The son of Shiva and Parvati, Ganesha has an elephantine countenance with a curved trunk and big ears,and a huge pot-bellied body of a human being. He is the Lord of success and destroyer of evils and obstacles. He is also worshiped as the god of education, knowledge, wisdom and wealth. In fact, Ganesha is one of the five prime Hindu deities (Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva and Durga being the other four) whose idolatry is glorified as the panchayatana puja. Ganesha's head symbolizes the Atman or the soul, which is the ultimate supreme reality of human existence, and his human body signifies Maya or the earthly existence of human beings. The elephant head denotes wisdom and its trunk represents Om, the sound symbol of cosmic reality. On this very auspicious day of Gudi Padwa/Ugadi, we wish you happy new year and unveil our new logo. May Lord Ganesha remove the Obstacles of your life; provide you with auspicious Beginnings; inspire you with creativity; and bless you with intellect and wisdom! We will start to incorporate the MHT logo (and its variations) in our materials soon. This logo has been seen and approved by the MHT board. A big thanks to Madhavi Bhola for her design of the logo. All rights to the logo are reserved by MHT.

MHT is planning to celebrate its anniversary with Sarva Devatha Homam and Sathyanarayana Swamy puja. You are cordially invited to celebrate MHT anniversary and offer prayers for receiving blessings. Priest Bhairavji from Boston will be performing the following puja. MHT is also looking for sponsorship of this event. Homam and Satyanarayana puja : $316 (only 1 slot ) Satyanarayana Swamy puja : $75 (11 slots available). MHT will supply all the puja material including angavastram(Towel) for men. Saturday, February 15th Event starts at 2.30 pm 2:30 pm – 3 pm NATYANJALI (Indian classical dance by kids) 3.00 pm - 4:30 pm GANAPATHY PUJA SANKALPAM POORVANGA PUJA GANAPATHY & ALL DEVATHA HOMAM POORNAHUTHY RECITE ALL DONOR'S AND MEMBERS 4:45 pm - 6:30 pm SATHYANARAYANA PUJA AARTI 7.00 pm PRASHAD DISTRIBUTION 7:30 pm CLEANUP Advance ticket RSVP is required for performing the Puja ceremony. RSVP to info@mainehindutemple.org Volunteer needed for registration, decoration, perform Puja, crowd control, Prasad distribution and clean up. Please sign up for any of the seva on this Anniversary celebration. The community members are encouraged to bring Flowers, Fruits and Prasad. Please email info@mainehindutemple.org or call (207) 370-0475 to confirm your Prasad dish. Thank you for your continued support. We are looking forward to this 2014 year to celebrate all the auspicious festivals like last year with you. Sincerely, MHT Board

Dear Community Members, Thank you! We greatly appreciate your donation to MHT and hope that you will continue to extend your generous support. Any donation has tax deduction advantage under 501 (C) (3). The month of January was bittersweet for Maine Hindu Temple. We learned that our board president, Mr. Deven Bhatt is leaving the state of Maine to be with his family in Virginia. We are very happy that he is going to be closer to his family, yet sad that one of the pillars of our community would be moving away. We thank Deven Bhatt for all his contributions to Maine Hindu Temple and wish him all the best for life ahead. He will be sorely missed. The Board met on January 18th and considered all option for MHT president succession plan and Devi Maganti has been unanimously elected as MHT president. Devi's commitment to the temple's well being and to the community is why she was elected to this post. Please join us in congratulating her. Deva will continue to taking care of MHT finance including Devi’s current role and Mayu will be handling all forms of communication. Venu will continue to be a vice president and assist wherever necessary. Prakash Bhai, Kiran Bhai and Avinash will continue to be advisors to the board as well as assist wherever necessary. This brings up a great opportunity for community members to step in and be part of the board. We are looking for community members to volunteer their time for the betterment of this temple and community. Please see any existing board member if you are interested. Motions below have been passed by the existing board. 1. Approved maximum of 5K for heating and other basement fittings 2. Approved funds for conducting special pooja for all 2014 MHT members and donors during upcoming festival conducted with help of Poojari 3. Allocate 5K current winder utility endowment and 4. Allocate 5K for insulation and Building rehabilitation 5. Prioritize short term plan such as renovating stage, wall mount photographs. Upcoming Events We have quite a few upcoming events in Feb Feb 1 - Ayyapa Swami Pooja Feb 3 - Vasant Panchami Saraswati Pooja Feb 10 - Bhishma Ekadashi Feb 15 - MHT 1st Anniversary Feb 22 - Bhajan Sandhya Feb 27 - Maha Shivratri Celebration Devotees are welcome to bring Flowers, Fruits and Prashad. Please check the calender for details. In addition, we have Sai Baba Bhajan every Thursday at 6:00 PM. MHT would also like to thank Dr. Praphul Joshi for volunteering to teach Carnatic Music to children. He is an accomplished musician and the community members have experienced his divine classical singing during festivals at MHT. We are very fortunate to have such talent within the community and the offer to teach our unique, heritage and culture with traditional classical lessons. First inaugural class will start on Feb 2nd. If you would like to volunteer for singing/teaching/writing/crafts for young children, please let us know. In addition, board will explore commitment from community for an in house Poojari as long term MHT sustainment and kitchen upgrade. If you have any questions or concerns, please email info@mainehindutemple.org (mailto:info@mainehindutemple.org) or call (207) 370-0475 Thank you for your continued support. We are looking forward to celebrating all the auspicious festivals this year with you. Sincerely, MHT Board