Newsletter – February/March 2024
| Namaste all. In a wink, two months of 2024 are behind us. Many of you are probably working on your 2023 Tax Returns. Lotus appreciates all the donations received in the calendar year 2023. Since we still lack an automated process, please reach out to us at [email protected] if you need an acknowledgement for your monetary donations done by either check or PayPal and we will work on getting it to you as expeditiously as possible. We have gotten a lot of feedback regarding the difficulty of accessing the temple area safely because it is being occupied by a Houseless person. Our attempts at trying to come to a polite resolution has not been successful. As water and shelter are two needs that have permitted this individual to make the situation very difficult, we have made the difficult but prudent decision to remove the overhead shelter completely and have made one more attempt at blocking access to water. Please continue to try and visit the temple regularly and if you feel uncomfortable alone, always do it in pairs. We will continue to monitor the situation even as we attempt to work with our elected officials and government to get a better handle to be the custodians of the premises. Please do look at our event calendars for March and be a part of the Maha Shivaratri and Holi celebration at the Wahiawa temple site. Additionally there are many other community events that are happening the next two months which are highlighted in the section below. We would like to encourage all of our community members to please reach out and guide us as we attempt to be an organization which can support community needs. Our goal is to be an organization which thrives due to the participation of the community and we hope that you share those ideals. To that end let us make 2024 a fruitful year for all and continue to stay safe and healthy as we are ready to welcome Spring very shortly. Warm aloha, V. Balaraman President UPCOMING LOTUS/COMMUNITY EVENTS Shivratri Pooja We will be doing a Special pooja celebrating this event on Friday, March 8th at the Wahiawa Temple starting at noon. Following the pooja we will have pot luck lunch. Please plan to join us if you are able to. Holi Celebrations following the Pooja at Wahiawa Temple on March 17th. Community cooked lunch at 2.15 pm at Kaala Neighborhood Park, Wahiawa followed by Play with colors, water and balloons. Please see our website for details and if planning to join us RSVP as we would like to get an accurate count for the food. We are also looking for community volunteers to help with food preparation, paper good donations, monetary donations and food serving. Please sign up here. Music of India – Kala Ramnath in Concert – Singing Violin with Abhijit Banerjee on Tabla. Orvis Auditorium, University of Hawaii, Manoa on March 10th at 2 PM. Tickets: https://www.eastwestcenter.org/events/kala-ramnath-concert. Synergy: Ishaan+Nayan Ghosh with Lyon Leifer at the Doris Duke Theater, Honolulu Museum of Arts on March 16 at 7 PM. Tickets purchase here. Milun Hawaii’s Confluence of Cultures on Saturday, April 20th at the Kaimuki High School Performing Arts Center, Honolulu HI. Details: https://www.facebook.com/MilunHawaiiChapter/ Temple Activities – March 17th, 2024 Our monthly pooja will start promptly at noon on the 17th. We hope to finish the pooja at 2 pm so that we can have our lunch following this and begin the Holi festivities by 3 pm. Hope to see you all there.  March/April 2024: March 8: Shivaratri – Wahaiwa Temple Pooja Day March 8: International Women’s Day March 17 – Wahiawa Temple Pooja Day and Holi Celebrations March 20 – Vernal Equinox and Parsi New Year March 25 – Holi March 29 – Good Friday March 31 – Easter Sunday April 9 – Gudi Padwa and Ugadi April 13 – Solar New Year/Tamil New Year/Baisakhi April 17 – Rama Navami April 21 – Wahiawa Temple Pooja Day April 22 – Earth Day |
