A new Hindu Religious & Cultural Center (HRCC) is opening in Morgantown (West Virginia) on April 30.
Grand opening ceremonies, to be held on April 30 and May one, will reportedly include nutan prarambhostav, yatra, murthi sthapana, cultural program, kids’ activities, discourse, etc. Two priests, Samudrala Venkatacharyulu from Pennsylvania and Satyanarayana Sastry from Ohio, will conduct the sacred rituals during the ceremonies. All are welcome to attend.
Meanwhile, Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada today, commended efforts of temple leaders and area community for realizing this Hindu temple.
Rajan Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, further said that it was important to pass on Hindu spirituality, concepts and traditions to coming generations amidst so many distractions in the consumerist society and hoped that this temple would help in this direction. Zed stressed that instead of running after materialism; we should focus on inner search and realization of Self and work towards achieving moksh (liberation), which was the goal of Hinduism.
HRCC, whose objectives include “promote spiritual, cultural, civic, and social improvement”, has been conducting services on Sundays and Tuesdays at the previous location. It has also been celebrating various festivals; conducting education program for children; teaching various Indian languages; offering arts, yoga, classical dance and classical music classes; organizing religious discourses; and undertaking humanitarian projects, including charitable giving; reports suggest.
Chetan Desai, Cherie Bharti, Geeta Grover and Gunjan Gupta are President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary respectively.
Morgantown, settled in 1772 and claimed to be “one of the best small cities in the country” and “a city of distinction”, is located along the Monongahela River and is home to West Virginia University. It has ranked among “Best Places to Retire” and “10 Great Places to Live”. Marti Shamberger, Bill Kawecki and Jeff Mikorski are Mayor, Deputy Mayor and City Manager respectively.
Source: WorlD Hindu News (WHN)