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Scenic Beauties | Nature and beauty always go hand in glove. Its been my passion to capture every itsy bitsy blanket of nature spread across the land and water. This album contains those attempts of mine to capture nature in its natural form - how much ever hard I try its just going to be a simple picture, you need to be there to experience the serenity of mother nature. Enjoy these pictures and use them at will for adorning your desktop as a wallpaper. You can also order prints from this website of those pictures that you like. Feel free and leave your comments. |
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Welcome to the world - Raghav (Feb 25th 2006)| Raghav, second kid of Sunil and Archana and also the little brother of Kesini came into this world in Dec 2005. When we visited Long Beach during Feb 2006 for Kesini's 4th birthday I got a chance to shoot some amazing closeups of Raghav. Welcome to the world Raghav! |
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Princess Kesini's 4th Birthday (Feb 25th 2006)| Yippeeee! Its that time of the year again - Kesini's birthday. She turned 4 this year and this time it was all about Princess. The party was celebrated in Kesini's palace (in the backyard). All the little ones were dressed in their Princess attires. Sunil and Archana were dressed as the King and the Queen. The rain God was kind to us but the Sun God was very harsh on us that day. Anyway, wishing Kesini a very very happy Princess birthday and hope you all enjoy this album. It has about 130 pictures, so reserve some patience before you start :) |
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Independence Day Fireworks (July 4, 2005)| Watching the fireworks this July 4th was an hilarious attempt. On July 3rd we all thought we will go to San Francisco the next day to watch the fireworks. But then we have already been to the fireworks in San Francisco twice and usually the traffic will be shy of a stampede with people trying to get their cars out of the parking lots. So we thought we go to the Great America Parkway for the fireworks. Unfortunately the 101 traffice near Great America Pkwy was overloaded so much that they had to close the Great America Pkwy and Lawrence Expwy exits on both sides of 101. So with all the circus of going N and S on 101 we were only able to catch a few glimpses of the fireworks. The next day we found out that our own town, Livermore was hosting an Independence day celebrations and fireworks was included. It was scheduled to be held in a nearby park that was about 1 1/2 miles from our home and we enjoyed it with far fewer people than in San Francisco. Here are the pictures that I tried my best to capture before they vanished into air. Hope you all had a wonderful July 4th weekend holiday. |
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Pramod and Anu's Reception (April 16, 2005)| Pramod and Anu (Reema) got married in India recently and since many of his friends were not able to attend the joyous occasion, a reception party was held on at the Timoshenko Lounge in Stanford University. Priya and myself took care of the deocrations and arrangements in the hall with help from Sandhya. Pavan took care of the music for the night and his collection of songs was awesome. Somik took care of the food. He arranged the table for easy access to the food and drinks. All in all we all pulled off a wonderful event and also wished Pramod and Anu a very happy married life. This album is a multimedia album with videos and pictures. Check them out and enjoy. Click on the picture/Video to see it bigger and then you can navigate along the album. May God bless the couple. |
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Ugadi Wishes 2005 (April 9th, 2005)Happy UGADI everyone - Wish you all a very happy new year and a wonderful & prosperous one too. In the morning we headed out to the temple and after the puja in the evening headed to Anu-Ranga's place for a small potluck dinner. We were glad to have Harsha over for the dinner.
God bless you all, |
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Reno and Gerlach Visit (April 2nd, 3rd, 2005)| Welcome to the land of Nowhere - Gerlach and Empire - about 100 miles from Reno. My aunt will be the new Primary care Physician at Gerlach. Here are a few pictures of our visit to check out the place. We drove from San Jose to meet my aunt @ Reno. Then we visited North Lak Tahoe and then the next day drove to Gerlach. |
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Kesini's Visit to San Jose (March 18th, 19th, 2005)| Kesini (of course with Archana and Sunil) visited us during the weekend for celebrating my birthday. Here are a few pictures of us with Kesini at Jungle and then a few @ home |
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My 28th Birthday (March 15th and 18th 2005)| As with every time this time too my birthday was on 15th March. I got 2 surprises this time too - One from Priya and another from Archana. Priya surprised me on my birthday and Archana, Sunil and Kesini surprised me the following weekend by coming over from Long Beach and organizing a cake cutting party. Thanks to everybody for the wonderful surprises and with this I can bravely step into 28... |
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Harsha's birthday and Joke Falls (March 5, 2005)| Harsha's birthday as usual was on March 1st and since it was a weekday we all decided to meet during the weekend. Incidentally there was a kannada movie that was recently released - Joke Falls. It seemed to be a very funny movie for the name itself was funny. After having a nice dinner at Anu and Ranga's place we all headed out for the movie. We enjoyed the movie - it was fun. Oh before I forget - Happy Birthday Harsha |
