Devotees during brick puja for Ma Gayatri temple.
KATY – With the blessings of gurusatta and Ma Gayatri, Gayatri Pariwar, Houston conducted the brick pooja (shila pooja) ceremony on Saturday, February 7th, 2015 for the upcoming “Center for Gayatri Consciousness” in Katy, TX. Adarniya Pushkar Raj ji from Shantikunj, Haridwar who conducted the ceremony, touched the hearts of all the attendees with his soulful message during the ceremony.
Ceremonial Bricks that were used for the puja.
The attendees were asked to write 108 Gayatri Mantras on a piece of paper and bring to the event as their spiritual contribution which would be installed under the idol of Ma Gayatri along with a brick in the memory of their loved ones. Ashok Parikh and Garima Doshi presented the plan of the temple before the attendees along with giving a brief background about Gayatri Pariwar and its activities. The ceremony was followed by aarti and dinner Prasad. A bhumi pooja ceremony at the temple site was also done in the presence of the local active volunteers.
Kirtans and bhajans being performed during the puja.
The brick pooja ceremony was attended by around 250 people who whole heartedly gave their support right now and for the future as well, for the construction of the Center for Gayatri Consciousness. Volunteers from Gayatri Pariwar Houston – Sangita & Bharat Tailor, Mahesh andVarsha Patel, Jayani and Ashok Parikh, Deepak and Daksha Khatri, Niru and Suresh Bakshi, Madhu and Prabha Barvalia, Jignesh Patel, Viral and Manisha Patel, Dinesh & Asmita Bhavsaar, Jitendra & Rekha Siddlagata, Ritu andHaresh Malkani, Madhu and Vandana Agarwal, Mahish and Richa Sharma, Ketan & Garima Doshi worked very hard to make the program a success. Shri Dinesh, Asmita and Niketa Bhavsaar also accompanied Ad. Pushkarji for music on stage. Many volunteers from Gayatri Pariwar San Antonio and Austin also attended the ceremony and provided their hearty support to the Houston center.
Gayatri Pariwar, Houston acquired an old warehouse on October 17th 2014 in Katy, a suburb of Houston, TX, which will be remodeled into “Center for Gayatri Consciousness”, a temple of Ma Gayatri. The remodeling is expected to be finished in the next four months. The center will also have Bal Sanskarshala for kids, Youth activities including meditation and Bhagvad Geeta workshops, weekly video pravachans, and will also perform different sanskars like punsavan, grih pravesh, naamkaran, vidyaarambh, vivah etc. at the temple or in your home. The center aims at spreading the philosophy of Gayatri (righteous thinking) and Yagya (righteous actions) to the Greater Houston area.