Hindu Samaj Temple

Annual General Body Meeting January 21st, 2007

For the latest news, upcoming events, schedule and moreVisit www.HISTEMPLEMN.org

Temple Administration

Executive Committee Board of Directors

•President: Suresh Chari•Vice President: Suresh Kotagal•Secretary: •Treasurer: Shekar Kaliappan•Sub-cmt Heads

•Finance: Shekar Kaliappan•Religious Affairs: Dev Mukhopadhyay•Cultural Activities: Suresh K/Suresh C•Building & Infrastructure: Suresh Kotagal•Fund Raising/Development: Amit Ghosh•Scheduling: Mahesh Raghu/ Suresh C•Email: Ramesh Rao •Web and Media: Diganta/ Shyamala

Shyamala BhatMukesh BhatiaDiganta BorgohainSuresh ChariAmit GhoshShekar KaliappanSuresh KotagalDev MukhopadhyayJeevan RaoMahesh RaghuRamesh RaoShridhar SomasekharanLatha SteadSuresh Yanambaka

Board Members

Strongly committed to betterment of our community and the Temple

Vocal yet reasonable group Diversified

Age Gender Occupation

Board Members Shyamala Bhat:

Recently moved to Rochester Worked for 12 yrs with HP India Now with Mayo

Mukesh Bhatia Longtime Rochester resident Family committed to Temple Mayo information services

Board Members Diganta Borgohain

Mayo Clinic Health Solutions Frontage Technologies

Suresh Chari Professor of Medicine, Mayo Gastroenterologist Head, Pancreas Interest Group Research Interest: Pancreatic cancer

Board Members

Amit Ghosh Internal Medicine Associate Professor of Medicine Medical education

Shekar Kaliappan Information services, Mayo Treasurer

Board Members Suresh Kotagal

Professor of Neurology Head of Pediatric Neurology Director: Peds Neurology Residency Program Specialty: Child Neurology

Dev Mukhopadhyay Professor and Consultant Mayo Clinic Cancer Center and Department of

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Tumor Angiogenesis, Vascular Biology and

Nanotechnology Laboratory

Board Members

Jeevan Kanthi Rao Owner “Rice N’ Spice” Long time resident of Rochester and Temple

supporter Mahesh Raghu

Dedicated to community service Mahesh and Ranga run the highly successful

“Balagokulam” program for kids and adults Run shloka class

Board Members

Ramesh Rao Mayo, Information technology Long time supporter of Temple

Shridhar Somasekharan IBM Media and publicity

Board Members

Latha Stead Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine Director EM Research Founder, Rochester Academy of Science and Arts

Suresh Yanambaka Long time Rochester resident Past President Frontage Technology Currently in India

Executive CommitteePresident

Overall responsible for governance of the Temple Oversee/ensure smooth running of the Temple Be in close touch with all committee members Provide vision and direction for growth and expansion

of the Temple Interact with community members to understand their

needs and involve them in Temple activities

Executive Committee

Vice President Responsible in President’s absence

Secretary Administrative Head

Treasurer In charge of the finances

Finance Committee

Track income Hundi collections, Monthly Deposit, General

Donation Track expenditure, ensure paper rail exists

for all expenses Balance the books every month Internal and External Audit of accounts

Finance Committee

Members Shekar Kaliappan Mahesh Raghu Mukesh Bhatia Murali Iyer Vidya Prasad

Fund Raising/DevelopmentDonor Appreciation

Get the mortgage paid off! Plan for the future Recognize our donors

Members: Amit Ghosh Latha Stead

Religious Activities Daily lamp lighting Encourage satsangs Oversee monthly Puja Conduct major religious festivals Special pujas by Priest Shri Jagannadachri Installation of Idols

Religious Activities Cmt Members

Dev Mukhopadhyay Mahesh Raghu Ranga Mahesh Suresh Chari Priest Shree Jagannath Acharya (Adviser)

Cultural activities Holi Summer program Deepavali Cultural program associated with special pujas

Members Suresh Kotagal Suresh Chari Need help!

