Holy Pilgrimage - Hindu temples in USA

Vedic Cultural and Spiritual Center

Shiva Vishnu Temple of San Diego, CA

7930 Arjons Drive, Ste. B, San Diego, CA, 92126
Phone: (858)-549-3940
Email: information@vcscsd.org

Shiva Vishnu Temple of San Diego was established in the year 2000 to serve the devotional cultural and spiritual needs of the San Diego community in accordance with distinctly Vedic traditions. Temple holds these values as it’s guiding star. Devotion to God and commitment to righteousness (Dharma) Respect for the priest and fellow devotees Positive impact on the community and Society. One of the main focus of the temple is to foster Hindu values among the children and youths living in this country and create an awareness among them of India’s eternal and priceless spiritual heritage and richness of our cultural traditions. To achieve this, the Temple programs are specially designed with Children Participation foremost in mind.

Our Mission

Devotion to God and Commitment to righteousness (dharma) Respect for priests and fellow devotees Positive impact on community and society

Our Vision

The primary focus of our temple is to guide our children in bridging the spiritual and cultural gap and in perpetuating Vedic Dharma

Organization & Values

Temple Features

The temple architecture adheres to the Indian traditional concept of Garbagraha, where the three presiding Deities- Ganesha, Venkateswara, and Shiva are housed. The Pradakshina passage around the structure allows devotees to have the traditional Parikrama around the Deities. A separate structure in the traditional Indian style houses the Navagrahas, which also provide facilities for the devotees for Parikrama around Navagraha Deities. Every aspect of the Temple architecture, feature, and practice is specially designed with due reverence to the Vedic traditions. A unique feature of the temple is that the whole construction work of the structures in the Indian style with pillars, wall statues and vimanam was done single handed by a dedicated volunteer at Zero labor cost. This is a remarkable and outstanding example of what a community is capable of achieving through dedication and volunteerism.

Vigrahas

The original installations of the Vigrahas of Ganesha, Balaji, and Shiva performed in the year 2001 were designed and made in Panchaloha by the world renowned temple Architect Padmasri Ganapathy Sthapathy of Kancheepuram. These Panchaloha Vigrahas were envisaged as temporary installations pending the construction of a more spacious and magnificent temple of our dreams in this city. Although, the New temple Project is pursued with vigor, it is still years away from taking the final shape. Therefore it was decided in the year 2003, with sanction from religious authorities of the temple, to install Moola Vigrahas for the three Murthies. With the help of devotees of San Diego , this task was completed in 2007. Sri Ganesha Moola Vigraha was installed in June 2004. Maha Shiva Linga Sthapana ( Sri Kalahasteswara) in the month of July 2005. Nandi sthapana celebrations were conducted in the month of November 2006. Finally, in the month of June 2007, Sri Venkateswara prathisthapana was celebrated for five days . We have also purchased land for the permanent location of the temple within one year of the arrival of Sri Balaji . A campaign is underway to bring in funds to build this temple on the newly purchased land. Please contact any of the executive board members or directors for more details.

Organizational Setup

Shiva Vishnu Temple of San Diego was incorporated as a religious Non-profit organization on August 25 2000 under the laws of California state. The IRS letter determining Shiva Vishnu Temple as a tax-exempt Non-profit organization covered by section 501 ( C ) ( 3 ) of the IRS code was issued on December 2, 2000. The IRS letter also provided that donations made by donors to Shiva Vishnu Temple is tax deductible under section 170 of IRS code. California State Franchise Tax Board also issued similar determination on December 21, 2000. The City permit for the operation of the Temple and Worship services under the Zonal laws and regulations were issued on May 11, 2001.

Transparency & Accountability

Shiva Vishnu Temple gives great importance for keeping its books and transactions totally open to the donors, devotees and the general public and have committed to go far beyond the statutory requirements in matters of disclosure and accountability. From Year One, the accounts of the Temple are duly audited by an independent external auditor although it is not a legal requirement for a small organization of our size.