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Weekend getaway with Wiggles & Vegetales (February 19, 20 2005)| Kesini turned 3 this year and this year's theme party was about Wiggles and Vegetales. Archana and Sunil organized the party in their new home in Long Beach and invited their friends and neighbors to wish Kesini a 'Very Happy Birthday.' This time Priya's dad was visiting from India and we all decided to drive to Long Beach over the long weekend. Although the weather was bad, it was fun driving and we enjoyed ourselves to the fullest with Kesini. This album contains still pictures and complete video clips of the birthday party fragmented into various short segments. Enjoy and thanks to Archana and Sunil for inviting us to be a part of the whole fun. |
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Dad's visit to San Jose (Feb 15th - Mar 4th, 2005)| Priya's dad visited us during his short 2 1/2 week business trip to the US. He was scheduled to go to the PITCON conference in Orlando. This time he enjoyed as Priya was there to talk to him and be with him, unlike last time when he came Priya had to go to school in the day and finish her homework by night. This time he also got a chance to meet Shankar, Sudha, Smita and Sadhu on Sadhu's birthday. In Orlando he met his friend Kalyan and they had a jolly good time for about 4 days. Immediately after arriving from Florida he left to Singapore and then on to New Delhi. It was fun! |
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Goda-Kalyanam @ Sunnyvale Temple (January 16, 2005)Srimathe Ramanujaya Namah:
With the divine blessings of HH Sri Sri Sri Tridandi Srimannarayana Ramanuja Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji, JET California and Bhakti Nivedana organized divine kalyana mahotsav of Lakshmi-Narayana/Rukhmini-Krishna/Goda-Ranganatha. Sriman Raghu was the pioneer in organizing the entire event which was successfully completed by Pt. Govind Srinivasacharya Swamiji of Fremont Hindu Temple. About 600 people attended the grand mahotsav and not only witnessed the divine couple getting married but also performed the sacred marriage and the rituals themselves. Sriman Vamsi and family & Sriman Vishnuji and family also contributed in getting the flyers, lights, backdrops, etc., Kumari Sharadaji, disciple of HH, explained the entire puja, mantras and the history behind performing the divine marriage. Without her explanation, we all would have to just blindly follow something that we never would have understood. All in all with the blessings of HH, the entire event was successfully completed.
For details regarding further activities and programs please visit www.jetcalifornia.org
Jai Srimannarayana! |
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Aandal Kalyanam @ Livermore Temple (January 15, 2005)Andal Kalyanam was held in Livermore on January 15th 2004. the divine marriage was performed by Sri Sridhar Bhattar and other priests of the temple. The occasion included all the divine events like exchange of garlands between perumal and Goda, Rakshakavacham, Kalasha/Vishwaksena Puja, Kanya dhana, Mangalya dhaarana/puja and aashervachanam. Lots of people attended the auspicious occasion. May lord bless you all!
Jai Srimannarayana! |
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Happy Sankranti and Pongal (January 14, 2005)| This time we celebrated Pongal and Sankranti in our apartment by having a potluck dinner. We invited about 4 families and a couple of friends. Everyone brought something on the occasion of the festival. Why and what is the siginificance of the festival - Pongal, a tamil word means 'to overflow', is a season of harvest and welcoming the spring season. This day marks the official end of the winter when the Sun is traveling northwards towards the Makara or 'Capricorn' (goat) zodiac. Interestingly this is 'only' festival in India that is celebrated based on the Solar calendar unlike all the others that are celebrated according to the Lunar calendar. The prevailing month before this day is called as the 'Dhanur Maasa' and Vaishnavas worship Andaal (Goda) during this month with the Tiruppavai Seva each day. Pongal is prepared - spicy and sweet. The days start to get longer than nights and this time is called the Uttarayana Punyakala that welcomes all the auspicious occasions like marriages and reaping harvests etc., Wishing you all a very happy Pongal and may lord Srimannarayana bless you all. |
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NYC 2004 (Dec 24th - Jan 1st (04/05))Our usual Christmas holidays started on December 21st and we were to start work again from January 3/4 2005. This time we planned on going to the east coast and head out on a road trip covering major areas like Niagara Falls, DC, NYC & Pennsylvania. Here's a snapshot of our planned itinerary:
Dec 24th - Leave San Jose and reach NYC
Dec 25th - NYC street trip
Dec 26th - Washington DC/Virginia
Dec 27th - Luray Caverns, VA and Saylorsburg, PA
Dec 28th - Pomona Temple, NY and then to Albany continuing to Niagara Falls.
Dec 29th - 'Behind the Falls' self-guided tour and back to Albany.
Dec 30th - Manhattan Cruise and Helicopter ride over Manhattan.
Dec 31st - New Year's Eve - Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and Times Square plus a few other skyscrapers of NY.
Jan 1st - Arrive @ SJC
Happy New Year folks, read and enjoy. Thanks for checking out our album, it was fun sharing our experiences with all of you. Share your comments in the guestbook. |
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Christmas in the park (December 22, 2004)We had been to San Jose downtown to see the Christmas in the Park celebrations. The streets between San Carlos and San Fernando was so wonderfully decorated with Christmas puppets and trees lining the street. Check out the pics and have a wonderful hoildays ahead !
