The North Bay Hindu Center is excited to welcome you to the Grand Opening of Śrī Shakti Temple this Saturday, February 11, 2023 from 5 to 7:30 PM.
If you and your family plan to attend, please take note of ALL of the following so you are prepared and help all attendees experience a blessed and efficient event:
PARKING
Please review information on the temple location and entrance on the TEMPLE page of our website. If you do not finding parking in the parking lot, please make sure you park on the street.
ARCHANA
As mentioned in the original event post, starting after Aarti at approximately 6:30 PM, Pandit Viswanathan will perform archana in 5 rounds:
Each round will have up to 20 people total; only these 20, the priest and a few volunteers will be in the temple space during this time; everyone else can stay in the waiting room
Each round will last approximately 10 minutes
Sign-ups for 5 time slots will be available at the temple when you arrive. This is counter to our prior mention of an online sign-up. Instead, this will be on a first-come, first-serve basis
What is archana? Archana is a personal, abbreviated puja done by a priest in which your name, birth star and family lineage is recited to invoke personal blessings.
CAPACITY AND WAITING ROOM
The temple space can hold approximately 20 people at a time, but we have utilized a system of an "on-deck" waiting line and providing a waiting room to accommodate this. Please note the following:
It is important to remind everyone that most of our future temple celebrations will occur in the downstairs hall, so this is likely a one-time need.
The first 20 people will be allowed to sit in the temple space during the program. Once we have 20 people, we will start counting down 15 minutes.
The next 20 people will be asked to wait in line, and will go in once the 15 minutes are up.
The remaining devotees will be asked to stay in the waiting room. If you are arrive and are asked to go to the waiting room, you will be able to sign up for the next available 15 minute spot.
This system will be in place through aarti.
AARTI
Given the above waiting system, we will only have 20 people in the temple during aarti, but the aarti will be taken out to the waiting room for everyone to receive blessings from the holy flame.
PRASAD AND DEPARTURE
Once aarti is complete, we ask that you please take a "to-go" prasad and quietly leave. If you are waiting for your turn for archana, you can wait in the waiting room and collect your prasad at that time. If you want to wait an hour while all the archana rounds are complete, you can quickly offer your namaskar at the very end. We ask that whichever you choose, that you be mindful of everyone else and the need to close the temple in a timely manner.
COOPERATION
As the saying goes, cooperation makes you happy. We ask that you be patient and cooperative with the system described above. Your help in ensuring the above will go a long way in making a successful program. As a reminder here is the program:
PROGRAM
5:00 pm Sankalpa
5:15 to 5:45 pm Ganesh Abhishekam
5:45 to 6:00 pm Alangaram
6:00 to 6:30 pm Puja
6:30 pm Aarti
6:30 to 7:20 pm Archana (5 batches of up to 20 people each)
Hari ॐ