Chinmaya Mission Pittsburgh, an Indian group that has been based in Monroeville, is opening a new Hindu temple and community center called Chinmaya Amarnath near Mars in Butler County with festivities and ceremonies this week.
From left: Reva Mendon, 9, of Mars; Shruti Visveish, 9, of Gibsonia; Aarav Mendon, 11, of Mars; and Satwik Atmuri, 6, of Wexford, react as Abilene the cow swings around to greet them Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022, during the opening festivities for Chinmaya Amarnath, a new Hindu temple and community center near Mars in Butler County. Abilene and her 3-month-old calf, Alamo, were brought to the temple from Tunnel Hill Farm in Leechburg to be involved in the procession and opening ceremonies. (Morgan Timms/Post-Gazette)Clockwise from left: Mars residents Sahasra Vella, 12; Shreeya Tulasi, 11; Aarav Mendon, 11; and Sai Yallalacheruvu, 11; chat about the latest season of the online streaming show “Stranger Things” Friday, Aug. 19, 2022, during a break in the opening festivities for Chinmaya Amarnath, a new Hindu temple and community center near Mars in Butler County. (Morgan Timms/Post-Gazette)Rupa Bhashyam Rajupet of Fox Chapel touches the base of a marble statue of Shiva on Friday, Aug. 19, 2022, outside Chinmaya Amarnath, a new Hindu temple and community center near Mars in Butler County. The white marble statue will be situated in the center’s meditation room. (Morgan Timms/Post-Gazette)Community members place turmeric and chandan (sandalwood) in a ritual that honors the cow for its contribution to their welfare Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022, during the opening festivities for Chinmaya Amarnath, a new Hindu temple and community center near Mars in Butler County. Cows are sacred in Hindu culture, especially for the sustenance their milk provides to rural communities. (Morgan Timms/Post-Gazette)Sreya Padamati of Cranberry shares a moment with her mom, Chinmaya Mission Pittsburgh Director Saraswathy Padamati of Cranberry, on Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022, during the opening festivities for Chinmaya Amarnath, a new Hindu temple and community center near Mars in Butler County. “I just feel so honored that I could be here for this once-in-a-lifetime event,” Sreya said. “My parents get to play such a big role in this and I love seeing them so happy.” (Morgan Timms/Post-Gazette)Community members form lines to make offerings to each idol before they are transported into the new temple Friday, Aug. 19, 2022, at Chinmaya Amarnath near Mars in Butler County. (Morgan Timms/Post-Gazette)En route to a ceremonial gathering, community members pass the tent housing idols of the temple’s main deity, Shiva, and as well as of Lalitha and Ganesha, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022, during the opening festivities for Chinmaya Amarnath, a new Hindu temple and community center near Mars in Butler County. (Morgan Timms/Post-Gazette)Invocations outside the tents were intended to protect the community from evil Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022, during the opening festivities for Chinmaya Amarnath, a new Hindu temple and community center near Mars in Butler County. (Morgan Timms/Post-Gazette)Participants prepare to wash the idols with milk, water and honey as dusk settles, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022, outside Chinmaya Amarnath near Mars in Butler County. The shiny black granite statues of deities Shiva, Ganesha and Lalitha weighed 1,700 to 2,000 pounds and were shipped from India. “Many of us have been to temples before, many Westerners have been to churches,” said Chinmaya Mission Pittsburgh President Satish Muluk. “But it’s really rare in either tradition to be there at the beginning of it, and to be fortunate enough to be able to participate in that beginning.” (Morgan Timms/Post-Gazette)The statue of Lalitha is bathed in milk and honey as part of a consecration ritual Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022, during the opening festivities for Chinmaya Amarnath, a new Hindu temple and community center near Mars in Butler County. The pre-opening celebration offered community members the rare opportunity to see and touch the idols before they were installed in the temple. (Morgan Timms/Post-Gazette)Saanvi Kumar, 4, of McCandless, rests her head on her dad, Swarun Kumar, while he worships in the waning light outside Chinmaya Amarnath, a new Hindu temple and community center, on Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022, near Mars in Butler County. The week-long celebration contained a series of pujas (worship) and other rituals of Pratishthapana and Kumbhabhishekham, to prepare this new home for the deities and the divine. (Morgan Timms/Post-Gazette)Children jump over a stream of milk used in the bathing of the idols Wednesday night, Aug. 17, 2022, during the opening festivities for Chinmaya Amarnath, a new Hindu temple and community center near Mars in Butler County. (Morgan Timms/Post-Gazette)The weeklong festivities culminated Saturday morning, Aug. 20, 2022, when the idols were installed in the new temple and community center, Chinmaya Amarnath. “The idea is that, until now, they were beautiful but they were just stones,” said Chinmaya Mission Pittsburgh President Satish Muluk. “Through our invocation, we have given them divinity and life, in a sense. But it’s the life that comes from us, from our beliefs and our faith.” (Morgan Timms/Post-Gazette)Morning sunlight falls on worshippers in the new temple as they form a line to visit the newly-installed idols Saturday, Aug. 20, 2022, at Chinmaya Amarnath near Mars in Butler County. (Morgan Timms/Post-Gazette)Four-year-old Lalitha Puvvala shares a moment with her mom, Swetha Gummadi of Wexford, on Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022, during the opening festivities for Chinmaya Amarnath, a new Hindu temple and community center near Mars in Butler County. (Morgan Timms/Post-Gazette)Dozens of lotuses are prepared for ritual use Saturday, Aug. 20, 2022, during the opening festivities for Chinmaya Amarnath, a new Hindu temple and community center near Mars in Butler County. (Morgan Timms/Post-Gazette)Community members gather on the steps of the new Hindu temple and community center Chinmaya Amarnath on Friday, Aug. 19, 2022, near Mars in Butler County. (Morgan Timms/Post-Gazette)
Community members run a fire stick around the perimeter of the new temple Wednesday night, Aug. 17, 2022, as part of a prayer to frighten away the bad spirits that might inhabit the building. (Morgan Timms/Post-Gazette)
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