Building and Infrastructure

Major role last year Oversee renovation Ongoing maintenance issues Security

Members Suresh Kotagal Vidhan Chandra

Scheduling Committee

Schedule events Maintain web-based calendar Avoid conflicts

Members Mahesh Raghu Suresh Chari

Media and PublicityEmail and Web Page Advertise Temple events Maintain Webpage current

Members Shyamala Bhat Ramesh Rao Diganta Borgohain Sridhar Somasekharan Jeevan Rao

Youth Volunteer Program

Encourages youth to particpare in volunteer activity

Maintain lawn and garden Fall clean-up Director: Karpagam Maran

Year in ReviewReligious Activities

Presented by: Dev Mukhopadhyay

Welcome everyone and also we would like to convey our heartfelt thanks for your genuine support and participation in

different religious activities held at the temple throughout the year

Religious Subcommittee:

Mahesh RaghuSuresh ChariRanganayaki (Ranga) Mahesh Dev MukhopadhyayShree Jaganath Acharya (Adviser)

Religious activities:

Daily

Weekly

Monthly

Special Religious Prayers / Festivals

Daily

““Daily Lamp LightingDaily Lamp Lighting” in front of the ” in front of the DeitiesDeities is an important is an important religious ritual. In the absence of regular priest in our temple, you religious ritual. In the absence of regular priest in our temple, you as a community have taken the responsibility to this auspicious as a community have taken the responsibility to this auspicious

service. At least 30 people, individually or as a group, are service. At least 30 people, individually or as a group, are performing this prayer every evening. performing this prayer every evening.

All the hard work you have been doing through out the year to All the hard work you have been doing through out the year to preserve this daily prayer is very unique to the temple and we preserve this daily prayer is very unique to the temple and we

acknowledge this with gratitude. acknowledge this with gratitude.

WeeklyPrayer for Lord Vishnu Prayer for Lord Vishnu (Vishnu Sahasranaamam) every week (Vishnu Sahasranaamam) every week Monday from 7.00 PM – 8.00 PM. Monday from 7.00 PM – 8.00 PM.

Prayer for Goddess Lalitha Prayer for Goddess Lalitha (Lalitha Sahasranaamam) (Lalitha Sahasranaamam) every every 22ndnd Friday of the month from 7.00 PM – 8.00 PM. Friday of the month from 7.00 PM – 8.00 PM.

Prayer for Goddess Devi Prayer for Goddess Devi (Devi Stotrams)(Devi Stotrams) every 4 every 4thth Friday of Friday of the month from 7.00 PM – 8.00 PMthe month from 7.00 PM – 8.00 PM

Prayer for Sai Baba every 1Prayer for Sai Baba every 1stst and 3 and 3rdrd Friday of the month from Friday of the month from 7.00 PM – 8.00 PM7.00 PM – 8.00 PM

Group singing for various Gods and Goddesses every 2Group singing for various Gods and Goddesses every 2ndnd Saturday of the month from 7.00 PM – 8.00 PMSaturday of the month from 7.00 PM – 8.00 PM

If you would like to start a new session or join with an existing If you would like to start a new session or join with an existing group please contact usgroup please contact us

Monthly Puja

Monthly Pujas, third Saturday of each month, is greatly appreciated Monthly Pujas, third Saturday of each month, is greatly appreciated by our community for several yearsby our community for several years

We strongly believe that the Monthly Pujas are an important platform not We strongly believe that the Monthly Pujas are an important platform not only for only for satsangsatsang or singing or singing bhajansbhajans, but also to convey our thoughts and , but also to convey our thoughts and

educate ourselves about the diversity in our culture and religioneducate ourselves about the diversity in our culture and religion

After-Puja dinner serves as a great opportunity to taste verities of After-Puja dinner serves as a great opportunity to taste verities of dishes throughout the year dishes throughout the year

In all aspects, year 2006 was a great success to our monthly pujas In all aspects, year 2006 was a great success to our monthly pujas and we hope with your intense help and support, the future pujas and we hope with your intense help and support, the future pujas

will continue to succeed as wellwill continue to succeed as well

Please sign up in the Monthly Puja list as a group or individual and help Please sign up in the Monthly Puja list as a group or individual and help us to schedule ahead for the whole yearus to schedule ahead for the whole year

Special Religious Prayers / Festivals01/04/2006 – Harvest Festival (Sankaranti) was celebrated

02/18/2006 – Saraswathi Puja was conducted

02/26/2006 – Prayer for Lord Shiva was conducted

03/11/2006 – Festival of Colors (Holi) was celebrated

03/20/2006 – Kalyana Utsav for God Balaji and Goddess Devi was celebrated

04/06/2006 – Lord Rama’s Birthday (Rama Navami) was celebrated

08/19/2006 – Lord Krishna’s Birthday (Janmashtami) was celebrated

08/27/2006 – Lord Ganesha’s Birthday was celebrated

09/08/2006 – Lord Hanuman Idol Installation ceremony was performed

09/22/2006 – Goddess Devi Idols (Goddess Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswathi along with Gods Ganesha and Karthikeya) Installation ceremony was conducted

