Gurupurnima celebration at St Louis Hindu Temple
ST. LOUIS: The fourteenth anniversary of St Louis Hindu Temple was celebrated with great enthusiasm and big participation by devotees across St. Louis on July 6.
The temple management also celebrated Guru Poornima with gusto on July 14 with the performance of Samuhika Satyanarayana pooja by devotees.
The Hindu temple of St. Louis was formally registered as a not for profit organization in the state of Missouri on March 7, 1988.
Bhoomi Pooja (ground breaking ceremony) was performed on April 21, 1990. The architectural plans were drawn by the V Ganapati Shastri and Associates of Chennai, India. After the completion of Phase I, the formal inauguration of the Temple was done on Nov 8, 1991. Initially there were only pictures of the deities in the temple. Later Samprokshana (initiation) of Charabimbas (Utsava Vigrahs) made of Panchaloha was celebrated on Jan 21, 1995.
The construction of Phase II was started on July 12, 1995. Eleven shilpis (artisans) came from India on Jan 21, 1997 and worked hard to complete the project. The Pran Pratishtapana and Kumbahabhishekam celebrations were done on July 6, 1998. The phase III construction including Rajagouram was immediately started. Finally Navgrah Pranpratishtapna and Rajagpuram Abhishekam took place on July 8, 2000.
Shanti homam was performed on June 11, 2011 in the Hindu temple of St. Louis yagashala. Homam was conducted to bring blessings to all the temple employees, volunteers, devotees and to everyone who is connected to the temple.
Ashwin Patel