Karthik and Priya |
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Vaikunta Ekaadasi (December 21, 2004)Vaikunta Ekaadasi, the auspicious day on which the doors to Vaikuntam, the divine abode of lord Srimannarayana, are opened. This can be observed by the star formation of the Prabhavali in the northern direction on this day. This day is considered to be very auspicious for Sri Vaishnavas. On this day people fast and wash away all their sins by lord Perumal Venkateshwara's grace. The temple sanctifies the Vaikuntam Dwarams structured inside with perumal and his divine consorts on the Garuda Vahana, and are opened after recitation of divine mantras and prayers. Devotees throng in huge numbers to get an oppurtunity to pass through the door and seek perumal's blessings. It is said that all those devotees who observe severe fasting on this day gain all spiritual benefits as assured by lord perumal himself. Also, perumal welcomes all his devotees into Vaikuntam by opening the doors. All those devotees who seek to get his grace indeed are granted moksham in that birth and are freed from the cycle of rebirth. Livermore temple organized numerous events on this auspicious day with abhishekhams and alankarams to the lord and opening the Dwarams of Vaikuntam. Check out this album and for those who did not get a chance to visit the temple on this day, may perumal grace his divine compassion on you and relieve you from this vicious cycle.
Jai Srimannarayana ! |
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Holiday lights tour of San Francisco (December 19, 2004)We thought we would go to San Francisco and look at the lights during the holiday season. The main places of visit planned were the Ghirardelli Square, Embarcedaro and Pier 39 - fisherman's wharf. All though Ghirardelli Square proved very boring and dull with no Christmas tree this time, the other places were pretty exciting. for one thing the crowd was less and the other the temperature was not so unbearable. Check out some of the pictures we were able to capture. Happy Holidays and enjoy and Happy new year !
P.S: Thanks to the Tripod, we never had to ask anyone to shoot any pic for us nor we had to explain them which button to press to click in the night mode. |
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Thanksgiving Weekend (November 25 - 28, 2004)| This Thanksgiving we all decided to visit the Grand Canyon, one of the natural wonders of the world. On the way back we went to Las Vegas and Death Valley. It was a fun trip of 3 days. Check out the pictures and have a wonderful time. |
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Diwali @ our home (November 12, 2004)On the aupicious day of our a:charya's thirunakshatram was also the festival of lights - Deepavali. The story behind celebrating deepavali is the famous killing of Narakaasura by Lord Sri Krishna. Deepavali is also a wonderful occasion to drive out our inner darkness - ignorance - by lighting 1000s of 1000s of lamps (understanding the teachings of our a:charyas).
On this day after celebrating the thirunakshatram of Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji, we decorated our Puja room with lights and lighted lamps and offered flowers to God. We performed puja and a:rathi. Here are a few snaps of our new puja room in our new apartment.
God bless all and have a wonderful Deepavali.
Jai Srimannarayana ! |
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Sri Jeeyar Swamiji's Thirunakshatram (November 12, 2004)The Crusader of Peace His Holiness Sri Sri Sri Tridandi Srimannarayana Ramanuja Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji was born on Diwali day, the Festival of Lights, on 3rd November 1956 at Arthamur Village near Rajahmundry in the State of Andhra Pradesh, India. Born to pious parents Sri Venkatacharyulu and Srimathi Alivelumanga Thayaru, He had His early education in the Oriental School, Gowthama Vidya Peetam Rajahmundry. It was the call of the Divine that made the young Srimannarayana Ramanujacharyulu to take up the ascetic order of JEEYAR(Lion) at a very young age of 23 years. Today He is reckoned very high among the monks of the India and abroad as the pioneer and Crusader of Peace. [Taken directly from http://www.chinnajeeyar.org]
On November 12th, 2004 Sriman Raghu, Sriman Vamsi and Sriman Shantaramji organized a wonderful Diwali and thirunakshatram celebration of our aacharya at namaste plaza. Here are a few glimpses of it.
Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji offers his mangalashasanams on this auspicious day of Diwali and HH's thirunakshatram through this album. God bless all,
Jai Srimannarayana! |
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Brahmotsavam @ Livermore Temple (October 15 - 17, 2004)The Significance of Vishnu Brahmotsvam - By Pdt Srinivasacharyulu, Livermore Temple, CA
Brahmotsavam is one of the most important functions at any temple. The name Brahmotsavam arises from Brahma the creator. Varaha purana and Brahmanda purana ascribe the names of ‘Brahmaklupthotsavaya’, and ‘Brahmotsava Mahotsukaya’ to the Lord. Bhavishyottara purana describes many Vahana Sevas while Venkatachala Mahatmyam by Tharigonda Venkamamba describes the details of Brahmotsavam. Devotees of Lord Venkateswara have been enjoying Brahmotsavam in Tirumala, ever since its origin all through the years. Available records show that the first Brahmotsavam took place in Aug 966 AD, two months after the consecration of the Bhoga Srinivasa Murthy Perumal deity. Vaikhanasa Maharishis say that performing Brahmotsavam confers not only materialistic and spiritual benefits, but also yagna phala (salvation). The word uthsava itself gives the meaning of a great yajna (Uth means great; Sava means Yajna).
