Religious fervor and piety mark the beginning of Koti Kumkumaarchana- Atlanta Dunia -

Religious fervor and piety mark
the beginning of Koti Kumkumaarchana

By Ravi R. Ponangi

Atlanta, GA: Religious fervor and piety marked the beginning of three-month long Sri Maha Lakshmi Koti Kumkuma (vermilion) Archana held on Akshaya Tadiya, Sunday, May16 at Hindu temple of Atlanta, Riverdale as hundreds of devotees thronged the temple to witness the rituals.

Sponsors of Sri Maha Lakshmi Koti Kumkumaarchana carried sanctified kalasams around the temple and reverentially placed them in front of Goddess Maha Lakshmi. The day’s program commenced with Nava kalasa snapanam and alamkara tirumanjanam (abhishekam). Then Koti Kumkumaarchana Maha Sankalpam was proffered to devotees by the priests.

After circumambulating the kalasams and utsava murtis of Lord Vishnu and Goddess Maha Lakshmi in a colorful procession around temple (parikrama) about 300 hundred devotees individually performed Lakshmi Sahasranama and Ashta Lakshmi puja.

Mahalakshmi, the Goddess on Lotus image, is the consort of Lord Vishnu and

worshipped as the Goddess of wealth. The Hindu psyche is attuned to worshipping different Goddesses with performing elaborate rituals and chanting appropriate Slokas to obtain blessings. It may seem ludicrous for most rationalists and modern-day skeptics. But offering solemn prayer uplifts the mind to sublime levels and also influences one’s outlook in positive ways.

Three month long Sri Maha Lakshmi Koti Kumkumaarchana will conclude with 3 day Ashta Lakshmi Yagam in Sravana masam from August 20-22. Outlining the details, Dr. Hyma Mikkilineni informed that they had intended to perform this lofty ritual of Sri Maha Lakshmi Koti Kumkumaarchana for the past several years. Keeping in view the significance of the ritual and the aspirations of devotees, the temple board decided to perform Sri Maha Lakshmi Koti Kumkumaarchana this year in 2010.

This is the first time Sri Maha Lakshmi Koti Kumkumaarchana is being performed in the southeast part of USA. Ten years ago, Pittsburg temple performed Sri Maha Lakshmi Koti Kumkumaarchana. Dr. Mikkilineni extolled the celebration as once-in-a life time opportunity and more so, performed in Atlanta, a home away from home. Goddess Lakshmi bestows both material wealth and spiritual salvation to her devotees. Dr. Mikkilineni encouraged devotees to visit the temple to witness the performance of the rituals and guaranteed it will be an optic feast.

The Hindu temple of Atlanta, Riverdale drafted 10 priests from India besides local temple priests to perform special pujas pertaining to Sri Maha Lakshmi Koti Kumkumaarchana. All the priests coming from India are well-trained in our ancient Hindu temple practices. They were trained in Tirumala Tirupati Veda Patasala, Jeeyar Vedic institute and other Vedic schools. Duly observing the rituals of abhishekam, homas and archanas they will recite Sri Maha Lakshmi Sahasra Namam every day 100 times, chanting the various sacred names of Sri Maha Lakshmi more than 100,000 times daily for three months adding up to one crore times. Dr. Mikkilineni informed that preparatory to Sri Maha Lakshmi Koti Kumkumaarchana, Ashta Lakshmi pujas have been conducted in several homes around Georgia with devotees’ participation. All these events were very well attended.

Goddess Maha Lakshmi is worshiped for her serenity. Vedas describe Sri Maha Lakshmi as the Goddess of wealth, fortune, power and beauty. Ancient scriptures describe wealth is not limited only to material wealth. Even Sun, Moon, Fire, stars and all elements of nature are our wealth. So are the progeny, our inner will power, our character and our virtues. With the grace of Goddess Lakshmi we will be granted all the above in abundance. Devotees believe, when a puja is performed at the temple the benefits are manifold as compared to the one performed at an individual’s home. Approximately 1100 kilograms of Kumkuma brought from India will be used for Sri Maha Lakshmi Koti Kumkumaarchana

June-28-2010