$ 4 million Shirdi Saibaba temple opens in Atlanta
A Correspondent
http://www.rediff.com/news/2009/apr/01shirdi-sai-baba-temple-opens-in-atlanta.htm
April 01, 2009 03:34 IST
A $4 million Shirdi Saibaba Temple has been opened at Suwanee in Atlanta,
Georgia.
Some 10,000 devotees attended the week-long vigraha pratistapana
kumbhabhishekam celebrations of the temple, called North America Sri Shirdi Sai
Temple of Atlanta.
The statue was sculpted in special marble by Rajiv Talim who belongs to same
family which made the statue in the Saibaba Temple in Shirdi, Maharashtra,
India.
Priest Gopala Bhattar, head priest of Hindu Temple of Atlanta, presided over
the pranapratishta and kumbhabhishekam ceremonies, assisted by Shirdi Sai
temple priests Suresh Bala Krishnan and Ravi Kumar Medicherla. In all, 14
priests from various temples across the United States participated in various
rituals.
The temple is spread over a 15,000 square-foot multi-storey facility, located
on 13.5 acre site with rolling hills, at 700 James Burgess Road, Suwanee, Ga
30024 and its web site is www.AtlantaSaiTemple.org or
http://www.templeofpeace.org/
As the main priests took kalashas with holy water to the top of the temple with
the help of a crane and performed the sikhara kumbhabhishekam, flowers were
showered on the raja gopuram from a helicopter.
Mahamandaleswar Swami Maheswarananda Puri, who has been on a tour to US,
visited the temple on the opening day of festivities.
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