Mookam Karoti Vachalam,, Pangum Langhayate Girim. Yat Krupa Tamaham Vande, Paramanand Madhavam.

Temple Address: 2500 SW Regional Airport Blvd. Bentonville, AR 72712

Temple Hours: Saturdays from 5 PM to 8 PM Sundays from 10 AM to 1 PM Vishnu Sahasranamam: Every Saturday at 6 PM

Email: bod@nwahindutemple.org
Salutations to the ultimate bliss Madhava, by whose grace, a dumb man becomes the most talkative and a physically disabled man crosses the highest mountain.

Web: http://www.nwahindutemple.org

vakratunda mahaakaaya suryakoti samaprabhaa. nirvighnam kurumedeva sarvakaaryeshu sarvadaa..

Driving Directions to the new Temple from Exit 85 Rogers/Bentonville 1. Take I-540, EXIT 85, towards AIRPORT/ROGERS/BENTONVILLE. 0.3 mi 2. Turn West onto US-71 BR/AR-12/W WALNUT ST/SE WALTON BLVD. Continue to follow US-71 BR/AR-12/SE WALTON BLVD. 1.5 mi 3. Turn LEFT onto SW REGIONAL AIRPORT BLVD/AR-12. 1.7 mi 4. 2500 SW REGIONAL AIRPORT BLVD is on the RIGHT opposite to World's Gym.

Temple News
Isn't it exciting to see our New Temple sprout up so fast? Isnt it Lords grace that made us see the fruition? Let us keep praying for strength, patience, power of wealth and devotion to see our successful Grand opening of the new Temple. We know each of you is so excited to see our dream in reality and HANWA is so glad to fulfill your desire to have the New Temple Sneak Preview. HANWA is conducting sneak preview sessions and please keep an eye for your turn to receive the invitation. Meanwhile, let us do our part in His mission and happily make our first entrance into the Lords abode and then into His heart. Those of you who were fortunate to set your first foot into the new temple, provide your feedback to BOD@NWAHINDUTEMPLE.ORG We all have a Dream to Get Krishna in Arkansas Were all truly blessed to be able to participate in building a temple. Our united effort is to bring Mathura to Bentonville. With this opportunity comes the responsibility of establishing a strong financial foundation for the temple to ensure its continued presence in the community. The Sponsorship Programs Here are the formal sponsorship programs that weve developed specifically for the construction process. Every dollar collected for these sponsorships will go directly to paying the construction bills. This will reduce the amount of loan that we have to take AND the amount of interest we have to pay! Street Name Sponsorship - $50,001 : This is a rare opportunity for a street leading to our new temple to bear your precious name. If you or your friends or family are interested, please contact any of the Board members. Gopura Sponsors - $1001 Be a Gopura sponsor and earn the grace of Lord forever. On temple Grand Opening day, Gopura sponsored families can pour holy water and put flowers on the Kalasam which is a life time opportunity for a human being. We have only few sponsor slots available. Please click on the below link to see the current Gopura sponsors. http://www.nwahindutemple.org/gopuram.php Parking Lot Sponsorships - $501 : To improve accessibility of the temple, please be a parking lot sponsor. Temple bell Sponsorship : $251 When you see the temple bell, the auspicious sound of Om will ringer in your ears with pride when you sponsor a Temple bell. Tile sponsors - $101 This is a great opportunity given to all the Tile sponsors to freely participate in the special Havan which will be performed by the Priest on 26th May-Saturday. Avail this opportunity and become a tile sponsor soon. Here is the link to our proud tile sponsors. Every tile sponsored for the Temple carries your name in the heart of the Lord. http://www.nwahindutemple.org/tile.php Kar Seva Volunteer: Hands that serve are holier than the lips that pray. KarSeva arose out of this great but simple thought. Devotees are anxious to serve the Lord in whatever they can. Once you are part of this group, you will get emails in case the temple needs some help. Seva itself says it is not an obligation but it is done with a great selfless feeling at your own convenience. Email BOD@NWAHINDUTEMPLE.ORG if you would like to become a KarSeva member.

