Srinivasar Sannadhi

As part of the activities that Vedics conducted to help tsunami affected areas, in chennai, Vedics (upon the request of the local community) built a Srinivasar Sannadhi inside a temple that locals visit daily - The purpose was to provide a perumAL sannadhi that local people can worship perumAL in on saturdays and other important days/festivals.

Thanks to generous donors, Vedics completed the sannadhi, and consecreted the temple in mid September. Some photos of the consecretion, and of purattAsi saturday worship being conducted in teh temple are present on this blog (please scroll down).

Vedics thanks all the donors for having contributed to this cause.

Ramanuja dAsAs

Srinivasar Sannadhi Consecretion photos - 7

Srinivasar Sannadhi Consecretion photos - 6

Srinivasar Sannadhi Consecretion photos - 5

Srinivasar Sannadhi Consecretion photos - 5

Srinivasar Sannadhi Consecretion photos - 4

Srinivasar Sannadhi Consecretion photos - 3

Srinivasar Sannadhi Consecretion photos - 2

Srinivasar Sannadhi Consecretion

The following are pictures from the consecration of the Srinivasar Sannadhi that VEdics built in foreshore estate in chennai. This sannadhi was built in the same area where Vedics provided tsunami assistance at the request of local people to have a perumAL sannadhi to conduct worship on saturdays and other important occasions.

Update on JUly 15, 2005

On july 10th, the boat/net for fishermen were handed over in chennai. A few photos of the handover function has been added to this blog. On 10th itself, the boat was put to use for fishing purposes. The fishermen were extremely pleased and relieved to recieve their livelihood back after 6 months. They even took a few volunteers out to the sea on the boat for a ride :).

Though there were a few months delay due to (i) some confusion about the government buying boats for fishermen and vedics did not want to duplicate efforts, and (ii) boat ordering/building time of around 2.5 months, we are happy that we have put our donors money to good use. This will help in the livelihood of many families.

We will be remiss if we did not mention the good organization shown by the youth in the colony. They organized all efforts in the colony, and were in constant touch with vedics, providing local input. For example, one of the ideas that we were considering was to build a few houses (however many we can build, with the funds we collect) so that atleast a few families will have their shelter back - we had an assumption that other agencies will do similr work for other houses; but this committee of youth provided input saying that things are likely to take time to build, and if we end up building only a few houses, it will cause issues in the colony between those who have houses rebuilt, and those who don't have. At this trying time, they did not want to create any room for disunity within the colony. So, they suggested that we strongly reconsider the plan, and we did. They organized the colony efforts around distribution of all Vedics help, and for the boat, they will organize rotating shifts so that people from many families will get to earn their livelihood, even though it is only one boat.

In fact, when the boat help did not reach them even in March, they got the local MLA's help in certifying that they need the boat (got a letter), which Vedics confirmed with the local inspector and then proceeded. This level of good organization is a strong motivator for all Vedics volunteers in the field. You can see the local fisherman colony organizers in one of the photos.

A pending item in the colony is the construction of the Srinivasa Perumal sannadhi, which will be done over the next month. The kumbhabhishekam for the whole temple they have is scheduled for late August, and they will have a new Srinivasa Perumal Sannadhi in the temple, thanks to our donors. This will be of great help, as the local people can conduct their Saturday worship in the area, without going far. We will update this blog as more details become availabe.

Once again, we would like to thank our donors for making a difference.

adiyEn rAmanuja dAsan,
varadhan
(on behalf of Vedics).

Vedics Tsunami Help Project
Vedics Tsunami Help Project

Vedics Tsunami help project
Vedics Tsunami Help Project

Vedics boat handover ceremony pictures
Vedics Tsunami Help Project

Fishermen preparing for launch of Boat
Vedics Tsunami Help Project

Update on June 23

dear all,

The Vedics Tsunami Help Project is nearing completion. The following are the key items of work/help being done currently

(i) A new fiberglass boat, high quality fishing net and a good motor have been bought to provide to a group of families in a fishing colony in chennai. These were on order for a couple of months now, and they were being manufactured. You can see pictures of the boat, net and the motor iif you scroll down in this blog.
(ii) A small Srinivasa perumal sannadhi is being built in the colony, upon request of the people there. The temple frame can be seen also if you scroll down.
(iii) Once the boat is fitted with the motor and things are finalized, there will be a handover ceremony. We will post pictures of the ceremony after it happens.
(iv) The srinivasa perumal sannadhi is likely to take another month or so to complete. We will post pictures as and when more work is done. We are currently a bit short of funds for this, and are figuring out our plan of action.

The total cost of the above 4 items so far has been around $3600 dollars, with pending work of about $1000 left to do.

