FOR WILLIAMSON COUNTY HINDUS, A NEW WORSHIP CENTER
~~ SHRI SHIRDI SAI BABA TEMPLE IN CEDAR PARK ~~
OPEN TO PEOPLE OF ALL FAITHS, CELEBRATES GRAND OPENING THIS WEEKEND
Austin American-Statesman
Three days of ceremony and ritual began on Friday 19th
March`2010 to dedicate the Shirdi Sai Baba Temple.
A Sai devotee, puts the finishing touches on a Ceremonial tent
outside the Shirdi Sai Baba Temple.
A Portrait of Shirdi Sai Baba sits on the main altar at the Shirdi
Sai Baba Temple.
A Hindu priest, places the colored rice on the Sarvotobhadra
Mandapa, or main altar, at the new Shirdi Sai Baba Temple of
Austin.
Each color has significance -
"Green and Yellow ask for Prosperity, Black is Sadness, Red
bring Happiness & Joy, and White brings Peace."
A Hindu priest follows along with ritual chants during a
ceremony at the Shirdi Sai Baba Temple.
A Hindu priest performs sacred Chants during a ceremony on
19th March`2010.
Pots called Kalash will hold Holy Water for purification ritual's
at the Shirdi Sai Baba Temple.
Copper pots called Kalash and brick hearths will hold Water and
Fire for purification rituals.
The Meditation Room at the Shirdi Sai Baba Temple would
ideally be built underground.
Due to construction limitations, earth is piled against the walls
and the green roof will blossom with flowers.
A Devotee meditates in the new meditation room at the Shirdi
Sai Baba Temple.
Founding member's Craig & Jill Edwards - receive blessings
during the dedication of the Shirdi Sai Baba Temple.
For the hundreds of Hindu families in Williamson County who have
been worshipping in a rented Cedar Park space,
the wait for a new temple ended Friday with the opening of the Sri
Shirdi Sai Baba Temple of Austin. The $2 million, four-acre facility on
New Hope Drive in Cedar Park will continue its grand opening activities
through Sunday, and organizers said they expect as many as 5,000
visitors to the new temple this weekend.
Kotecha said the New Temple welcomes people of all Faiths. "We
believe that the temple is more of a peaceful service to humanity,"
Kotecha said. "It's also about harmony between communities."
The Temple, which includes a meditation hall with an environmentally
friendly roof — insulated and made with dirt and flowers —
was co-founded by Craig Edwards, a retired businessman who moved
to Austin with his wife, Jill, from Hawaii in 2006.
About 30 people came to worship on Thursdays, the traditional day of
worship for Sai Baba followers, when the temple launched,
Now more than 200 people attend Thursday services, he said.
Along with performing various religious rituals in the Hindu
community, the temple's volunteers annually serve more than 40,000
sandwiches and meals to Austin's homeless and refugee communities,
Edwards said.
Edwards added - "One of the sayings we like is that serving hands are
dearer to God than praying lips," "If we go to church and pretend to be
holy, then we go out and abuse our fellow man, that looks like
religion, but it doesn't mean that we have any real relationship to
God."
Two priests, Raghunathji Bhattar and Dattatreya Ganti , will live in a
house near the temple. They will go there to conduct aarti — a song
and praise of Sai Baba that lasts about 20 minutes — four times a day,
Kotecha said.
To help people from other faiths feel welcome, temple leaders plan to
paint angels over the front door holding a banner that reads,
"The World Is My Family." On each side, symbols from several major
religions will be painted, Edwards said.
"The main thing is that it is our wish to serve the community and serve
God," Edwards said. "The best compliment someone who visits the
temple can give us is to say they left with a feeling of peace."
" Fear can keep us up all Night LOng,
but Faith makes one fine Pillow.".......... Philip Gulley
zzzzzzzZZzz - rOhit beHaL
