Have you ever imagined a place that borders various regions of the United States altogether? Maryland is a place that has all those characteristics. Maryland is a place near the Atlantic Region of the United States and has its borders that is adjoining Columbia district, Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and the Atlantic Ocean.
Why Maryland is known as the Miniature and Replica of America?
The place has been called America’s miniature because of the wide topography across its borders. This place is filled with many oak trees in the hills of the Piedmont region, and many pine trees are present in the Maryland Mountains. This place has a lot of sandbanks that are present in the eastern region of this place. The beauty of the Atlantic region makes this place more attractive and mesmerizing to its visitors.
Why Shiva Vishnu Temple of Maryland, United States is famous?
This temple is famous and well known due to its presence as one of the largest Hindu temples in the United States Region.
Who manages all the affairs of the Shiva Vishnu Temple of Maryland?
Sri Siva Vishnu Trust is primarily responsible for looking after this temple’s daily affairs. The primary duties of the trust include-
- Management of the daily visitors
- Drafting of temple rules
- Applying for the government grants
- Providing the best facilities to the visitors
- Ensuring the good food and Prasad quality to the temple visitors.
- Ensuring enough accommodation facilities for the temple visit.
- All the construction and expansion work of the temple is under the hand of the trust
- Holding of the various temple programs daily.
- Delivering the right information to the temple regular members and visitors from time to time.
- Managing the donations received by the temple on a monthly and yearly basis.
- Keeping the records of all the accounts of the temple.
When was the construction o fthe Shiva Vishnu Temple of Maryland began
According to the historical records available on the websites, the Vishnu temple of the Maryland overall construction took place between the years 1988 to 2002. The table below is showing the year wise construction development of this temple:
| Year | The development activities of the temple |
| 1980 | The idea of the construction of this temple emerged; a group of friends has decided in the late seventies, that a place for Hindu worship must be constructed in the United States. In 1980, this idea blossomed and the temple construction was started. |
| 1984 | The Sri Siva Vishnu Temple authority has taken overland to start the construction of this temple. This land was taken with a small house already built on the same. The land was situated in the suburban region of Washington, United States. |
| 1984 | The house that was taken with the land acquisition of this temple already has the constructed shrines. |
| 1990 | The first shrine of the temple was constructed in the year 1990 with the presence of 1400 people at the campus. |
| 1991 | The various idols of the deities were placed in the temple in the year 1991. Some more land for the temple expansion has been acquired this year. |
| 2002 | The construction of the new gopurams has been started in this temple for placing the idols of the new deities. |
Who was the architect of theShiva Vishnu Temple of Maryland?
The small house having shrines was rebuilt and Dr, GanapatiSthapati decided the architecture design. He was born in 1927 and served as the head of architecture college and sculptures. He was a learner of VastuShastra. He was a Sthapati, a designation especially given to the people who constructed temples in ancient times. His works include the architecture of the Tamil University building and its library, the architecture of ValluvarKottam at Chennai, and the architecture of the Sri Murugan temple situated at Nadi-Fiji islands.
Which person’s blessings helped in the construction of Shiva Vishnu Temple of Maryland?
The construction of the overall campus of the Vishnu Temple of Maryland has been completed after taking the blessings of Shankracharya. The purpose of developing the largest Hindu temple in the USA having all the basic amenities was completed because of the blessings showered by Shankracharya.
What kind of buildings are already present in the Shiva Vishnu Temple of Maryland?
The temple campus has buildings named gopurams and big gopurams. The famous Rajagopuram and VasanthaMandapam buildings are also present on the temple campus. A well-designed auditorium, a dining hall, and two homakundams are already built at the Vishnu temple campus.
Is Shiva Vishnu Temple, Maryland Buildings are available for leasing or rent purpose?
Yes, the buildings such as the dining hall and auditorium of the temple are open for rent out and leasing purposes to the outsiders for organizing the weddings and other functions.
What is the architectural style of the Shiva Vishnu Temple of Maryland?
The building structure of this temple was constructed based on the South Kanara, Kerala, Vijaynagara, Pallava & Mayan styles of architecture.
The brief of the architecting style of the Shiva Vishnu Temple of Maryland
The Vishnu Temple building was architected after using various designs and styles. The details of these styles have been summarised below for further explanation to the readers:
- South Kanara, Kerala, architecture style is considered one of the famous among all the world architects. This architectural style is famous due to its different designs visible in the construction of the southern temples of India. Nalukettu is a well know South Kanara architecture style. In this style, the main building of the house always has a quadrangle at the center. The Ettukettu and Pathinarukettu are other designs of this architecture style.
- Vijayanagara’s style of architecture is a different style which shows glimpses of the Chola Dynasty construction work in ancient times. This style has mix of Pandya, Chola,Hoysala and Chalukya. This architecture style uses the construction styles of the buildings that have been built under the ruling of these empires. This style is considered as a simple piece of art by various architects.
- Pallava architecture represents the forms of Dravidian art; this art was popular during the rulings of the Chola Dynasty in India. The various architects still love this design for constructing temples and other buildings worldwide.
- Mayan architecture is one of the most sought-out architecture designs due to its lavish styles. In this architecture, the temple is formed by using geometrical proportions. This architecture style includes the construction of multi-level platforms, exceptional roofing styles, staircases, and step-by-step pyramids.
What are the beliefs behind the construction of Shiva Vishnu Temple of Maryland?