Key Milestones

Landmark Events Date Date of incorporation as California Non Profit Corporation August 25, 2000 Commencement of Bhajan/Satsang activities December 1, 2000

Inauguration & Sri Ganapathy Sthapana (Utsava Vigraha) April 29, 2001

Balaji Sthapana (Panchaloha) July 18, 2001

Shiva Sthapana (Panchaloha) December 2, 2001 Nava Graha Sthapana April 28, 2002

Ganapathi Sthapana (Moola Vigraha) April 27, 2004

Maha Shiva Linga Sthapana (Moola Vigraha) July 14-17, 2005 Sri Nandi Sthapana Nov 30 - Dec 3, 2006

Sri Venkateshwara Prathisthapana Mahothsavam (Moola Vigraha) June 6-10, 2007

Deities:

Sri Ganesha, Sri Venkateswara and Sri Shiva

Our Priests:

Pandit Muralidharan Sampath, Pandit Kashavajjala Chandrasekhara Sharma and Pandit Viswanathan Sivacharya

Regular Poojas:

Every Monday

10:00AM	Venkateshwara Suprabhatham, Nithya Pooja, Thiruvaradhana Archana and Aarathi
5:30PM	Nithya Pooja, Archana and Aarathi
6:45PM	Shri Rudram
8:00PM	Pooja and Ekanta Seva (Sayana Seva)

Every Tuesday

10:00AM	Venkateshwara Suprabhatham, Nithya Pooja, Thiruvaradhana Archana and Aarathi
5:30PM	Nithya Pooja, Archana and Aarathi
6:45PM	Hanuman and Sri Rama Pooja
7:15PM	Pooja and Ekanta Seva

Every Wednesday

10:00AM	Venkateshwara Suprabhatham, Nithya Pooja, Thiruvaradhana Archana and Aarathi
5:30PM	Nithya Pooja, Archana and Aarathi
6:45PM	Mukundamaala
7:15PM	Pooja and Ekanta Seva

Every Thursday

10:00AM	Venkateshwara Suprabhatham, Nithya Pooja, Thiruvaradhana Archana and Aarathi
5:30PM	Nithya Pooja, Archana and Aarathi
6:45PM	Vishnu Sahasranama Prayanam
7:15PM	Pooja and Ekanta Seva

Every Friday

10:00AM	Venkateshwara Suprabhatham, Nithya Pooja, Thiruvaradhana Archana and Aarathi
5:30PM	Nithya Pooja, Archana and Aarathi
6:30 to 7:15	Divya Prabhandham Classes
6:45PM	Lalitha Sahasranamam
7:15PM	Pooja and Ekanta Seva

Every Saturday

9AM	Venkateshwara Suprabhatham
10:30AM	Navagraha Puja And Venkateshwara Abhishekam
12:30PM	Aarathi and Prasad
4 to 5PM	Bhajans and Devaranama Classes, Children Sanskrit Classes and Shlokas and Prayer for Children
5 to 6PM	Veda Classes
6 to 7PM	Adult Sanskrit Classes
7:15PM	Pooja and Ekanta Seva

Every First Sunday

10:30AM	Ganesha Abhishekam
12:30PM	Aarathi and Prasad
4 to 5PM	Bhajans and Devaranama Classes, Children Sanskrit Classes and Shlokas and Prayer for Children
5 to 6PM	Veda Classes
6 to 7PM	Adult Sanskrit Classes
7:15PM	Pooja and Ekanta Seva

Every Third Sunday

10:30AM	Shiva Abhishekam
12:30PM	Aarathi and Prasad
7:15PM	Pooja and Ekanta Seva

Hours of Operation :

On special occassions like New Year Day, festivals like Vijaya Dasami, temple will be open between 8:30am - 8:00pm, Please call to confirm

Day Morning Evening

Monday 09:30 AM - 12:30 PM 05:30 PM - 08:00 PM

Tuesday 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM 05:30 PM - 08:00 PM

Wednesday 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM 05:30 PM - 08:00 PM