Saint Annamacharya composed a Sankeerthana especially on Brahmotsavam starting from Dwajarohonam to Avarohanam. Emperor Achyuta Raya of Chandragiri enjoyed 12- monthly Brahmotsavams around the year. This led to greater prominence of Brahmotsavam over other functions around the year. This is also one of the reasons for its immense popularity over the years. Following this tradition, the first Brahmotsavam at the Shiva Vishnu Temple at Livermore, California, USA, took place after the consecration of the Dwajasthambas in 1998, followed by six more till date (September 2004). This count excludes the intercalary month (Adhikamasa) Brahmotsavams.
All categories of devotees, for example, Vedaparayana scholars, prabandha reciters, musicians, dancers, garland makers, etc. regardless of caste, creed, sex, and age involve themselves for the success of Brahmotsavam with great devotion and pleasure. Vahana sevas where the young and old, rich and poor lend a hand depict this unity of purpose distinctly. *
Check out the pictures of the 3 days events and may Lord Venkateswara and Sri Lakshmi Thayar and Bhooma Devi bless all of us. |
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Aunty's visit to California (October 9 - 11, 2004)| My aunt visited us for the weekend of October of October 9th 2004. We took her to the Raaga's Sangeetha Sandhya concert with Harsha. Here are a few pictures of the occasion. |
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Sheena's Birthday @ P.F. Chang's (September 25, 2004)| September 14th was Sheena's birthday. Sheena is Priya's friend through Devry. We thought of giving Sheena a birthday party at the choice of her restaurant. And hence it was the China Bistro named P.F. Chang's. It is a celebrity visited restaurant chain series. The food was awesome and we were a party of 4 - Sheena and her husband Sunil, Priya and myself. Happy birthday Sheena and hope you had a wonderful day. Enjoy these pictures. |
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Ganesha Puja and Homa @ our home (September 19, 2004)September 17th was Lord Ganesha's birthday. We celebrate it as Ganesha Chaturthi. Back in India every year we used to keep an idol of Ganesha for Puja and after 3 days leave the idol into the water for 'Visarjan'. This was the first time in the US we planned on keeping Ganesha idol for puja and performing Homa. We invited lots of people and everyone made it to the puja. We prepared modakas for the occasion and enjoyed a wonderful rainy Sunday. Check out the pictures [click on the picture to enlarge and navigate along] and read the descriptions for each picture and add your comments and do sign the guestbook. Thanks to everyone for making it and making us feel good.
May lord Ganesha bless you all,
Priya and Karthik |
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Sri Krishna Janmasthami Puja @ Anu's (September 5, 2004)On Krishna Janmasthami Anu had organized puja at her place. We read the Sahasranamavali and also recited VishnuSahasranamam. The Puja was done by Anu's dad and a sumptuous dinner was prepared by Anu's mom.
May Bala Krishna bless everyone and hope everyone else had a wonderful day. |
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Krishna Janmashtami @ our place (September 5, 2004)| This time during Janmashtami we spent most of our time at the Fremont Temple and @ Anu's place with the sahasranamavali puja. At our place we cleaned the house early in the morning and setup Bala Krishna's picture for puja. We decorated the house with serial lights and performed puja to lord Krishna. |
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India's Independence Celebrations @ SJSU (August 28, 2004)San Jose State University welcomes you all to 'Azaadi' - the 3rd annual ISO function celebrating India's 57th year of Independence. There was splendid performances by various students, sumptuous food and last but not the least lots of masti and hungama !
I tried taking pictures amongst the fast moving people on stage but some are totally fuzzy and dark. Please bear with me and enjoy India's Independence - it is only because of that you are watching this album today and feeling proud.
Jai Hind ! |
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Day out in San Francisco (August 14, 2004)| This time Priya spent her birthday in Chicago and hence I planned out a nice outing in San Francisco with her for the whole day. I thought of going out in a tour bus as I did not like the idea of driving. This way I can get to be with Priya. So I booked a bus for the city tour in the morning and for the bay cruise in the afternoon. It was fun as we got to see so much more of San Francisco than just Golden Gate, Crookedest street and Bay Bridge. Enjoy this album and with this I wish my pretty wife a very happy birthday once again. May God bless her always ! |
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A week trip to Chicago (August 8 - 13, 2004)| Priya had her training from Devry University in Chicago. the training was from 9th to 13th. I could not go with her as she would have been busy all the time and also I could not get off from work for so many days. Basically Priya had the chance of spending her birthday this year in the Windy City. Here are the pictures of her colleagues and how she enjoyed her stay in Chicago. I really missed my wife on her birthday this time, but I'm glad she enjoyed in Chicago, the place that has lots of nostalgic memories of my life during my Masters studies. |
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Petition to the Indian Consulate (July 30, 2004)These photos were taken during the peaceful protest of the devotees of lord Sri Venkateswara in front of the Indian Consulate in San Francisco against the TTD activities in Tirumala. The protest was organized by Sriman Vamsi and Sriman Vishnuji under the guidance of HH. The efforts showed success when the TTD officials agreed to stop the construction process which they had undertaken at the cost of the age old historical monuments present on the Tirumala Hills. An online petition was opened and people were asked to sign the petition and a printout of 1000s of signed petitions by devotees was given to the Indian Consulate. This whole process was done to show to the Indian government, the TTD and the Andhra Pradesh government that people living 10000 miles away also still care about the history and the spiritual value of Tirumala Hills and lord Venkateswara.
Let us all show to lord Venkateswara that we care about him and we all love him so much. Can't we do as little as to protest against these TTD activities, for perumal who always comes to our rescue when all we have to do is call him?
Jai Srimannarayana! |
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Amber India Restaurant (July 17, 2004)| We had been to Amber India Restaurant for dinner. It was Ramesh's idea to goto Ambere and I'm glad we did. The food was awesome and the place also looked pretty expensive. Thanks to Ramesh and Venkat for bringing us in here for dinner. Actually Ramesh is leaving early August and Venkat late August, hence it was more of a send-off dinner party. Only thing was that the sender was giving the party :) |
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Thiruvadi Puram Festival (July 21, 2004)Aadi Pooram - Celebration of Andal - Andal was the name given to the daughter of Periazhwar, Kothai, by her divine consort Lord Ranganatha. She got this name because she conquered him by her sheer love and devotion. Aadi Pooram is celebrated on August 2 at all Vaishnavite shrines to mark the birth of this ardent devotee who hailed Lord Krishna in her Pasurams (verses) and ultimately merged with him. Vishnu Chitha (later called Periazhwar), an ardent devotee of Lord Ranganatha of Srivilliputhur, was childless and found his joy in prayers and service to god. On Aadi Pooram day (Pooram is one of the 27 nakshatrams or stars), when he was plucking flowers for his daily puja in his garden, he found a girl child. It was a veritable answer to his prayers. He named the child Kothai and the child grew up in an environment of devotion and austerity. The child soon grew up to be a maiden and her thoughts ever revolved around the Lord.
Vishnu Chitha used to make a garland of Thulasi leaves everyday to offer to the Lord at the temple. Kothai used to try it on. One day her father saw her wearing this garland. Enraged at what he considered a sacrilege, he scolded her. But, next time, when he offered a fresh garland, it kept falling away from the Lord's neck. The Lord then conveyed to Periazhwar that he would only wear the garland worn by Kothai as she was none other than Mahalakshmi herself. Andal, known as Choodi Kodutha Sudarkodi, is considered an avatar of Bhooma Devi, who is one of the consorts of Lord Mahavishnu, the other one being Sri Devi. Andal wrote many verses in praise of Lord Krishna or Ranganatha, the deity at Srivilliputhur.
Among them the Thiruppavai is very popular with its 30 verses. It is a strong belief that young girls who recite these verses early in the mornings in the month of Margazhi (December - January), observing the 'nonbu' or 'vrat' will be blessed with a good husband. This practice is still in vogue. Andal also wrote the Nachiyar Thirumozhi in 143 verses. She attained the status of an Azhwar because of her total devotion to the Lord. Aadi Pooram is celebrated for 10 days in Vaishnavite temples. The festival is popular in Srivilliputhur, the birthplace of Andal, Sri Parthasarathyswamy temple at Chennai and at the Ranganathaswamy temple at Srirangam. At the Parthasarathy temple in Triplicane, it is celebrated for 10 days with the daily recitation of the Thiruppavai and verses from the Nalayira Divya Prabhandam written by the Azhwars. The 10th day is celebrated on Aadi Pooram day.
For the first nine days there is recitation of Thiruppavai and Pallandu in the mornings. The idol of Sri Andal is taken around the four small Mada Veedhis of the temple with all temple honours in the evening. After the procession there is exchange of garlands between her and Lord Parthasarathy, who is none other than Lord Krishna. This is followed by Unjal Sevai at the Maha Mantapam in front of the sanctum-sanctorum. Usual rituals like recitation of verses from the Prabhandams and offerings will follow. On the day of Pooram, the Lord along with His consorts is taken to the Mantapam opposite to the Andal sannadhi and there will a Thirumanjanam or Abhishekam to all the deities here. In the evening there is a procession of Lord Parthasarathy and Sri Andal along the four big Mada Veedhis (a longer route). After the procession there is recitation of the remaining verses of the Prabhandams and Peria Thrumozhi rendered by Thirumangai Azhwar in front of the deities who will be seated in the Maha Mantapam.
After the regular puja (Thiru Aaradhanam) Theertham (holy water) is distributed to every one. This marks the end of the 10-day festival. She will stay near the lord at the sanctum sanctorum for a month after this.
[Taken from http://www.chennaionline.com/festivalsnreligion/Festivals/adipooram.asp] |
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Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji's CA visit (July 1st - July 7th 2004)HH Sri Sri Sri Tridandi Srimannarayana Ramanuja Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji arrived @ San Francisco on June 29th 2004. Swamiji is currently staying with Sri Vishnuji at his residence and everyday in the morning at Sri Vishnuji's residence Swamiji gives the Theertha Ghosti to all the devotees. Sri Vamsi and Sri Raghu have organized a packed week schedule while Swamiji is in the Bay Area. More information on the activities can be got from http://www.jetcalifornia.org
Enjoy the album and may lord Srimannarayana bless one and all
Jai Sriman Narayana |
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Our Second Wedding Anniversary (July 1st, 2004)This time our second anniversary went off a little more silently than last time. Last time we planned on going to Hawaii during my birthday time. This time we celebrated at home. We bought cake and food from Yan Can (my favorite place to eat). We enjoyed with only each other's company. Just put up a couple of pictures to share with you all. Enjoy!
