Newsletter – January/February 2023
| Let me begin this post by wishing all the best for this year 2023. It is the Year of the Rabbit in the Chinese Zodiac Calendar. There will be a multitude of names for this year in the Indian calendar depending on the region of the country we look at. In the Tamil Calendar we will transition to “Shobakiritu” on April 14th. Even as we as a humanity continue our coexistence with the Pandemic, LOTUS did many things to help the community in 2022. In addition to maintaining our monthly pooja at the Wahiawa Shiva Lingam site, we opened up the year with a in person pooja for Shivaratri. We followed this with a hosted in person HOLI for the community at the Kaala Park which was well received. After his in April we brought our community together with a hosted Founder’s event at 801 South Street which was again well attended by almost 80 patrons. Our finale of events to close out the year was the Diwali celebrations held at the Burns Hall at Ke’ehi Memorial Park which was attended by over 300 people and we received a multitude of positive comments for the same. We would not have been able to do this without the financial support of individuals and organizations. We additionally made financial donations to the community organizations with the focused theme of supporting our Kupuna and our Keiki – No one in the community should go hungry. On our rounds around town, our family attended “Maya” – a cross cultural event coordinated by Sai Bhatwadekar at the Honolulu Academy of Arts on January 21, 2023. It was a well orchestrated event and was very well attended by a diverse diaspora from our community. We hope to be a part helping with coordinating such events more frequently in the community as there is an appetite for these. V. Balaraman President |
| Temple Activities – January 15th, 2023 On the occasion of Pongal for Tamilians and a variety of other auspicious events around other communities in India, we had our wonderful pooja at Wahiawa which was well attended. All devotees were blessed with a variety of food and sweets for the occasion. It is such a joy to see people coming out to enjoy the ceremony and the camaraderie and friendship. Please join us this month when we will be having back to back pooja on the 18th of February celebrating Shivaratri and 19th of February on the 3rd Sunday of the month.  |
| Upcoming LOTUS Events We are planning a Holi celebration at the Kaala Park in Wahiawa following the regular pooja at the temple. We will have a hosted lunch starting around 2.15 PM following which we will celebrate Holi with colors and whatever else showing restraint with respect to personal choice on the extent of participation. We need people to RSVP and sign up so that we can track the number of people coming to the event to make sure that we have adequate food for everyone. Link to RSVP: https://forms.gle/qUFJihPdXuL8K8sBA We are also planning a Spring Cultural event in early April. Details will be forthcoming. |
| In Memorium: Monomita Roy  Krishna passed away on December 14, 2022. A long time resident of Oahu and a Professor at Kapiolani Community College, she was a quiet supporter of community activities. Here is a link to her obituary in the Star Advertiser |
| February/March 2023 Calendar: February 18 – Shivaratri – Wahiawa Temple Pooja at noon February 19 – Wahiawa Temple Pooja Day March 8 – Holi and International Women’s Day March 19 = Wahiawa Temple Pooja Day and LOTUS Holi Celebration Day March 21 – Parsi New Year and Vernal Equinox March 22 – Gudi Padwa and Ugadi March 30 – Rama Navami |
