BY A STAFF REPORTER
NORWALK, CA -Hundreds of devotees thronged the Radha Krishna Mandir, popularly known as Norwalk temple, for the brick laying ceremony of its new building, on June 10. The ceremony was preceded by Shila Puja held at the temple premises where a large number of devotees gathered to participate in a joint religious ceremony.
NORWALK, CA -Hundreds of devotees thronged the Radha Krishna Mandir, popularly known as Norwalk temple, for the brick laying ceremony of its new building, on June 10. The ceremony was preceded by Shila Puja held at the temple premises where a large number of devotees gathered to participate in a joint religious ceremony.
The pujan was performed by the temple priest Shastri Bharatbhi Rajgor, aided by Naliniben Rajgor and several other priests. As per Hindu scriptures, this ceremony is performed to invoke the blessings of the diety, prior to the ground breaking ceremony before the construction of a new building starts.
The function began with a warm welcome from the temple president Pravin Patel. It culminated with the blessed bricks carefully taken to the actual site next-door and laid into the foundation to mark the beginning of the construction work of the new mandir.
The event was graced by Field Deputy, Lynda Johnson from Los Angeles County Janice Hahn’s office and Pro Tem Mayor of Cerritos, Naresh Solanki. Johnson, presented a certificate to the temple on behalf of Supervisor Hahn, who she said is a friend and supporter of the Indian-American community.
The names of scores of donors and contributors were announced as support for the project continued to pour in endlessly. People were excited and enthused as the day had finally dawned, for which they had been waiting for the past several years. "The Radha Krishna Mandir is the first Indian temple west of Mississippi and the third oldest in the US,’’ said Deepak Jhaveri, vice president and the master of ceremony of the function.
``This event holds special importance because for this `Mother of All Temples,’ this expansion project, which is a temple of their dreams, has been in the waiting for a very long time. They have had to jump through a lot of hoops and overcome a lot of challenges before they got the full blessings from the City of Norwalk to go ahead,’’ he added. The construction of the temple will take place in two phases so that the temple will never be closed during construction and the doors will always be open for devotees. The new and expanded temple, will then have a separate and huge prayer hall, separate dining area, spacious kitchen, meditation rooms and many other features including solar panels. At the height of 40 feet will be the top shikhar, the peak of the dome.
The function began with a warm welcome from the temple president Pravin Patel. It culminated with the blessed bricks carefully taken to the actual site next-door and laid into the foundation to mark the beginning of the construction work of the new mandir.
The event was graced by Field Deputy, Lynda Johnson from Los Angeles County Janice Hahn’s office and Pro Tem Mayor of Cerritos, Naresh Solanki. Johnson, presented a certificate to the temple on behalf of Supervisor Hahn, who she said is a friend and supporter of the Indian-American community.
The names of scores of donors and contributors were announced as support for the project continued to pour in endlessly. People were excited and enthused as the day had finally dawned, for which they had been waiting for the past several years. "The Radha Krishna Mandir is the first Indian temple west of Mississippi and the third oldest in the US,’’ said Deepak Jhaveri, vice president and the master of ceremony of the function.
``This event holds special importance because for this `Mother of All Temples,’ this expansion project, which is a temple of their dreams, has been in the waiting for a very long time. They have had to jump through a lot of hoops and overcome a lot of challenges before they got the full blessings from the City of Norwalk to go ahead,’’ he added. The construction of the temple will take place in two phases so that the temple will never be closed during construction and the doors will always be open for devotees. The new and expanded temple, will then have a separate and huge prayer hall, separate dining area, spacious kitchen, meditation rooms and many other features including solar panels. At the height of 40 feet will be the top shikhar, the peak of the dome.
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