Satguru Visits Dallas/Fort Worth

The final stretch of Bodhinatha's and Senthilnathaswami's recent visit to Texas took place in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, a vast area with several major cities, dozens of suburbs and a large Hindu population spread throughout.

The first stop was the new temple that is currently under construction in the southwest corner of Fort Worth, the only temple in the DFW Metroplex east of Irving. This location will be crucial, offering a major place of worship that isn't an hour's drive for those who live in this area. The temple's murtis are about to be shipped from Chennai, and the mahakumbhabhishekam date has been set for early June. Bodhinatha will be back then to preside at the event.

An outing to the Dallas World Aquarium with the Param family was great fun, complete with crocodiles, toucans, sloths, exotic amphibians, sharks and a giant manatee, among other attractions.

In Irving, Bodhinatha was the honored guest at the home of Srinivas Bhamidhipaty, a key leader of the Sivam Group, which meets regularly to chant Sri Rudram and perform elaborate Linga puja. The family visited Kauai Aadheenam last year and extended the invitation, and the date happened to be their wedding anniversary. Blessings were flowing strong in Irving!

The last event was a lecture at the Sri Ganesha Temple in Plano. This is also a new temple, currently operating out of a modified house, with a double-wide trailer for classrooms. They broke ground for the building of the new temple structure recently, but currently struggle, as many projects are these days, with raising enough funds. In an area that already has a couple dozen temples, the challenge is understandable. Bodhinatha continued blessings are a boon for their success.

Hindu Temple of Greater Fort Worth

Bodhinatha, Dr. Boyareddi and the temple construction site supervisor

Bodhinatha gets the VIP tour of the new space, which is large, contains two major shrines (Sivalinga and Balaji) and six minor shrines.

It\

s going to be a gorgeous space when it\'s finished in another couple months.'

Back at the hotel, Dr. Boyareddi, the chairman of the Fort Worth temple, seeks Bodhinatha\

s ongoing advice about the project and the future management of the temple'

Out at lunch one day at a vegan Vietnamese restaurant in Dallas, 9-year-old Bodhi Param learns from Bodhinatha how to use chopsticks

The Dallas Aquarium had perhaps more exotic birds and land mammals from around the world as it had aquatic creatures

Yep. Flamingos!

Srinivas Bhamidhipaty and his wife and relatives greet Bodhinatha at their home

The traditional pada puja before entering the home, among frenzied Sri Rudram chanting

Bodhinatha gave a wonderful talk to a group of about 60 who had gathered for the function

At the home of Girish Soni and family in Flower Mound, Bodhinatha was asked to affix rakhis to everyone\

s wrists as a mark of spiritual brotherhood'

Bodhinatha gives a talk to a small gathering in a temporary classroom facility of the Sri Ganesha Temple in Plano

An irresistible shot of the less-snowy-than-normal Sierra Nevadas on the way back to San Francisco

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