Mandir Vani of NWA : Volume 1 Issue 1 May 2012

Send Suggestions/ Contributions to: sharmilasanka@yahoo.com.

Editorial Board: Sharmila Sanka, Jagga Muddasani, Ramakantha Rao Chakalakonda Advertising Rates per Issue: Full Page: 60$ Half Page: 40$ Quarter Page: 25$

Office Bearers and Board of Directors President: Vice President: Secretary: Treasurer: Nirupama Raghavan Umashankar Balaraman Sharmila Sanka Ravikanth Krovvidi

Our NWA Hindu Temple

Jagga Muddasani

Contact us via Email: BOD@nwahindutemple.org Directors: Arul Kumaran Manjula Chawla Raghunath Seeram Thilak Sriram HANWA Board Election OATH
We, the newly elected Board members take an Oath before the Lord and the community to hold responsibility and accountability to perform the duties on HANWA Board with integrity, humility and devotion. We will tread on the right path chosen by the Lord and we thus ask for immense support from the Community and we promise to live up to your trust and confidence.

A Mandir, Devalayam, Devasthanam, or a Hindu temple is a place of worship for followers of Hinduism. A characteristic of most temples is the presence of murthies (statues) of the Hindu deity to whom the temple is dedicated. In our NWA Temple, the primary Deity is Lord Krishna, the personality of God Head, followed by the other presiding deities, Lord Venkateswara, Lord Shiva, Goddess Maha Lakshmi, Lord Ganesha, Goddess Kanaka Durga, Lord Subramanya Swami accompanied by their respective family members. The architecture of temple mimics the generic Hindu Temples and being constructed to meet the Budget requirements. Our Temple is built to have adequate space of 3.5 acres with ample parking place. A Gopura is planned to appear in front of the Temple in forthcoming months. A large staging area is elevated with beautiful Marble surface. The statues of the Gods (murthies) are placed on pedestals over the elevated marble stage, with several decorated lamps around these pedestals , and with beautiful garlands and ornaments surrounding the murthies as if the natural light is emanating from our Lords blessing the visitors to fulfill their desires and ambitions. Around this stage there is also a large walking area for devotees to make pradhakshinas around the Gods. Worshippers typically bring in symbolic offerings for the puja. This includes fruits, flowers, sweets and other symbols of the bounty of the natural world. They keep both hands folded together as a sign of respect in front of murthies. This place is also known as the garbhagruha. It symbolizes the birthplace of the universe, the meeting place of the gods and mankind, and the threshold between the transcendental and the phenomenal worlds. The devotees offer prayers and salutations to the presiding deities. Devotees present their offerings at the Lotus feet of the deities. Finally the worshipper or visitor walks clockwise around the elevated stage, innermost sanctum, or garbhagruha, stop once on each side, close their eyes and pray to the All Loving Being. The worshipper may receive a sprinkling of the water while the 'pujari' states "Om Shanti" which means "peace be on to all". Temple management staff typically announce the hours of operation, including timings for special pujas. Our priest Venugopala Gattu comes every weekend on Saturday and Sunday performs aarti once or twice. On every Saturday at 6 PM the Devotees chant Vishnu Sahasra Namamu to bring peace and tranquility to Bentonville citizens. Every third Saturday, devotional songs or music called bhajans, accompanied by a dholak or tabla soloist and/or harmonium soloist. Visitors and worshipers are required to remove shoes and other footwear before entering the temple Hall and there is an area designated to store footwear. There is also a Tap water to wash their hands and feet before entering the Temple Hall to keep their heart and mind clean preparing themselves to offer their prayers to Gods. On the back of garbhagruh, the eleveated stage, there is a storage space to put the puja trays (tray with worship offerings), the Gods idols and the god's vahana or vehicles in the wooden cubicles. Finally, at the end of the day, the wooden doors of the temple are shut when the Deities are sleeping.

Monthly Events
May 2012
Launching of New temple Website

http://nwahindutemple.org/
Release of first issue of Temple Newsletter.

June 2012

General Body Meeting:

The next HANWA General Body Meeting is on June 9th Saturday. Please mark your calendar to attend this event, where in, you can voice your opinion and you can get important updates on our New Temple. Only HANWA members have the voting rights. Please become a member soon if you are not one.

