Temple Mission

Sri Ranganatha Seva Samithi was registered in the state of NY on Oct 8, 1987. Soon after, Utsava Vigrahas of the present Sri Ranganatha, Sri Devi, Bhu Devi, Mahalakshmi and Andal prana pratishtha was performed at the Dasavatharam Sannidhi in Srirangam, India in the presence of the 44th Jeeyar. These Vigrahas were air lifted to New York.

For the next 12 years, the Divya Mangala Vigrahas blessed Poorvasramam Venkat Kanumalla at his residence by having Daily Aradhana. During these 12 years, Poorvasramam Venkat swamin and several dedicated volunteers reached out to the devotees to raise the much needed funds for the construction work to begin.

5 acres of land in Pomona, New York was acquired for building the temple. Ground breaking ceremony was performed in 1997 and the first phase of construction was started.

In May, 1999, 10 skilled Stapathis were flown in from India and they worked for 20 months until January 2001, to complete all the traditional temple art work, including the beautiful Pranavakara Vimanam.

As the construction was proceeding, devotees and Sri Vaishnava organizations from all over the US continued to support this project. The second phase of the construction required a fresh infusion of funds. Many devotees took out second mortgages on their homes or borrowed from their retirement or personal savings to help with the temple construction.

By May 2003, the last bank loan was paid off, and the Sri Ranganatha Temple was completely debt-free, just in time for Kumbhabhishekam.

The Three-day Kumbhabhishekam Consecration Ceremony was celebrated during the auspicious period of April 3-5, 2003. Religious scholars and temple officials from India were brought to the US to participate in the ceremony. Agnikundams were set up to conduct the various homams. The Kumbhabhishekam was witnessed by thousands of devotees from USA, Canada and India.

The ceremonies started on April 3rd 2003 and concluded on the early morning of April 5th, at which time the sacred water from the kalasams was offered to the Moolavar deities, Utsava deities and other deities in the Sannidhi.

Immediately following this auspicious event, the Founder Acharya His Holiness Sri Mukkur Azhagiyasingar performed the Samashrayanam (Pancha Samskara) ceremony where Samashraya tapanam (branding) was done on the shoulders of hundreds of devotees along with teaching them about the principles of Sri Vaishnavam and the sanctity of Saranagati to Sri Ranganatha.