Thursday 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM 05:30 PM - 08:00 PM

Friday 09:30 AM - 12:30 PM 05:30 PM - 08:00 PM

Saturday 09:00 AM - 08:00 PM

Sunday 09:00 AM - 08:00 PM

Pooja Details

Type of Pooja	Deity	Cost
Archana	Any single Deity archana	$15
Abhishekam on Scheduled Day	Ganesha Abhishekam	$51
	Shiva Abhishekam	$51
	Venkateshwara Abhishekam	$51
One abhishekam per month	Dollar a day program – Ganesha	$365
One abhishekam per month	Dollar a day program – Shiva	$365
One abhishekam per month	Dollar a day program – Venkateshwara	$365
Pillar Program: 24 selected abhishekams per year (as per devotee’s preference) along with two $116 worth sponsorships. Names will be engrained in temple as Pillars of the Temple	$2000 / year for 5 years	$2000 / year for 5 years
Every Saturday for a year	Weekly Venkateshwara Abhishekam	$1116
Abhishekam on Non-Scheduled Day	Ganesha Abhishekam	$81
	Shiva Abhishekam	$81
	Venkateshwara Abhishekam	$81
Non Scheduled Day	Sri Sathyanarayana Pooja	$81
Scheduled Day	Sri Sathyanarayana Pooja (on Poornima)	$51
Tomala Seva	Venkateshwara	$116
Homam/Havan	Any Occasion	$81
Pushpam (Flower Sponsorship)	Any Deity	$51
Non Scheduled Day	Kalyana Uthsavam	$81
Scheduled Day	Kalyana Uthsavam	$51

Services at temple:
Services	Cost
Children Related Services
Annaprashanam (1st feeding)	$61
Chowlam (symbolic first hair cut)	$61
Namakaranam (naming)	$61
Vidhyarambha (first teaching)	$61
Upanayanam (Brahmopadesam)	$121

Adult related Services
Wedding (within San Diego County)	$251
Seemantham	$121
Shastyaptha Poorthi (60th birthday)	$121

Others
Vahana Pooja (new car)	$51
Shradham (Sankalpam)	$31
Shradham (with homa)	$81

Various Poojas within devotees' Home
Various Poojas	Cost
	Members	Non-Members+
Pooja Services
Sri Sathyanarayana Pooja	$121	$151
Any Deity Poojas	$121	$151
Homam/Havan	$121	$151

Children Related Services
Annaprashanam (1st feeding)	$101	$121
Chowlam (symbolic first hair cut)	$101	$121
Namakaranam (naming)	$101	$121
Vidhyarambha (first teaching)	$101	$121
Upanayanam (Brahmopadesam)	$201	$251

Adult related Services
Wedding (within San Diego County)	$301	$351
Seemantham	$121	$151
Shastyaptha Poorthi (60th birthday)	$171	$201

Others
Vahana Pooja (new car)	$71	$101
Shradham (Sankalpam)	$81	$101
Shradham (with homa)	$121	$151
Notes on services:
No difference between members and non-members for services at the Temple or at the Home of the Devotee. Charges for all Home Services for non-members outside San Diego County is $201. Travel costs are extra for both members and non-members outside San Diego County.

Executive Committee:

Ramana Katragadda, President 760.889.6666
president@vcscsd.org

Dr. Lakshmi Prathipati, Vice President

Ravi Koneru, Secretary

secretary@vcscsd.org

Sudesh Kumar, Treasurer 760.942.8288
treasurer@vcscsd.org

Library

A number of books, audio CDs, video tapes are available in our temple library.

Currently, the library is open only to Bala Bhavan members.

Welcome to Bala Bhavan

BalaBhavan, with the blessings of Lord Venkateshwara, was launched in the year 2001 and it is targeted at children between the ages of 3 to 16 years. The children are exposed to Hindu cultural values through Bhajans, Slokas, Stories, Arts/Crafts and other related activities. The children also get to participate in summer camps, field trips and a fun annual picnic. This is a volunteer run program that has grown tremendously over the years due to the support of many parents and children. Classes are sponsored by the Vedic Cultural and Spiritual Center of San Diego and have a nominal registration fee.

