Vedic Temple in Los Angeles
As Swamiji returned back to Los Angeles in August 2007, He said we needed to start a Vedic Temple in Los Angeles. He said the time was right and that we were running out of space in being able to accommodate the large crowds coming to the Duarte Ashram every evening. So a small group of ashramites (Sri Sevakananda and Sri Sahajananda) and devotees started looking at various properties for the Vedic Temple. Simultaneously work was going on in full swing to procure and ship the deities. Over 300 deities were ordered for the temple. This was going to be the largest temple in the United States the first day it opened. Normally when temples start in USA it takes 4-5 years before all the deities and their jewelry and other worship items are procured. But here work was going on in full speed in all directions at once – granite deities were being carved in Mahabalipuram, marble deities were being carved in Jaipur, five metal deities were being made in Tamil Nadu and the Bidadi ashram, metal works and prabhavalis (the arches that surround deities) were being made in Kumbakonam and Bidadi ashram, Jewelry was being made in Chennai. Work was going on at an unprecedented scale and speed. And yet we did not have a temple or property identified. The master knew exactly how the temple would be and what he needed for it! It was quite clear that He knew the end state and was merely waiting for the drama to unfold!
There were several properties that LA Ashramites looked at. They came across a beautiful property that was shown to Swamiji in Montclair. The place seemed like a perfect fit for our needs. We had a large area for the temple, large room for public events that could accommodate people, classrooms and other facilities which made it an ideal place to start the city temple for the Nithyananda Mission in Los Angeles. Swamiji instantly said this is the place and that we needed to get the transaction done at any cost. Sri Sevakananda and Sahajananda along with local devotees immediately sprung into action and after many trials and tribulations succeeded in closing the deal. The facility was right off the highway with a large parking area and over 25,000 square feet of area.
As soon as the commercial transaction was put together, work started towards the inauguration of the Vedic Temple at a feverish pace. In 15 days, ashramites, ananda sevaks and devotees came together and worked around the clock, and had the place ready for Kumbabhishekam. As with everything else that Swamiji does everything fell in place at the last moment and fit like a glove. It almost feels that he is making it happen this way to make sure the devotees are aware, alive and they are having fun and growing amidst this chaos the Master creates.
The Kumbabhishekam for the Vedic Temple in Montclair, California was set for November 9-11, 2007. A lot of festivities were planned for this event. Luckily I was able to take off a week before this event and made myself free. There were so many festivities and cultural events that were planned. Cultural groups from the Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, Sikh and Jewish faiths from all over the world came and performed on this occasion.
On the morning of November 9, 2007 the temple opened with over 300 deities and pranapratishta was done for all the deities. The temple area was packed. Devotees filled up the meditation and conference halls where the event was carried live through closed circuit television. This event was webcast live and thousands of ashramites and devotees from all over the world were able to see this event live. This was history in the making in front of our own eyes. It was quite magical to see how all of this came together beautifully. A lot of hard work went into this but everything happened in such a blissful and beautiful manner. In most temples in North America a project of this magnitude would take 3-5 years and committees after committees and meetings after meetings would take place to come to a consensus. In the case of the Vedic Temple, all the activities came together within 2-3 months and the biggest and the grandest Vedic temple in North America happened beautifully in front of our very own eyes.
This is the magic of the master. I have no other words to describe how these events were accomplished in a picture perfect manner! I would also go on to say this is true hyper-efficiency at work. I know this for a fact since the company I serve takes years to accomplish their agenda and strategies. It is taking them years to transform. Here, with the Master, there is one head and hundreds of hands. So there is no questioning and arguments since everyone knows Master knows what is best. It does not mean it is a dictatorial model. Swamiji in fact is always open to suggestions and new ideas. However once he tells us what he wants, the thousand hands jump right in to get the work done!
The Vedic temple project was a very large undertaking for the mission in terms of the costs. Ashramites were beginning to feel nervous about the financial load to the mission. After the inauguration of the Vedic temple, THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM conducted a month long series on the last remaining Shiva Sutras. He wanted to complete the Vignana Bhairava Tantra series with the 30 day discourse series. He said one day, "the complete temple will be paid for before I leave to Bharat. You will see!" He then went about delivering one of the most profound series of discourses for one month – non-stop.
Half way through the discourses, one of our close devotees, Ma Ahimsa (Dr Kalpana Savla) and Sri Maheshwara (Popat Savla) came and offered a check at the feet of the master and paid up the loan for the temple in full. They told THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM that what they are doing is the least they could do. THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM completed the discourses and came back to Bharat to prepare for 2008 Jayanthi celebrations.