co-ordinating the event. Thanks to Usha Kapoor, Champa Bhatia, and Debesh Maldas for organizing the prasad.

Temple had a fund raiser and "Bhajan Sandhya" on Saturday May 4, 2002. Mr. Kumar Sunil Mungee with a tremendously gifted voice moved audience. Shashi Joshi worked very hard for this program successs by doing an excellent job of getting sponsors and selling tickets etc. Thank you Shashi.

Board really appreciates volunteers for this kind of program and makes an appeal for all of you to get involved. We especially would like to thank all volunteers who helped us in preparing delicious food: Mr & Mrs. Nitin & Bina Ambani, Mrs. Ragini Gandhi, Mrs. Sharmila Joshi, and Mrs. Hina Modi.

Our sincere thanks to these sponsors and donors: Drs. Harish Pandya, Mr. & Mrs. Sanjeev Deshpande, Mr. & Mrs. Ajay Bhargava, Mr. & Mrs. Harry Tekchandani, Dr. & Mrs. Jwala Prasad, Drs. Aajay Shah, Mr. & Mrs. Shashikant Joshi, Mr. & Mrs. Vasant Patel and Mr. & Mrs. Vijay Pendse. Thank you again.

Mahavir Jayanti was on 25th April, 2002. It was celebrated on May 5th as first Sunday Puja by all the Jain Families. Snatra Puja which is about celebration of the birth of Lord Mahavir started at 10:30 am, followed by a talk on Jainism presented by Dr. John Grimes, Professor of Religion at Michigan State University. The program ended with some bhajans, arati, and Swami Vatsalya (lunch). Thank you Dr. Grimes for that enlightening lecture and thank you Navin & Sharmila Jain and Manoj & Minaxi Shah for making all the arrangements.

Youths' classes on Hinduism started at the Bharatiya Temple of Lansing in February 2002. These classes are for high school and college students. They will be held on the second and fourth Sunday of each month at

11:30 AM and end at 12:30 PM. We will start each class with a prayer and Gita discussion led by Dr. Raju. Then we will read and discuss the book ‘Essentials of Hinduism’. In order for this program to be successful, we

need parent volunteers to help conduct class and encourage students to participate. For further information, please call:

Rajiv Das 347-9843 or e-mail: rajivrdas@hotmail.com

Kumar Arun 349-0668 or e-mail: kumar2786@hotmail.com

Shashikant Joshi 349-6225 or e-mail: shashikjoshi@yahoo.com

WEBSITE: Please visit the site at http://lansingtemple.org and send your comments and suggestions for improvement to our webmaster, Raman Anantaraman at anantaraman@nscl.msu.edu.

Now you can read the most recent minutes of the board meeting on your website.

DVD SETS OF MAHABHARAT AND CHANAKYA: Are available for rent at $5/dvd. Additional donation to the temple to offset the cost of purchase of the DVDs will be most welcome. DVDs can be kept for a maximum of 14 days.

Balvihar Classes for kids under 12 years of age are conducted at the Temple every Sunday from 11 am to noon. Parents of kids under 5 are required to stay at the Temple. All kids must be picked up at noon sharp. Classes are conducted by Amrita Karve, under the guidance of Dr. Raju, Mrs. Shashi Karve and a few other parents. Currently 20 kids attend these classes on a regular basis.

We are accepting Advertisement for Temple newsletter to defray the cost. If you wish to advertise your business, please send your Ad (camera ready) to Smruti Shah with check payable to Bharatiya Temple Of Lansing. Rates: Full Page $200, Half Page $100 and quarter page $50.

Wanted

Nominations for Unsung hero (Contact Ved Gossain) 349-2886

Car donation for our new priest (Contact Gunaga Kuppaya) 332-2446

Computer professional to volunteer time to develop Temple Data base (Contact Smruti Shah) 347-1209

Articles for future newsletters (Contact Devi Tummala) 349-3900

Temple mailing helpers (Contact Prakash Kapoor) 349-5958

Parents to help with Sunday school (Contact Kumar Arun or Amrita Karve) 349-0668 or 347-1892

To sponsor Sunday Puja (first Sunday): Ramma Gossain 349-2886

To sponsor Havan (third Sunday): Jai & Raj Jaglan 337-8085

Youth Class (second and fourth Sunday): Kumar Arun 349-0668

Jain Puja (fourth Sunday) Minaxi Shah 332-5621

Bal Vihar Classes Amrita Karve 347-1892

Priest Services booking Gunaga Kuppaya 332-2446

Temple Rental Sudhakar Kulkarni 485-1060

To sponsor Soup Kitchen (second Saturday) Minesh Mody 347-4244

To sponsor Satyanarayan Puja Shashi K. Joshi 349-6225

Your Address update: This newsletter is periodically sent out to over 700 families in mid Michigan. Please help us keep our mailing list updated with your address changes. If you know families who are new to this area, share this newsletter with them and they can also request to have their name added to our mailing list. Also, in between the newsletters, many program announcements are made through e-mail. If you are not on the current e-mail list and wish to be on distribution list, please send us your e-mail address at Karve@msu.edu