July 2012

Temple Grand Opening:

With the Lords immense grace, commitment of the sponsors, selfless service of the volunteers, and relentless dedication of the past and current Boards and mostly devotion of the devotees, HANWA Board is so very pleased to announce that we have a Grand Opening Date for our New Temple. Please mark your calendars from 27th July, Friday to 29th July Sunday with the Grand opening being on 29th July Sunday. We want the entire NWA community to attend this event since each of you played a role big or small to make this long awaited announcement a possibility. So, please plan your vacation, trip to India etc accordingly so that we have your presence at the Grand Opening. Mean while, lets do whatever we can in whichever way possible for the New Temple and lets keep praying to our Lord. More details to follow soon.

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Priest Services from HANWA

Sriman Ubhaya Vedanta Venugopala Swami Gattu will be available to perform any kind of religious rituals in NW Arkansas. For more details, call Sharmila Sanka at 479-899-1307 or e-mail at sharmilasanka@yahoo.com

Devotee Charge Events At Home Pooja Satyanarayana Pooja Kalyana Utsavam Gita Yagnam Special Pooja/Abhisekam Engagement Seemantam Namakaranam Annaprasanam Aksharabyasam Bhumi Pooja Hiranya Shraddam(Tarpanam) Homam Shraaddam with Homam Aayush Homam Gruha Pravesham/House Warming Punyaha Vachanam Homam Marriage Upanayanam Miscellaneous Services at Temple only Archana Hair Cutting- Pooja Only Vahana Pooja NA NA NA $21 $51 $31 $300 $300 $300 $300 $300 $500 $400 NA $200 NA $200 $200 $400 $300 $250 $250 $250 $250 $250 $250 $250 $250 $250 $250 $250 $150 $150 $150 $150 $150 $150 $150 $150 $150 NA NA At Temple

NA - Not Applicable

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EDITORIAL
Dear Devotees of Lord,
Good day, we are coming up with a newsletter to keep you informed of Temple activities and services. Hope this will help you to plan and participate in your religious activities. This is the first newsletter of our Temple. We like to improve the contents and format of this newsletter with your suggestions and contributions. Please send your feedback and articles to HANWA MANDIR VANI sharmilasanka@yahoo.com. Your help and participation are highly appreciated. Also you can give your personal and business advertisements in this newsletter to reach out your friends and customers. Every issue of Mandir Vani will have a section for children, and womens special, besides a section for all. In this present issue for children we are publishing the story of Sri Krishna and Sudama story, to shown an example of good friend ship. In the women section we are covering articles which are useful to know. The great war of Mahabharata gave us two gifts, one before the war and another after the war. Bhagavat Gita which gives us the essence of Hindu religious thought, is given by Bhagavan Krishna to us before the war. The other important gift of Mahabharata war is given to us at the end of the war. It is the great Vishnu Sahasra Namam. It is universal prayer. It is given to us by the grandfather of Pandavas, Bheeshma Pithamaha, on the orders of Lord Krishna. In this issue, let us take an introduction to both these great gifts given to us, by Lord, through the writings of the sage Veda Vyas. Editorial Committee

Bhagavat Gita:

klaibyam ma sma gamah partha naitat tvayy upapadyate ksudram hridaya-daurbalyam tyaktvottistha parantapa

"O son of Pritha, do not yield to this degrading impotence. It does not become you. Give up such petty weakness of heart and arise, O chastiser of the enemy."

If one reads this one Shloka he gets all merits of reading the entire GIta; for in this Shloka lies imbedded the whole message of GIta Swami Vivekanada The shloka tells never lose heart, do not fear for anything any time. Do not be a coward; gain self-confidence and be in the line of your duty. Bhagavat Gita has eighteen sections. Each section ends with the name YOGAM, means union. Each of these 18 sections are 18 different paths to unit ourselves to God, the ocean of happiness.