The Vishnu Temple of Maryland building was constructed to promote the Hindu Culture worldwide and keep the culture alive among the Indian residents of the United States of America. The main belief for constructing this temple is to transfer the values of the Hindu culture to the upcoming generation staying in the US and other regions of the world. The various immigrants visit this temple due to its beautiful structure and facilities that the trust has provided to maintain this temple affair.
When was the first Kumbabhishekam conducted at the Shiva Vishnu Temple of Maryland?
The first Kumbabhishekam at the Vishnu Temple of Maryland was held in 1991 to celebrate the construction of various shrines of the deities in the main campus of the temple.
When was the Mahakumbabiskem conducted at the Shiva Vishnu Temple of Maryland?
The first Mahakumbabiskem at the Vishnu Temple of Maryland was held in 2002 to celebrate the construction of Rajagopuramand VasanthaMandapamin, the main campus of the temple.
How many Priests are available to perform the prayer activities at the Shiva Vishnu Temple of Maryland?
As per the data gathered from the official website of the temple, a total of eleven priests are available to perform the prayer activities at the Vishnu temple of Maryland.
What are the various rules prevailing at theShiva Vishnu Temple of Maryland?
The main power of the rulings of this temple is under the hands of the Sri Siva Vishnu Temple Trust authorities. This trust is solely responsible for undertaking the important activities of the temple.
- Do you know that this temple donation is tax-free as per the data available for the date of 11-06-1980 on the website of the Internal revenue service’s department?
- The first law of the temple is that all the visitors and members of this temple must obey all the rulings prescribed by the trust.
- The trust government includes three governance boards, a special trustee board, and a general council.
- The code of conduct for the trusted government is prescribed under the legal trust deed of the temple.
- All the trustee board members will act as a member of the trust.
- The trustee board members can be transferred to any position of the general council at any time with the prior permission of the board chairman.
- The people who have donated and transferred $50,000 in the temple fund will act as the legators of the temple trust.
- The guidance will be delivered to the governance board and trustee board from time to time by the members of the senior general counsel.
- The general council will suggest any changes that are required for the advanced rulings of the trust.
- The government members could be replaced and removed at any time by the voting of the general council.
- A special annual meeting to discuss the temple matters must be conducted, and all the general council members must participate in the same.
- The government also forms a dispute resolution committee to solve the disputes related to the temple from time to time.
Who are the main members of the government of the Shiva Vishnu Temple of Maryland?
The names of the main members of the temple government are as follows-
- Smt. BanuRamakrishnan
- Sri. RajashekharDoddanna
- Sri PrabhakarThyagarajan
- Dr.RajagopalaRaoTripuraneni is the president
- Sri. Krishna Bappanad
- Sri MuraliElambilan
- Sri Gunda Reddy
- Sri Bangalore Ravindra
Do you know that Shiva Vishnu Temple Trust of Maryland has formed various committees to control the affairs of the temple?
All of the below-mentioned committees of the temple trust works in the different fields that the temple trust government has assigned.
- The finance committee is the first one that the temple trust has formed to control the financial matters of the temple.
- The operations committee is the second one formed by temple trust to manage the daily operations of the temple effectively.
- The cultural committee is the third one formed by the temple trust to organize all the cultural functions and programs in a better way.
- The education committee is the fourth one formed by the temple trust to provide better education about Hindu culture and values to the children associated with the temple.
- The facilities committee is the fifth one formed by the temple trust to monitor the various engineering services running at the temple campus.
- The Prasadam committee is the sixth one formed by the temple trust to provide better food facilities and Prasad to the temple visitors.
- The youth committee named Aakaar is the seventh one formed by the temple trust to motivate the young children to participate in the temple activities regularly.
What are the visiting hours of the ShivaVishnu Temple of Maryland?
Visiting Hours
The daily prayers at the temple campus start at 9 AM and end at 1 PM session. Similarly, the evening session of prayers starts at 5 PM and ends at 9 PM.
The timing for the weekday prayers is 9 AM (Morning) to 9 PM (Evening).
The week wise prayer schedule of the temple is as follows:
- The temple opening time is 9 AM daily.
- The abhishekam of the deities at the temple takes place at 9:30 AM daily.
- The evening aarti of the temple takes place between 6 to 6:30 PM on daily basis.
What are the lunch and canteen timings of Shiva Vishnu Temple of Maryland?
The canteen timings of the Vishnu Temple of Maryland are as follows:
- The daily timings of the temple canteen are between 6 PM to 9 PM (Evening hours).
- The Saturday and Sunday canteen timings are between 11 AM (morning) to 9 PM (Evening).
- The holiday temple canteen time isbetween 11 AM (morning) to 9 PM (Evening).
How to register as a member, visitor, or volunteer for the Shiva Vishnu Temple of Maryland?
The temple registration procedure for all the people staying worldwide is very easy. Any person can register as a member and volunteer or can take the prayer visiting ticket by accessing the official website of the temple. The registration form is available on the website to be filled. Any person can donate to and sponsor any temple program through this official website only.
Official website source of the temple:https://www.ssvt.org/
Let’s have a look at this upcoming year calendar of the ShivaVishnu Temple of Maryland
Distance, Location and other details of the ShivaVishnu Temple of Maryland
- The temple campus is located inMaryland, Lanham, a place that is located twelve miles away from Washington, United States. A person can reach easily by road, train, and airway.
- Photography is not allowed in the temple premises.
- The main services that are provided are all the visitors can participate in the temple activities, can take accommodation for stay, participate in the volunteer temple programs. Further, Prasadam/food facility is also available for the temple visitors on daily basis.
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