Priya |
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Jain Center @ Milpitas (June 24, 2004)Yesterday we got an opportunity to visit the Jain Bhavan @ Miplitas, CA. Swami Viditatmananda Saraswatiji gave an interesting talk about "Gaining Immortality through Self-Knowledge." The talk was very interesting and the talk is for 3 days - Today (06/24), Tomorrow (06/25) and Saturday (06/26). After the talk we thought we would go to the temple on the second floor. The whole atmosphere was so serene and it was an amazing experience inside. We prayed to all the Theerthankars inside and I got to take some snaps. If you are in the Bayarea then you should visit the Jain temple.
The Jain Prayer is as follows:
Namo Arihantänam
Namo Siddhänam
Namo Äyariyänam
Namo Uvajjhäyänam
Namo Loe Savva Sähunam
Eso Panch Namukkäro
Savva Päva Panäsano
Mangalänam cha Savvesim
Padhamam Havai Mangalam
Listen to this melodious prayer @ http://www.jcnc.org |
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Get-together @ Manish's Place (June 16, 2004)| Manish and Garima invited us for a get-together at their place. It had been a while since we had visited them since the time they moved into the new apartment. It was a warm gesture from them to have invited us for dinner. Thanks to both of them. By the way Manish and Garima live @ the Waterford, a fantastic place midway to San Jose Downtown on First Street. Even though I dislike the First Street and its traffic, I liked their apartment. The apartment looked spacious with the walls adorning the couple's pictures. All in all we had a wonderful 'weekend' get-together on a busy 'weekday'. |
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Priya's Trip to India (June 2, 2004 - June 12, 2004)| It was a bright sunny morning of May and I was getting ready to go to work and Priya was applying for jobs. It was then we realized that it will be not long before that she will start to work and she cannot visit India for quite some time. Anyways our plan was canceled for my cousin, Rachana's marriage as I could not take off from work and Priya had her Computer classes going on. So we thought why not Priya make a travel after her computer classes were over so that she can get to visit her dad and sister. It had already been 2 years since Priya had met her sister. Hence it was planned that Priya would travel as soon as her exams at Mission College were over, which was May 27th. The earliest travel date possible was June 1st. I wanted her to return by July 1st as it was our second anniversary. Hence she was all set to return on Jun 28th. She was all excited that she would enjoy her stay in Delhi and Bangalore for about 3 1/2 weeks, but a bigger excitement forced her to come back even earlier than 3 1/2 weeks - a job offer |
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Yet another surprise party for me... (March 19, 2004)Surprise, Surprise and Surprise ! I should say that the month of March should be a month of surprises. Just a week later after Ramesh, Venkat and Harsha surprised me on my birthday, Priya and Anu planned out another surprise for me. This time they all managed to pull off the surprise successfully. The only person missing in today's party was Venkat and we all sure missed him. Thanks guys for the wonderful surprise. I was so totally taken off guard about the whole thing.
VENKAT - see what you have missed ! |
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My own birthday surprise (March 15, 2004)| By now you all must have seen Harsha's surprise birthday party album (March 1, 2004). Exactly 15 days later I was born. This time Ramesh, Venkat and Harsha planned to surprise me by coming over to my place at 12 am with a birthday cake. I will explain how the whole surprise thing turned out to be inside the album. But I should really thank them for the pleasant and wonderful thought. I was really thrilled and it made me feel good. Who knew what more surprises were on the way that day... We did not have a chance to take much pictures and hence there are more video clips than pictures. After all videos can explain some things better than pictures. Enjoy fellas. |
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Holika Dahan (March 6, 2004)Today was Holika Dahan @ Fremont temple. Holi was just another 3 days away. So many years I have had fun and frolic on the day of Holi but not once have I ever looked back and asked myself - why do we celebrate Holi? One good thing about Indian festivals (forget about the fact that there are so many...) is that they all have some essense and meaning in them. People dont celebrate any festival just for the sake of it. A country like ours which has 'n' number of languages and 'm' number of dialects, each state and each community follow a festival for various reasons. This time I asked myself - "What is the significance of Holi?" I had no answer. I asked a few of my friends and to my surprise they did not know it either. Thats when I thought of putting up some information on Holi. Enjoy this informational album about why Holi is celebrated in India. Feel free to add in your comments.
