Author Archives: Rima Maharjan

There are lot of leaders in Satya Narayan Mandir. One of them was Murli Gopwani. I actually had to take an appointment with him through an email and then by a phone. I called him on Monday night if he was available to give me an interview. So, finally we met on Tuesday afternoon.

When i asked him about how do he feel about having a Mandir around where he lives, he replied it’s great since he doesn’t miss his homeland a lot. But the only difference he sees here, is people have not  a lot of time to visit the temple. Only few of them visit in the regular basis. He adds, but generally a lot of hindus, in order to show respect and love, they send them donations even if they don’t visit the temple.

I also asked him how do other Hindus feel about the Mandir and did the Mandir helped in maintaining their culture and tradition, he replied, Obviously, the culture and tradition are saved because of mandir because before when there were no mandirs, during the festivals, people didn’t have place to celebrate with others but only with the families. Now, after mandir was built, a lot of people sponsor the festivals and a lot of people attend them. During festivals like Durga puja, Holi and other festivals, a lot of people visit mandir. And also for a traditional marriage also, people didn’t have place to do the ritual and now there is a mandir, a lot of Hindus perform their marriage rituals in there.

He further adds, there is a little difference between how it is done back in India and here in USA, but still is better than nothing.

I went to Satya Narayan Mandir on Sunday. There was a special event which is called “Aasa Di War” program. As I entered the mandir, there were not a lot of people. But there were people singing bhajan and some people were there listening to it and were clapping their hands with the tune. The Bhajan was like a duet, where men and women took turns while singing. “Aasa di war” is a sikh prayer written by Guru Nanak. This occasion is held every Sunday and lasts like 2-3 hours and the program was followed by preeti bhojan. And in every program preeti bhojan is sponsored by some of the the bhaktas. This was sponsored by couple named Mahesh and Ritika Hemrajani. I didn’t get chance to meet this couple but one of the people among the bhaktas told me they sponsor these type of occasions as they feel they are blessed and to hope for the good and peace.

Events like this happen everyday in India before dawn but here in USA only once a week. When they finish singing the song, people received tika and blessing from the priests. And everyone looked happy as they were all enjoying the prayer and later the preeti bhojan included some sweets, rice and vegetables. It was delicious and they were given in the form of prasad. I couldn’t take the picture of the bhojan but i did take some pictures from the bhajan. As a whole, it was a wonderful time spent in the mandir with melodious bhajan and delicious bhojan. 

On a Sunday afternoon, I went to this mandir named “Satya Narayan Mandir”. As I reached this temple, I first noticed it as a simple house but when i start taking the picture i noticed on the exterior, on top of the door there exist a pointed thing which is called “gajur”(pinnacle)(as you can see on the picture above). Most of the temples are built with this type of pinnacle.

s I entered this temple, I saw people ringing this bell(ghanti) as they stepped inside the temple. There is a great importance of sound in hindu culture and this bells are believed to produce an “Om” sound. I went there around 2 o’clock so there were not many people in there. They said people usually come in the morning or in the evening.The schedule of the mandir are as follows:
Monday and Tuesday 7.30 AM to 1.00 PM
4.00 PM to 9.00 PM
Wednesday-Friday 7.30 AM to 1.00 PM
4.00 PM to 8.00 PM
Saturday & Sunday 7.30 AM to 8.00 PM
All hindu festivals are celebrated in this temple. This temple also consists of Gurdwara. So not only Hindus go there but also the Sikh.

I noticed all the Gods and Godesses we studied in our class.
As I entered, the first thing i saw was the Shivlinga, Shiva, Parvati and Ganesha. They were offered a fire(diya), milk, flowers , tika, etc. All the gods and goddesses were decorated with nice clothes, flowers and jeweleries. It was really a nice environment.

As i looked the interior, i saw a big picture of Pashupatinath mandir of Nepal. The picture is worshiped as God in here. It is believed to be one of the biggest hindu temples of Lord Shiva in the world. So, it is placed next to Lord shiva in this temple as well.

It was really a fascinating place. I enjoyed going around but i didn’t get chance to see any of the puja. So, i’m planning to go there next time to see how they perform the arati and bhajans.

Satya Narayan mandir is located at
75-15 Woodside Avenue
Jackson Heights, NY 11373
There are many statues of gods and goddesses in this temple. Some of them are Shiva, Parvati, Radha, Krishna, Ganesha, Hanuman, Vishnu, Laxmi, etc.

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