Summary of Tsunami help done so far
(i) provision of notebooks/books for schoolchildren in affected areas - Jan/Feb '05
(ii) provision of drinking water pots to a whole colony in chennai - Jan '05
(iii) provision of miscellaneous help (food, clothing etc.) as needed - minor work, but done in a few areas
(iv) provision of fishing equipment (boat, net, motor) to a few families - in progress
(v) provision of a new srinivasa perumal sanandhi in a fishing colony - in progress

We thank all of our donors and volunteers that have helped us through this so far. We will post further updates, and a final statement of accounts once all the work has been completed to this blog in the next couple of months,

adiyen ramanuja dasan,
varadhan

Frame of the Srinivasa Temple/Sannadhi being built in the colony
Vedics Tsunami Help Project

Motor to be fitted on the boat
Vedics Tsunami Help Project

High quality net
Vedics Tsunami Help Project

Fiberglass boat waiting on the beach
Vedics Tsunami Help Project

project update

comittment rececieved so far from donors : ~ $12,000

Projects executed so far in India

• distribution of stainless steel pots to about 1000 families - ~ $3200
• distribution of books/notebooks to school childred - ~ $600

Projects that will be executed in the next 2-3 weeks

• repair of nets/boats for a few fishermen families - ~ $3000

Projects being investigated for longer term relief

• build houses for a handful of families - this will be basically by taking part in a larger effort in an area near chidambaram, where around 300 houses are planned to be built; each house can house 2 families, and costs around $2000. cost of resettling a family (buy utensils, household supplies etc.) is estimated to be around $500. For a total of around $5000-$5500, we can help settle 2 families. decision to be made in the next 2-3 weeks.
• build a community hall for a village near kalpakkam - kanchipuram district collecter recommended this project; community hall will help for village gatherings and during rain - expected cost is around $12000. this is being investigated for (i) utility value, and (ii) permission from the local authorities for land etc.
• help with retraining for families affected - especially for families that have lost the main breadwinner - this is being investigated.. more details as we get more information
• expansion of fish net/boat repair effort to more families.

for questions, in India, please contact srI TNS Narayanan @ 044-24412209; in the US, please contact Varadhan @ tavaradhan@yahoo.com

varadhan

coordination with srI mAdhavan svAmi's efforts

Vedics India is aware of srI mAdhavan svAmi's efforts, and is thinking through how best to provide support/team up with this project.

more details as they become available.

Varadhan

Need for Coordination Action

Information obtained through my brother (Kannan) in the field, who is working with sri Tirukkoshtiyur madhavan swamy:

• Kannan and two friends went to the tsunami affected area with Sri Madhavan swamy - around Annan Kovil (Srinivsa Perumal). They took vessels, plates, new clothing - 300 sets (shirts, sarees, lungi, bed sheets, jamakkaLam etc) worth 2 lakhs for distribution last week. All the villages in the coastal area have been hit hard and the destruction is quite unprecedented.
• They visited some of the worst affected villages, numbering about a dozen; They have identified 3 villages that have not received any help. These three villages have been identified for further development.
• Christian missioneries are very active in several such areas, to use this opportunity to convert people. Sri Madhavan swamy has come up with a plan to pre-empt such unethical, situation-driven conversions

Their group will adopt a model village, giving them total support so that they can get back to their daily work framework and not become dependent on external assistance for continued sustenance. To this end, they have identified avillage at Poompuhar (close to Thiru Annan Kovil) with 300 families:

1. Provide 150 fishing nets (costing Rs.3000 each). each net can support 2 fishermen. they fish in groups. they have the boats. so all they need is the basic infrastructure to get back to work.
2. build 300 homes (twin home blocks - ground + 1st). each block would cost Rs. 80000.

This project would be named "Sri Ramanuja Nagar" and the streets would be named after Azhwars. Part of the project is building a temple for Thayar and Matsyamurthi and a sannidhi for Emberumanar. This model can be used with other villages.

Sri Madhavan Swamy has spoken to Sri Velukkudi Krishnan swamy as well as Sri Tridandi jeer swamy. They have expressed their total appreciation and support for this plan of action. The three are to meet on Jan 17 to review progress and discuss expansion opportunities.

Sri Madhavan Swamy has also informed the Media of this plan and has suggested that more people, organizations should adopt a village and help re-build in such a way that we provide them the kind of support that would give them a framework to re-start their normal lives.

Can Vedics India work together with srI madhavan swamy to adopt a village and build on the kainkaryam that we have begun? It would be fruitful to have all the different srI vaishnava organizations, groups, come together and work in a coordinated way.

ramanuja dasan,

sridhar

brief update from kAnchipuram district collector meeting

from guNa,

• Today we had a good meeting with Kanchipuram Collector and we gave a request to them to identify a small village where we can concentrate on their need
• He was suggesting that a community hall is a better option for us
• Now Govt is planning to provide immediate needs like food and also trying to get them in sea for business and he explained about the loans for boats etc.
• He will come back to us in 2 days
• Meanwhile our Chidambaram people have been contacted for support of Books of10 std students who got affected by this Tsunami and yesterday, we gave a go ahead signal to them.

T.A.Varadhan