Sri Meenakshi Temple Annual Dinner – Prahara Sumpurnam

Photos: Setty

Photos: Setty

By: S. Narayanan

PEARLAND: “Prahara Sumpurnam”, the Sri Meenakshi Temple annual dinner was held on Sunday, July 9th. Fundraising was done for the Corner Temple Renovation Project, the third phase of the religious renovation project at MTS. The decorations including beautiful temple golu figurines were mesmerizing. The social hour began with a silent auction, as well as an awe inspiring magic act that entertained the guests. The devotees enjoyed the social hour so much that it was a feat to move everyone into the Youth Center for the program.  

The program started auspiciously with the priest’s invocation and was then handed over to the two vibrant masters of ceremony, Anu Narayanan and Haripriya Sundar, who did a wonderful job keeping the program enjoyable and on time.

Chairman Narayanan welcomed everyone and talked about the phenomenal fundraising success so far, including having raised over 1.3 Million dollars for the project with more donations forthcoming.  Honorable Pearland Mayor Tom Reid discussed the long-term growth of the Temple and associated the growth with the city of Pearland. The Mayor was proud to say he is an honorary member of the Temple family.

MTS-in-2

Divyaa Unni’s Sreepadam School of Arts performed a captivating Ganesha dance as the audience watched with pin drop silence. Secretary Prasad thanked everyone on the fundraising committee for their outstanding job. Dr. Appan, one of the co-chairs of the fundraising committee, spoke about the amazing success MTS has had in raising money. Over the last six years we have done three major projects without any loans as the devotees have continuously supported the Temple. Dr. Appan also emphasized the many young devotees donating to the project, highlighting the importance of this for the future growth of the Temple.

This year we had a unique and entertaining magic show by David Hira. David amazed everyone with his magic to the point that the audience could not believe what they were seeing. He connected his childhood story and showed us that anything can be done if we believe in it. All in all, the magic show, which was done for the first time at the annual dinner, was a big hit.

The construction committee chair AVN Reddy gave a brief description of the project and provided a detailed report about the construction progress. Vinod Kaila joined with AVN and acknowledged all the construction committee members.

Treasurer Sasi announced the amount of total funds raised and thanked all the donors for their contributions. The second dance for Lord Siva by the students was unbelievably good. Dr. Kamala Raghavan then announced all of the scholarship winners and Mayor Tom Reed and Frost Bank Chairman Mike Clements distributed the scholarships to the 14 students. The names of the recipients is given at the end of this article. To conclude the program Sreepadam students showcased a beautiful performance about Goddess Devi. The sit-down family style dinner catered by Udupi was served sharp at 8:30 pm and enjoyed by all the guests. Chairman Narayanan thanked the Board and Advisory Council for their support for the project and hard work for the Temple.

Secretary Prasad thanked everyone who helped for the annual dinner. The event was a huge success, including fundraising, a beautiful program, and a delicious dinner. The guests had a marvelous time.

Scholarship Winners

• Sanjay Annigeri
• Tanuj Girish
• Peyton Green
• Maya  Iyer
• Divya  Jain
• Preeti Kannan
• Avinash Kotecha
•Ambhika Maharaj
• Tejas Murali
•Avinash Nair
•Shruti Narayanan
• Vyas Ramankulangara
• Shil Shukla
•Hannah Spencer