Overview of Balabhavan 2013

Overview and Syllabus[PDF]

Bala Bhavan Class Schedules

Group	Ages (in years)	Time	Day
Toddler	3 - 5	5:00 pm to 6:00 pm	1st and 3rd Saturday of every month
Junior	5 - 8	5:00 pm to 6:15 pm	2nd and 4th Saturday of every month
Senior	8-12	5:00 pm to 6:15 pm	2nd and 4th Saturday of every month
Super Senior	12-16	5:00 pm to 6:15 pm	1st and 3rd Saturday of every month

Bala Bhavan Coordinators

Mrs. Latha Sundar
Mrs. Lalitha Krishnamoorthy
Mrs. Hema Rangaswamy
Mr. Kumar Gowda

E-Mail:balabhavancoordinator@yahoo.com

Interested in signing up your son/daughter in Bala Bhavan? Please fill in the Bala Bhavan Membership form and email it to Bala Bhavan Coordinator.
Please read the guidelines to Parents and Students.

Welcome to Sankrit Bhavan

Sanskrit Bhavan offers introductory Sanskrit classes to children and adults. The classes are sponsored by the Vedic Cultural and Spiritual Center of San Diego. In order to join the sanskrit class, you need to submit the enrollment form.

Class Schedules

The sanskrit class for children (enrollment age 5-15 yrs) meets every Saturday from 4.00pm to 5.00pm at the Vedic Cultural and Spiritual Center of San Diego. On the first Saturday of the month, the children's Sanskrit class meets for an additional half-hour (5:00 - 5:30), to participate in special activities such as antyakshari, quiz, story reading etc. The class for adults is held on an appointment basis, at Vedic Cultural and Spiritual Center of San Diego. Please contact for further details. 'Saundrya Lahiri Chanting' for adults is held on every Sunday from 4:00 PM -5:00 PM.We are happy to invite people to join.

Instruction and Course notes

Students are expected to bring with them an up-to-date copy of the class notes/assignments to each class. In order to view/print the class notes, you may need to install these fonts on you PC
Contact Information

Name	Phone	E-Mail
Smt. Aparna Vemuri		aparnavemuri@yahoo.com
Smt. Lalitha Kodandapani		lalitha_kodandapani@yahoo.com

About Yoga
Yoga is an ancient science. It is the science of right living and as such is intended to be incorporated in our daily life. The word Yoga is derived from the Sanskrit root Yuj (To Join, to Yoke, to unite). It also means union or communion. Uniting ourselves with God. On a more practical level Yoga is a means of balancing and harmonizing the body and emotions. The science of Yoga begins to work on the outermost aspect of the personality, the physical body, which for the most people is a practical and familiar starting point. Yoga aims at bringing the different bodily functions into perfect coordination so that they work for the good of the whole body. Yoga is a complete science of the being's evolution, of which the physical is just the beginning.
Yoga and Stress management
All creatures have an ability to handle stressful situations. When an animal faces its predator, its hormones shoot up and it gets enormous energy, so that it is ready to fight or flight. When the stressful situation ends, the animal goes into a safe hiding place and rests. We humans have a similar faculty to handle stress. However, due to modern lifestyle, we face this situation before we can rest and recover. Hence, we are under constant stress.
Yoga provides an effective way to rest and recover more completely from stress hormones in our body. Wakeful state of relaxation gives us 3 times more rest compared to sleep. Hence more and more people are turning to yoga recently. We do not have to practice very complicated postures. Simple postures combined with deep breathing is effective in handling stress. Do you practice yoga?
Yoga in Vedic Cultural and Spiritual Center of San Diego
We follow and instruct Ashtanga style yoga in our center. Instructors are certified by Yogabharati organization (which is a yoga-alliance certified center) (visit: www.yogabharati.org for more info). 15+ asanas, Suryanamaskar, Relaxation techniques and Pranayama are taught as part of the classes.
Classes Offered