09/23/2006-9/30/2006 – Prayer for Goddess Durga was conducted

10/01/2006 – Lamp (Diya) Prayer was conducted

Continued: Special Religious Prayers / Festivals

10/21/2006 – Prayer in connection with Festival of Lights (Diwali) was conducted

11/11/2006 – Prayer for Lord Satya Narayana was conducted

12/16/2006 – Lord Hanuman’s Birthday (Hanuman Jayanthi) was celebrated

Again, thank you all for your generous support throughout the year and we strongly believe that working together we will make our temple as

well as our community a great place to cultivate our religion and culture

FUTURE ACTIVITIES AND DIRECTIONFUTURE ACTIVITIES AND DIRECTION

Other tentative religious events for the temple.

Saraswati Puja Saturday 01-27-2007 Maha Shivaratri Friday 02-16-2007 Holi Saturday 03-03-2007 Ramanavami Tuesday 03-27-2007 Hanuman Jayanti Monday 04-02-2007 Krishna Janmashthami Tuesday 09-04-2007 Ganesh Chaturthi Saturday 09-15-2007 Durga Puja Friday 10, 19 -21, 2007Deepavali (Diwali) Friday 11-09-2007

Tentative plan to coordinate special Pujas, at least alternative month, conducted by Shree Jaganath Acharya Shree Jaganath Acharya

Hiring a full time Priest for our temple: Hiring a full time Priest for our temple:

a future perspectivea future perspective

New Deities Sthapana: an ongoing effort on behalf of community

We also need your positive thoughts for betterment of our We also need your positive thoughts for betterment of our service and improvement of our religious activitiesservice and improvement of our religious activities

God bless you all

Year in Review Cultural Activities

Mahesh Raghu

REGULAR ACTIVITIES

Bharathanatyam Class conducted every Tuesday from 5.30 PM – 6.30 PM by Raagamala Dance Theater

Kathak Dance Class conducted every Sundays from 1:00 PM -3:00 PM by Katha Dance Theater

Yoga Class conducted every Wednesday from 7.00 PM – 8.00 PM by John Smith

Yoga Sutra Lecture Series were given every other month through out the year by Dr Steven Parker

Hindi Language Class conducted every Sunday from 10:30 AM -12:00 PM

Malayalam Language Class conducted every 3rd Sunday from 4:00 PM -5:00 PM

Balagokulam

Conducted every Saturday from 10.00 AM – 11.30 AM

It enables Hindu children in US to appreciate their cultural roots and learn Hindu Values.

This is done through Games, Yoga, Stories, Songs, Arts & Crafts, Contest and special educational projects.

It is being conducted in more than 100 centers in the country.

A special quarterly magazine called “Balagokulam” is also published with contents for the kids and by the kids.

For details, visit www.balagokulam.org

Kaun Banega Ramayan Expert - (KBRE)

Ramayan Quiz Contest was conducted from Jan 2006 – April 2006

Around 3000 kids participated from all over the United States and 33 kids from Rochester, MN

Ganashyam from Rochester won the special prize for Midwest Region

Weekend Ramayan classes were conducted for around 3 months

Brought more awareness about our Great Epic to our kids and it was a super success project

Conducted on 06/18/2006 from 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM.

Inaugurated by Shri Tridandi Jeeyar Swami from Tirupathi.

This exhibition was a bird's eye view of the vast Hindu cultural heritage and the traditions of India.

There were 30 posters on different themes. Some of the topics were: Basic concepts and way of living Temples, ancient roots and Architecture Art, Dance and Music Hindu Diaspora and its influence Contributions in Mathematics and Science Yoga and Ayurveda Dharma in nature and service Role of Hindu Women

Exhibition on Hindu Culture and Dharmic Traditions

Indian Music Concert was held on July 30, 2006 from 2:00 PM -5:00 PM by Nirmala Rajasekar

Indian Music Recital was held on Oct 8, 2006 from 3:15 PM -5:00 PM by Chand Mallick

Hindu Heritage Family Camp

Conducted on Aug 26 & 27 at Caledonia Camp Site

1st overnight camp for Rochester Residents

More than 70 participants – (Age range from 3 month baby to a 70 year old adult)

With a perfect blend of cultural activities, games and sports and religious lessons, this camp proved to be an effective medium to impart Hindu values to the children and elders while they made many friends and enjoyed their vacation

Kids made clay models of Lord Ganesh and every one enjoyed the joint celebration of Ganesh Puja also

First time Diwali fireworks was held on Oct 21, 2006 from 7:30 PM -9:00 PM

Mega Cultural Event was conducted on Oct 28, 2006 from 4:00 PM -10:00 PM at Peace United Church

Overwhelming response from the community with active participation from more than 300 residents.

