Activities and Schedule

The temple maintains a website where all temple functions, activities and events are published with their specific dates and times. In general, the SVVS Temple Society currently provides its members with a calendar listing of its activities for all major Hindu holidays, including special pujas and functions during Ganesh Chaturti, Varalakshmi Utsavam, Navaratri, Deepavali (Diwali), and other major festival days. Additionally, the temple often serves as a venue for children’s religion classes, music classes, and other youth activities. The temple society frequently sponsors various Carnatic music concerts and dance programs in the city, and its members often play an active role in their production. The temple maintains regular hours during the weekdays and weekends, and special private functions can be arranged through the priests by individuals if desired.

History

The late 1980’s saw the departure of a segment of the New Orleans Hindu community from the first Hindu society in the city, the Hindu Temple Society of New Orleans, due to ideological differences about temple administration, disagreement over whether to construct a new edifice or purchase and convert an existing structure, and regional differences in worship traditions and beliefs. Immediately, plans were begun for the construction of a brand new, independent, free-standing Hindu temple in New Orleans. Subsequently, this group purchased a plot of land in Kenner, in the vicinity of the New Orleans International Airport, and within a few years, a brand new structure was completed and dedicated as the Vinayaka (Ganesha) sanctuary for a forthcoming large temple structure, dedicated to Sri Veera Venkata Satyanarayana. The Mahakumbabhishekam was held in January of 1994. Since that time, the temple society has grown and gained a regular membership of approximately 200-250 families. Devotees are mostly South Indians, but Hindus from other regions and linguistic affiliations also attend. The main portion of the temple that is to be dedicated to Satyanarayana is still in the blueprint stages, but additional land purchases have been made and there are hopes to begin the construction of this structure soon. For now, the Vinayaka temple houses a stone murti of Ganesha in the main garbagrha, and utsava murtis of other deities including Lord Venkateshwara, Goddess Padmavati, Rama, Sita, Lakshmana, Radha, Krishna, and others surround the Ganesha murti. The temple is composed of a large hall housing the deities with ample floor seating for devotees, a small kitchen for the preparation of prasadam, or sanctified food, a medium-sized trailer in the backyard outfitted with a ventilation system for homams, or fire sacrifices, and well-tended gardens in the front and rear of the temple for the cultivation of flowers for worship. An apartment complex located next door to the building houses the two priests currently officiating at the temple.

Location and Directions

Refer to the SVVS temple's official website for directions and/or a current contact person, to provide further information on visiting the temple.