Ten Day Hindu Festival Begins in Pomona

The Sri Ranganatha Temple in Pomona is in the middle of its annual 10-day festival honoring the Hindu God Lord Vishnu called the Grand Brahmotsavan. 

“We are invoking the God to come and bring peace and prosperity. We are trying to please God,” said temple member Ramki Sankar.

Each day of the festival, the celebrants process around the temple following a statue of Lord Vishnu. The statue is seated on a vahanam, a platform or vehicle created in the shape of an animal carrier. This year’s festival features two new vahana—one in the shape of a horse, Ashwa, and the other in the shape of an elephant, Gaja.

The heavy statue and vahanam are carried on the shoulders of a large number of male celebrants wearing traditional garb. The statue and vehicles are decorated with garlands of colorful flowers created by female members of the temple.  Musicians hired by the temple, playing drums and shehnais, oboe-like instruments that sound similar to saxophones, accompany the processors.

Sudha Koppaka, a physician from Westchester County, sat in the temple Saturday morning assembling the flower garlands. 

“I make the garlands as a service to God. They are an ornament, a decoration, a blessing to God," she said.

“The flowers are intended to purify the air,” said Sankar. Leaving the dirt and pollutants of life behind, celebrants are also requested to remove their shoes upon arriving at the festival in order to preserve the purity of the temple and its festivities.    

On Saturday, the Grand Brahmotsavan began with the hoisting of a flag bearing the picture of Garuda, the vahanam most closely associated with Lord Vishnu.

“The raising of the flag is to invite the angels—the Gods and Goddesses—to come celebrate with us," saidKrishna Kanumalla, a devotee of the temple. 

The festival’s celebrants include men and women of all ages. Those who were not actively participating in the morning’s rituals cheerily bore witness to the events from the shade of a nearby tent or under the cover of trees alongside the temple itself.

Pratheebha Karthik, watching the rituals from under the tent with her two daughters, 8 year old Sowmika and 10 month old Mrunalika, travels from Park Ridge to Pomona most Sundays so Sowmika can attend classes at the temple. “I want to bring about devotion for the culture in my children,” she said. 

Devotee Krishna Kanumalla travels all the way from Iselin, NJ.  During the week he works as a radiation therapist providing care to cancer patients. “Honestly, I come here to get peace in life. You get caught up in the rigors of life and you come here to find peace.”

Amr Kannan, a Temple Trustee and professor who lives in Delaware, explained his reason for volunteering there.  “I love the concept of doing for others. Not doing for ourselves but doing for your happiness. This temple promotes this philosophy in an authentic manner.”

This is the fifth consecutive year the temple has hosted the Grand Brahmotsavan and the 10th anniversary of the temple’s construction.  The current chairman of the temple’s Board of Trustees, Venkat Kanumalla, a physician from Boston, MA, spearheaded the efforts to build the temple back in the 1980s.  Construction finally concluded in 2001.

All of the funds to build and operate the temple and the Grand Brahmotsavan came solely from volunteers. “Some volunteers contribute 6 percent of their salaries to the Temple,” said Sankar.

The temple promotes a charitable philosophy of giving to others. There is no charge for admission to the Grand Brahmotsavan. The temple also provides food to visitors at no charge.

This year’s festival runs from July 29 till Aug. 7. "The festival’s dates are not the same each year," said Sankar. "They are based on our religious calendar.” 

For more information about the Grand Brahmotsavan and the Sri Ranganatha Temple you can visit the Temple's website at www.ranganatha.org.

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