Thanks to everyone for putting their efforts in making this function a huge success.

Next time – even more better.

Deepavali

Annual contest Conducted on 12/16/2006 to test the

efficiency of the Balagokulam kids on all the cultural and religious lessons they had learnt through out the year.

Certificates and prizes were given for all the participants.

Marching ahead in 2007

16 day Sun Salutation Marathon from Jan 13th – Jan 28th 2007

Live coverage from KTTC and 6 News

New Music class from Feb

12 hour Shiva Ratri Marathon event in Feb

Grand Holi Mela in March

And many more to come…

State of the TempleFinancial Status

Suresh Chari

What did we start with

The organization has been in existence for 20+ yrs

It was Incorporated in 12/6/2000 HIS Temple MN, Inc

Temple purchased in September 2004 Bank balance before fund raiser: $22,000

Temple Purchase

Fund raiser: Summer of 2004 Purchase: September 2004 Price: $240,000 with $10,000 for repairs $50,000 down payment made Balance: $190,000

Bank Balance over the Years

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

2001 2002 2004 2005 2006

Year

Do

llar

s Without Capital Campaign

Funds

Balance as of 12/29/06: $ 63,656

Monthly Expenditure & Income

Average Monthly Expense$2063

Mortgage($1139)

RPU

Aquila

WM

Cleaning

InsuranceLawn & Snow

Qwest Misc

Average Monthly Income($3335)

ElectronicMonthly Deposit($1861)

Special Puja

Monthly Puja

RentalHundi

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

2000

2004 2005 2006

Electronic Monthly Deposit

$/m

on

th

Year in ReviewBuilding and Renovation

Suresh Kotagal

Renovations & AdditionsDownstairs

Remodeling of basement: Created a large area for dining Dance flooring

Tear down Dry wall New floor

Renovations & AdditionsUpstairs

Bringing the building up to fire code (Circuit breakers, handicapped egress, emergency exit doors, inspection of fire extinguishers, lawyer’s fees, etc.)

Energy efficient windows Front lobby shoe rack Ceiling fans

Outside

New front door Repaving the parking lot New lawn mower Storage shed

Cost of renovation and repair

GutterElectric workAC/Heater

Parking lot

Building

Anderson Law firmFire ExtinguisherSignsTemple Sign Board

Total Cost: $ 38,982.85

Email, Webpage, Blogs and more…..

Donor Appreciation - 2006

I would start by thanking all membersof our community who have made generous contribution of their time, talent and money to make 2006 a successful fund raising year.

Where do our donors come from?

Minnesota Michigan IowaRochester Bloomfield Fairfield

Mankato

Crystal North Dakota KansasZumbrota Bismarck Lenexa

Faribault TexasStewartville Corpus Christie

St. Cloud IllinoisNorthfield Danville

Maple Grove

Wisconsin

New York La Crosse

Commack

Total donor collection: $55,477 [ 109 families] Average per family: $508.96 Range: $5.00 - $5392.00 28 families donated $42,455 (76.5% of all

donation) 11 monthly donors - $50-100/ month

Donor Appreciation - 2006

Amount per year($$) No. of Families

$ 501- 1000 18

$1001-2000 4

$2001-3000 2

$3001-4000 2

$4001-5000 1

$5001-6000 1

Donor Appreciation - 2006

$25/ month X 12 = $300

$ 50/ Month X 12= $ 600

$ 75/ Month X 12= $900

$ 100/ month X 12= $1200

$150/ month X 12= $1800

Donor Appreciation – 2006Monthly donation scheme/year

*Adapted from the model suggested by Hindi Temple- Minneapolis MN

*

Questions? An hour-long Q and A session followed the presentation Issues discussed: Hiring of Priest: After vigorous discussion of pros and cons

it was decided that: The financial implications of such a hiring should be further

clarified Temple should identify families who would be willing to at least

partially underwrite the monthly expenses of a priest for the first 12-18 months (there were at least 3 volunteers present at the mtg)

INS regulations for hiring (especially re salary and benefits) should be further investigated

Acquiring Land for Future Development This issue was raised but could be fully

discussed due to lack of time