Fremont, CA   
Lord Jagannath arrived in Fremont After a week long celebration and traditional prayer services, from Math 3 to March 6, the trio of wide-eyed deities of Jagganath (Vishnu) and his siblings Balabhadra and Subhadra were formally installed at the Fremont Hindu Temple and Cultural Center also known as the Vedic Dharma Samaj,

The Fremont Temple is one of the oldest in the SF Bay  area for over two decades, after members of the community banded together and bought a church at the Delaware street location.  Since then the temple has shown steady growth and progress and drawn an increasing number of devotees. Several authentic idols have been acquired and installed over the years, along with expansion of the temple property.

The installation ceremony Murti Sthapana and Prana Pratistha, meaning the breathing in of life into the deities, was attended by hundreds of families from across the state. The inspiration of the famous Jagganath temple of Puri, Orissa was recreated and an exhibition was also presented by the members of the Oriya community, the main moving force behind the installation.

Lord Jagannath or “Lord of the Universe”, represents Vishnu and was welcomed by devotees from all communities on such an auspicious occasion. A special ‘Go puja’ with a live cow and calf was performed by Pandit Srinivasan of Fremont officiating along with  Pandit Bhabhani Prasad Tripathy , specially called in from India for the occasion of the Prana Pratistha.

Along with the week long Homas, prayer ceremonies, Bhajans, a special  program was held on March 7th at the adjacent elementary school auditorium, with children and youth presenting Indian Classical dances ( coordinated by Gayatri Joshi)and  lectures by Br. Prabodh Chaitanya, of Chinmaya Mission san Jose and Dr Kabi Misra of India, and a renowned expert on Lord Jagganath were held. A special dance drama on Lord jagganath was well received as the evening culminated in the Rath Yatra depiction- a famous tradition in Puri, Orissa for hundreds of years.

Ms Atasi Gantayat, one of the main volunteer coordinators of the event was very moved with the efforts of the entire community to bring Lord Jagganath and along with several volunteers and families spent the entire week taking care of all aspects of the event, which sought to awaken the spirit of the temple deity and that of all devotees to the presence of divinity