Vishnu Sahasra Namam

All our Aacharyans, Sastras, Puranas always highlighted the ever powerful Vishnu sahasranama Stothram, which is the solution to remove all ills prevailing evils in the society as a whole. Vishnu Sahasranama means 1000 names of Vishnu. Sahasra 1000 , nama name. It is the garland of the thousand names of Lord Vishnu, strung in to a beautiful stotra by the legendary Rishi Veda Vyasa, acknowledged as one of the greatest exponents of the Vedic wisdom. Apart from the great epic Mahabharata, Bhagavatha, Veda Vyasa also wrote the Brahma Sutras (he is also called Badarayana), a treatise expounding the essence of Hindu philosophy. It is the reply to six of Yudishstras most profound questions to Bhismacharya. Yudhishthira, the eldest of the five Pandavas, was mentally depleted because of the bloodshed in war. Bhishma, the grandfather, of Pandavas and Kouravas, was lying on the bed of arrows, waiting for the auspicious time to make his final journey. All his irreplaceable wisdom, based on the experiences of his long life of virtue, righteousness and devotion, was about to be lost on his death. So the sage Veda Vyasa and Sri Krishna advised Yudhishthira, to seek the advice of Bhishma on all aspects of life on which he had any doubts. Yudhishthira followed their advice, and a series of discourses were given to him by his Grandfather. In one of these sessions, Yudhishthira sought Bhishmas advice on the easiest and best means by which mankind can attain lasting happiness, peace of mind, and relief from all bondage and sorrows. Sri Vishnu Sahasranama Stotram was imparted to him, for the welfare of future generations in mind, by Bhishma to Yudhishthira, These were the questions Yudhishthira asked Bhishma:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Who is the One (Supreme) Deity? What is the highest goal of life? By praising which Deitys auspicious qualities will human beings attain prosperity in this world as well as bliss in the next? By meditating on which Deity will human beings attain prosperity in this world as well as bliss in the next? By reciting which mantra will man be released from the bondage of the cycle of birth and death? Of the three means recitation, praise or archana, and meditation, which is the best means for attaining the grace of the supreme Deity based on your vast experience and knowledge?

The answer for all these questions is Vishnu Sahasranamam. Six reasons are generally identified for the greatness of the Stotram. These are: 1. It is the essence of the Mahabharata. 2. Sages such as Narada, the Alwars, and composers including Saint Tyagaraja have made repeated references to the "Thousand Names of Vishnu" in their devotional works. 3. The person who strung together the thousand names as part of the Mahabharata and preserved it for the world was none other than Sage Vedavyasa, the foremost knower of the vedas, and considered an incarnation of Vishnu (vyasaya vishnu rupaya vyasa rupaya vishnave namo...). 4. It is the considered opinion of Bhishma that it is the best and easiest of all dharmas, or the means to attain relief from all bondage. 5. It is widely accepted that the chanting of this Stotram gives relief from all sorrows and leads to happiness and peace of mind. 6. It is in conformity with the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, Narayaneeya, etc. Let us all sing Vishnu Sahasranamam and take all these benefits to us and our families.

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FOR BALA For Bala GopalaGOPALA

Dear friends, today we shall listen to a story. Lord Krishna when studying in school had a classmate, His name is Sudama. He is a very poor boy. They used to be very good friends, and used to play and study together. Later, Krishna became king of Dwaraka. Sudama remained a poor. He had to bring up a large of many children. His wife suggested Sudama to go to Krishna and take his help to bring up his children and feed them regularly and give good clothes and education. One day Sudama's wife said to him: "Lord! Why don't you meet Krishna? You were at school together. He will surely help us!" Sudama had been wanting to see his friend Krishna, more than for money. It is our tradition to carry with us a gift, when we go to see a baby, a great man or God in a temple or teachers. We should not go with empty hands. Sudamas wife gave him a packet of beaten rice as gift to Krishna. Sudama walked all the way to Dwaraka. When he reached Krishna's palace, he went in. Krishna saw him from a distance. At once he rushed out and met Sudama at the gate. He gave him a great hug and welcome. He washed Sudama's feet. He took him to his room, and seated him on a silken cot. Krishna's wife Rukmini gently fanned Sudama. He was served plenty of food and delicious drink in golden vessels. Sudama had never seen such a beautiful palace of such riches. Sudama was very happy with Krishnas hospitality. Krishna and Sudama spent a lot of time recollecting their school days. Krishna enquired Sudama, about his family. Then Krishna asked Sudama, what did you bring for me? Sudama was shy to give the packet to him and was hiding it from him. But Krishna saw the bag and pulled it out. Taking a handful from and putting it in his mouth, he said: "How nice of your wife to have sent this to me?" Then he ate two more handfuls. After spending the day happily at Dwaraka, Sudama took leave of Krishna, and walked back to his village.

