Information about this center is no longer updated. This data was last updated on 3 October 2014.
Phone: 201-216-9468[flickr_set id="72157621943016874"]
Affiliation
Shree Sidhi Dham Mandir has no official affiliation. However the current priest and manager, Upendra, briefly served as a priest at the neighboring Govinda Temple on Newark Avenue, for nine months. Upendra’s two brothers are also priests. One, Arovinda Mehta, is the full-time priest of the Shree Sidhi Dham Mandir, and the other, Pravin Mehta, is priest of the Sanatan Temple in Parsipanny.
History
Upendra Mehta came to the U.S. in 1986. His father is Vedanta Acharya at the Unjha Temple in Northern Gujarat. In the early 1990s Upendra served as a priest at the Govinda Temple for nine months. With support he initiated a move to set up the Shree Sidhi Dham Mandir temple.
In February of 1996, he bought an old automobile service garage. After two years of renovation, the project was complete and opened in June 1998.
Activities and Schedule
Open daily from 7:00 A.M to Noon, and 4:30 P.M. to 8:30 P.M., with arti at 7:30 A.M. and 7:30 P.M., and daily abhishekam for the Shiva Lingam from 7:00 A.M. to 7:30 A.M. and 6:30 P.M. to 7:00 P.M. Every Thursday, from 10:00 A.M. to 11:30 A.M., there is an abhishekam for Sai Baba, and a Thursday night arti for Sai Baba at 8:30 P.M. On festival days, the temple is open all day.
The Temple's Images
The images of the temple come from Jaipur, India, all cut from single marble stones. The Shiva Lingam is from the Narmada River in Gujarat. At the image consecration ceremony (June, 1998), an estimated 2100 people were in attendance. The three-day event was officiated by three priests from the U.S. and two from India.
The central image of the temple is Durga. On Durga’s right is Radha-Krishna, and on her left is Lord Shiva, and the lingam. These three images are set off by a short railing. At the place where the railing meets the two walls, there is Hanuman, on Durga’s right, and Ganesha, on her left. Further along the wall to Durga’s right is Sai Baba, and likewise along the left wall is an image of the Trimurthi, Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva.