Malibu

My first trip was the week after i came here.....it was to Malibu. We made a visit to the Temple there , which is listed as "Hindu Temple"............ guess that came as a surprise for me :) for obviously none of us would expect that there would be temples in every nook and corner as we are used to in India, but then one would naturally expect that at least the temples name be the Chief residing deity's name , that of Lord Venkateshwara!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To those who do not know about the Hindu Deity , let me explain. Lord Venkateshwara , also known as Venkatachalapathy /Srinivasa /Balaji and is a form of the Hindu God , Vishnu. In Tamil , he is known as Perumal. Venkateshwara means the Lord who destroys the sins of the people. According the Hindu scriptures, Vishnu, out of love towards his devotees, incarnated as Venkateshwara and appeared for the salvation and upliftment of humanity in this Kali Yuga and is considered the supreme form of Vishnu in this age.

The name Venkateshwara can be split into multiple parts in Sanskrit: Ven (sins), kata (destroyer), and ishwara (Supreme Lord). Using this etymology, Venkateshwara refers to the Supreme Lord who destroys sins.

We made the trip to the temple first for it was our elders insistence that it was the first time in a new country and we shud begin it by visiting a temple. And i guess explaining that its a 90 minute drive one way does not convince the elderly and they are very insistent that theres no option but paying a visit to the temple :).

And to top it then begins the explanation - The month that we came here was the first week in October and as per the Tamil Calendar its the belief that the month of "Purattaasi"(mid September to mid October) is the month of Lord Venkateshwara and going on a Saturday to his temple is very auspicious.

Purattaasi is auspicious to the effect that, most of the non-vegetarian Tamil people do not eat meat during the month. This faith can be considered much similar to the fasting by Muslims during the month of Ramadan. Each Saturday of this month is set apart to venerate the planet Saturn.

Considering all the explanations and to add to the fact that my hubby dear is an ardent devotee of the Lord , we decided that it would be better not to give any reason or excuse , so we made the trip :). Guess its not possible for us to make a trip every week or every fortnight for something or the other does crop up, but we do visit the temple once in a month. Of course we made a visit this year also for the month of Purattaasi :).

I think i shud add that i also enjoi the drive along the PCH( Pacific Coast Highway) everytime i make a trip to Malibu.

To conclude ..... as per Hindu mythology its the belief that Lord Venkateswara borrowed a heavy sum from Lord Kubera(Lord of Riches) to get married to his consort and is still repaying his loan to Lord Kubera.Based on the pact that Venkateswara agreed upon with Lord Kubera, monetary donations know no limit at temples where a statue of Venkateswara can be found.

Before i wind up let me add that the Lord Venkateshwara Temple in Malibu is one among the famous Venkateshwara temples that have been built abroad.

Adieu for now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!