He completely forgot to ask for any gift of favor of Krishna. When Sudama reached home, he could not find his small home, in its place a beautiful palace was there. He saw his children and wife, in beautiful clothes and ornaments inviting him in to the house. Sudama realized that it is all Krishnas gift for him. Sudama worshipped Krishna with greater devotion than ever before. So children, never see the value of good friendship. We should never forget friends; it is difficult to get good friends. A friend in need is a friend indeed! Next time we shall listen to another story, who is not a good friend.

(Womens Section)

Who is this Great Being?

By Sharmila Sanka

There is a word in this world for someone who is selfless, who loves without expectations, who sacrifices life without a second thought, and who is the embodiment of forgiveness. Is it God? I can say this person is next to God or someone equal to him as said in the Vedas, 'Maatru devo bhava.' The word described above is about a sacred and tender being called 'Mother.
'Mother' is the sweetest and adorable word on this earth and it resides in every heart of a being. A mother bears a child not 9 months alone but her entire life, as long as she breathes on this earth. A human being can bear 40 degree pain to the body, which is equivalent to the pain of 20 bones breaking at the same time. But a Mother takes 57 degrees of pain at the time of giving birth to a child. She undergoes this severe pain just to see her baby land on this earth safely. Before she becomes a mother, she devotes her life to her husband but once she is a mother, she gives up her life for her children. A magnificent change takes place in her role from a wife to a mother. She loves her children selflessly; she needs both mental and physical strength, mental balance, forbearance, will power and above all sacrifice to raise her children. It is very difficult to live a peaceful life during this process but yet she smiles amidst all these. Mother rests only at the sound of the peaceful breath of her child. She smiles at the happiness of her child and cries at the child's sorrow. Every moment her mind thinks of her child and her heart beats for the same. Her eyelids rest only after the child's eyelids are closed. She wakes up waiting for her child to open her eyes. Her child's first steps are hers and the moment her child speaks, her matured language unknowingly twists into a child's language. Her heart is filled at the fullness of the child's stomach. Mother is a giver of life when a situation arises. She has perennial love as that of an ocean. The moment she thinks of her far away child, tears roll down her cheeks from the pangs of separation. Though she has many children in her presence, she doesn't stop worrying about the child who is far away from her. Though they are all fruits, every fruit has its own taste and characteristic features. Mother feels the same regarding all her children. Every child is special to her. The love a mother has for her child is very different than the love child has for its mother. The former is very intense, selfless and forgiving than the latter. A child can understand the depth of a mother's love only when she becomes a mother. Only then will she know the bareness of life due to separation which hurts all her life. We take our mother for granted because she is always there for us granting all our wishes. We do not realize her value when we stay together under the same roof but once when we are away from her and start to taste the sweetness of being a mother, it is then we repent for the little mistakes we made and the little sorrow we brought into her happy heart and life. Better late than never. Express your love in a few words at least sometimes in your lives so that you need not have to repent or regret for your past deeds. Speak a few kind and loving words and her heart bubbles with joy and you will feel it in her eyes. Her word of happiness is a blessing. Her blessing is a lifelong boon to us. Let her happiness crown our lives. Let her take pride in the fulfillment of her expectations towards us. Above all, let's thank the Lord for letting us taste the true love in our lives and in turn pray to Him that a mother may never fail to receive unbounded love all her life.

Happy Mothers Day to all the Mothers in the World. "Many faults can be seen in any role of a woman but never in the role of a Mother. - Sharmila Sanka
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