About Our Temple
Twelve families, one lamp, and a door that has stayed open every day since 1908.
We Are A Hindu Temple That Lives By Seva
Twelve families pooled what they had for a single lamp and a rented room. The lamp has not gone out since, and the room became a temple with a kitchen, a school and a hall that seats eight hundred.
- Daily Aarti
- Five times, every day
- Annadanam
- Free meal at noon, open to all
- Vedic School
- 64 students, ages 7 to 16
- Priests
- Six, trained in the agama tradition
Sri Anantha Sharma
Head Priest · Since 1994
A Century Of Unbroken Worship
Five moments that made the temple what it is today.
The First Lamp
Twelve families light a single ghee lamp in a rented room on Mission Street and agree to keep it burning.
The Gopuram Rises
Craftsmen from Mahabalipuram carve the five-tier tower that still marks the temple from the highway.
A Kitchen That Never Closes
Annadanam begins with forty plates on Sundays. Today the kitchen serves a free meal every single day.
The Vedic School
Sri Anantha Sharma arrives as head priest and opens a weekend school for chanting and Sanskrit.
Darshan For Every Home
Two cameras go up in the sanctum, and every aarti is streamed to families in eleven time zones.
Some Important Life Lessons From The Bhagavad Gita
Karmanye vadhikaraste, ma phaleshu kadachana
You have a right to your work, never to its fruits. Let the work itself be the offering.
Uddhared atmanatmanam, natmanam avasadayet
Lift yourself by your own self. The mind is the friend of the one who has mastered it.
Patram pushpam phalam toyam, yo me bhaktya prayacchati
A leaf, a flower, a fruit or water, offered with devotion, I accept with joy.
The Hands That Keep The Rites
Sri Anantha Sharma
Sri Gopal Rao
Sri Karthik Bhat
People Ask Questions Related To Hinduism
No. The doors are open to everyone. We only ask that shoes are left at the rack and that phones stay silent in the sanctum.
Modest clothing that covers the shoulders and knees. Shawls are kept at the entrance for anyone who would like one.
Yes. Fruit, flowers and sealed sweets are welcome at the offering counter, where a priest will place them before the deity.
The temple teaches the Gita, not a single answer. The Sunday discourse takes up a question like this every month, and everyone is welcome to ask.
Come For Darshan, Stay For Prasad
The gates open at half past five. There is always a seat, and always a meal.