H A P P Y H O L I F O L K S ! - Karthik [Devotee, Volunteer - Fremont Hindu Temple] |
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Surprise Party for Harsha's Birthday (February 29 - March 1, 2004)March and February are months packed with birthdays. March 1st is Harsha's birthday. So far I had only wished him on his birthdays by word of mouth, but this time I felt like doing something more than that. I wanted to surprise him with a party. I should definitely thank his roommates and other friends to have made it to the party and still maintain it a surprise all along. Inside the album I will tell you all how the whole surprise turned out successful. Enjoy.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARSHA FROM ALL OF US! - From: "Aamir, Ankur, Saurabh, Ramesh, Venkat, Raju, Ashok, Chitra, Priya and myself" |
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Radhika's 4th birthday party with Dora (February 29, 2004)| Happy Birthday Radhika! This time we had fun with Dora, The Explorer at Radhika's 4th birthday. Anu had planned a party inviting the neighboring kids. There was Dora cake, Dora games, Dora caps, Dora prizes and Dora, Dora, Dora everywhere... Both Priya and myself also helped Anu in setting up the party decorations. I tried my hand at magic too this time. This album has both high-res pictures and streaming quality videos. The videos include the games the kids played, Magic show, cake cutting and presents-opening ceremony by Radhika. Check out the album and enjoy. Wishing Radhika once again a happy 4th year birthday and thanks to Dora for making the party a big success. |
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Kesini turns 2 (February 21, 2004)| It all started off when Archana told us about Kesini's birthday party on February 21. We were'nt sure if we could make it. Then we received the invitation about two weeks prior to the party and after we read the invitation we almost made it sure that we would go to the party at whatever cost. The invitation was cutely written, we felt that Kesini herself was asking us to come and attend her birthday party. We wanted to surprise Archana and Sunil but unfortunately for some unknown reason we had to tell them that we were coming and that was when all the excitement began on both sides. The plan was that Priya would finish her classes at 12:30pm and we would leave for LongBeach in the 1:50pm flight. We would reach LongBeach at 3:10pm which would make us be in time for the 4pm party. The party was a grand success and we have to admire and appreciate Archana's creativity in pulling off this party to a grand successful one. |
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Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park (February 14, 2004)It was a usual Sunday evening and we (Anu, Ranga and family, Priya, myself and Ramesh) had just returned from Livermore temple and were talking what we would do the next week. The following week was indeed Valentine's day and a long weekend for some of us for the President's day. We all thought why not visit the Giant Sequoias and the Kings Canyon NP (SEKI). Priya had not seen snow at all and I had not seen it too for a while now. It was decided that we would go to SEKI and make it a day's trip. We would return the following evening.
The group was to leave in 2 cars - Anu, Ranga, Radhika and Anu's mom in their car & Priya, Ramesh, Venkat (Ramesh's friend and colleague) and myself in my car. The Itinerary was all set and the plans were drawn. We would leave San Jose at 5:30 am and leave SEKI by 6 pm.
On the whole the trip was a memorable one. For some it was the best Valentine they had. The pictures we took were amazing and here they are. Enjoy and looking forward to more such trips and merriment. |
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Livermore Temple with Anu and Ranga (February 8, 2004)| Today was Radhika's birthday according to her Nakshathra. Wish you a very happy birthday, Radhika. According to the calender it is on Feb 20. Indeed it was a nice oppurtunity to go to the temple. Ramesh joined us and here are the photos we took. We left at around 1:15 pm and reached the temple at around 2:15 pm. we stayed till 5 pm and then we left for home straight to Anu and Ranga's house. There we had the delicious cucumber salad and wonderful dinner. Thanks to both Anu and Ranga for the wonderful food. We enjoyed the Sunday wonderfully. |
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Ramesh buys a car - Finally! (January 23, 2004)| After a prolonged research and contemplations Ramesh finally buys his car on January 23. The car is a 1991 Honda Civic. He is driving pretty well and he is glowing with confidence. You can see him in the pictures - the style, the vigor and the enthusiasm. I wish him good luck with his car and also to be careful on the road. Drive safely ! |
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Shankar and Sudha's Visit to our home (January 17, 2004)| Shankar and Sudha are Priya's relatives. Sudha is Priya's cousin and she calls her as Sudha Akka. Their 2 kids - Smitha and Sadhana are very cute. Smitha is a 7th grader and Sadhana makes everyone at home do 7th grade :) The whole family is very loving and a warm. We had them over for dinner on Saturday (Jan 17, 2004) night and enjoyed the evening. Even our friend, Harsha joined for dinner. Let me take this occasion to wish everyone a Happy Pongal and Happy Sankranthi 2004. Please feel free to add your comments to the guestbook. |
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2004 New Year's Eve (December 31, 2003)| 2004 New Year's Eve was fun the whole day. In the morning/afternoon my wife, Priya and myself had been to Stanford University, in the afternoon/evening Ramesh, Harsha, Priya and myself had been to Sausalito downtown. In the night all of us, Chitra and Ashok went out for dinner @ a Chinese restaurant. Wishing you all a wonderous and a happy new year ! |
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Surprise party for Anu (December 13, 2003)| Congratulations and celebrations ! Anu had secured a job at Accenture and it was already a week she had started working. We had a small get together to celebrate the wonderful occasion and Priya had made delicious food. The dinner party consisted of anu's family (Anu, Ranga, Radhika and Anu's mom), Ramesh, Harsha, Babitha (Anu's friend Girish's wife). This party also was a surprise party for Anu. We also took this oppurtunity to welcome all to our new apartment @ Mansion Grove. |
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Surprise Graduation Party for Priya (October 25, 2003)| Anu wanted to surprise Priya with a graduation party to congragulate her on her recent success. The party was planned in discussion with only me and no one else knew anything about the party. It was fun sneaking right under Priya's eyes to Anu's house to decorate for the party. The alibi I used was that I had to go to Ranga's to get my car fixed. Well I dont think that alibi is going to work anymore. On the whole the party was fun with full of surprises for Priya. We thank Anu for all her hard work in planning the party and it was so sweet of her to have thought of having a surprise party for Priya's Graduation. The party was @ Anu's place. We had invited Harsha, chitra and Ashok also to the party. |
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Get-together @ Harish's (October 19, 2003)| Harish (my colleague at Lattice) and his wife, Pratibha invited us and Manish (another colleague) and Garima for dinner. It was a nice time we had at their place. The menu card included delicious south Indian items like Idli and Chutney. |
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Ravan Dahan (October 19, 2003)Ravan Dahan - Burning of Ravan Effigy. We had organized a pravachan from a renowned speaker to talk on Sri Rama and Ravan dahan. He went to explain why Ravan Dahan is common during Diwali time. Check out this album to see how Ravan burns to ashes.