The classes are ongoing for more than 5 years. Both adult and kids classes are offered. Kids classes are free (age 5 and above), which is conducted on first and third saturdays of every month. To register send email to ybsandiego@yahoo.com
Adult classes are offered on a batch basis. 6 classes on weekend mornings (Sunday from 9.30am to 10.45am) are offered for beginners. There is a one time fee of $50 as a donation is required to attend the classes. Materials and other info will be sent via email. Free for temple members. Mail ybsandiego@yahoo.com for more info and signup.
Other than the above mentioned beginners class, we also offer biweekly classes on saturdays (9-10am). Those who finished above beginners class get to attend this for free. Mail ybsandiego@yahoo.com for more info and to signup.

Yoga class for children 1st and 3rd Saturday: 9:00 am - 10:00 am

Location: Vedic Cultrual and Spiritual Center of San Diego
7930 Arjons Drive, Ste. B, San Diego, CA, 92126

Instructors

Naresh naresh_as@yahoo.com

Welcome to Youth Seva Sangam

The future of our community and temple depends on the commitment and involvement of our youth today. They are our temple’s most valuable resources. Unfortunately, their current involvement with temple related activities is minimal. In order to create a self sustaining youth involvement, it is imperative that we create opportunities that will entice them to take an active role in temple activities. For instance, the opportunity to accumulate community service hours, which is a requirement for both high school graduation and for admission into colleges, is an incentive that is bound to attract several young men and women. It is the desire to cater to this need and to promote youth involvement in the temple that the Youth Seva Sangam has been set up at Vedic Cultural and Spiritual Center of San Diego. It is hoped that this Sangam will provide parents a chance to encourage their sons and daughters to participate in temple-related activities.
The Youth Seva Sangam is open to all young men and women between the ages of 12 and 21. The participants must be committed to the temple’s mission and should willingly contribute 70 hours of annual service to the temple. The Sangam will be run under the guidance of one of the temple’s sub-committee. One member of this committee will be an ex-officio member of the Youth Seva Sangam. The Youth Seva Sangam will elect the rest of its officers. Members of the Youth Seva Sangam will be required to perform the following duties:

Provide service to the community as a representative of Vedic Cultural and Spiritual Center of San Diego
Help with the planning and running of religious and cultural activities as and when asked
Provide day to day help with the temple’s operational activities
Support temple activities such as advertising temple activities and participating in fund raising efforts

Members who successfully complete their duties will be awarded a certificate acknowledging their participation by the president of the temple.
How will the Temple benefit from This Program?
This Sangam will provide ample number of youths in carrying out temple activities. Participation of youths will bring parents and relatives and friends to temple events. Maintaining visibility locally would be easier through the help of youths.
Contact Information yss.coordinators@gmail.com

Vedic Cultural and Spiritual Center of San Diego

7930 Arjons Drive, Ste. B, San Diego, CA, 92126
Phone: (858)-549-3940
Email: information@vcscsd.org

Your support is highly appreciated! Donate and be a part of our center!

Directions From I-5/I-805

Go East on Miramar Road (a.k.a La Jolla Village Road)
Note: If you reached Camino Ruiz, you have gone too far.
Turn Left on Dowdy Road
Turn Left on Arjons Drive
Turn Right on to the Fourth Driveway and the entrance is on the back
Note:Building 7930 is behind 7920

From I-15

Go West on Miramar Road
Note: If you reached the "Pyramid", you have gone too far.
Turn Right on Dowdy Road
Turn Left on Arjons Drive
Turn Right on to the Fourth Driveway and the entrance is on the back
Note:Building 7930 is behind 7920

Om Tat Sat

(Continued...)

(My humble salutations to the great devotees , wikisources and Pilgrimage tourist guide for the collection )

Hindu Vedic Philosophy (Holy Pilgrimage - Theertha Kshetra)