HAPPY DIWALI TO ALL AND MAY GOD BLESS YOU ALL. |
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Diwali 2003 (October 17-19, 2003)Oct 17: This Diwali we had a small get together as usual at our place in Fremont. We had invited Anu, Ranga and family, Raju and Harsha for the party. We had fun talking.
Oct 18: We went to Fremont temple. They had organized a small function for Ravan Dahan. Check out the album "Ravan Dahan." Also there was a pravachan from a renowned person. We had our lunch and headed back home by afternoon.
Oct 19: The next day we went out with Jaya (Priya's Sister in law) to Sunnyvale temple where they had a Diwali Mela organized. It was a fun weekend. After the Mela we had to go to a party at our friend's place. |
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Anu & Ranga's Gruhapravesham (September 28, 2003)Yes, as you must have all guessed, thats the new house that Anu and Ranga bought recently. Housewarming, also called as "Gruhapravesham" in our langauge (Indian), means that you are entering a new house and that you would want to be blessed with all the good wishes and the warm greetings of your family and friends.
Gruha = House and Pravesham = entering.
One always wonders whether its a good deal to rent or buy a home. In Anu and Ranga's case it was a long dream to own a home and stop moving around different apartments trying to find a good deal on the rent everytime the lease expires. Finally the day dawned, the home hunting began with seeing numerous houses and finally striking a deal for one of them, getting the keys (which by the way was the bigger & adventurous venture) and planning the gruhapravesham. It indeed is a moment to feel proud of. The house is located in Fremont @ Mowry and Crosspoint intersection.
The gruhapravesham was planned out to be on Sunday September 28th, 2003 @ 6:00 am. That was the most auspicious time of the day for the puja. The priest was from Fremont Hindu temple and he performed the puja very nicely and very satisfactorily to the happiness of all the members in the house.
May god bless you all with happiness and proseprity. |
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Dad leaves for India (July 7, 2003)| After staying with us for abut a month and 1/2 Priya's dad is all set to leave to India. These pictures were taken on the morning of his leaving. |
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Our Anniversary 2003 (July 1, 2003)| This was our first anniversary and we were glad that dad was there to sped it with us. Priya was so excited to spend it with her dad and we had a small get together at our place the following weekend - July 3, 2003. I cannot call it a Anniversary party but it was a nice get-together. We had invited Anu, Ranga and family to our apartment in Fremont and just had fun talking and enjoying and eating. |
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Half Moon Bay with dad (June 21, 2003)| Highway 92 East from 880 led us to Half moon bay. Why is this called as 1/2 moon bay? Because the continous erosion of the coastal area due to the tides of the pacific ocean, the coast when viewed areally would resemble that of a half cresent moon and hence the name. I'm not sure if the shape is still maitained as 1/2 moon but the name is sure got onto. Priya, Priya's dad, Harsha and myself visited this serene and calm beach |
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Priya's first birthday in the US (August 10, 2002)Priya celebrates her first birthday in the US. Her birthday was just a month away after we got married and came to the US on July 12, 2002. It was fun celebrating her birthday the first time together @ San Francisco. At the same time it was the worst debacle I had -
[1] I tripped over a wooden fence and twisted my knee and could not walk comforably (not again !).
[2] I bought a new camera and it turned out to be the worst camera. It started eating the film half way through. You can see the quality of the pictures is so horrible that I'm feeling so bad right now.
[3] I had booked a cruise that would take us around the coast of San Francisco Bay Area. The traffic to San Francisco on Highway 101 was so bad that it took us 2 1/2 hours from San Jose (it's just about 35 miles) to reach Pier 39 and we were of course late for the cruise.
Are these not enough? Well, I just wish I could just rewind and make things better, but Priya was happy that atleast she could spend the day with me and did not regret the day at all. Thanks to her for being so considerate. We ended up spending the evening at the foot of the Oakland-Bay bridge in San Francisco. |
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Karthik Weds Priya (July 1, 2002)| July 1st 2002 was the auspicious day I got married to Priya. I arrived in Bangalore on June 28th early morning and I had to do my shopping in less than 2 days. It was fun, but hectic, very hectic. Thanks to all of them for making it to the wedding and blessing us. Enjoy some of the photos i have uploaded. |
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