NEW YORK: The Staten Island Hindu temple celebrated the Prana Pratistha, a ceremony during which the consecration of the Hindu deities Sri Shiva and Parvati, Sri Karthikeya, Durga Mata, Lakshmi Mata, Saraswati Mata, Sri Radha Krishna and Sri Hanumanji at the temple in a three-day ceremony, from May 23 to 25. This marks the third stage completion of the temple dedicated to Shree Ram Parivar with all other important Hindu deities.

The final completion will be with Navagraha, Sivalingam and Mahavir. The temple will be known as Shree Ram Mandir. This is the only temple dedicated to the deity Shree Rama in the tri-state. All the Hindu deities referred above that are being consecrated have been specially ordered from India.The temple is the dream of the small Hindu Community of Staten Island who put in the effort to make it possible.

This will give the Staten Island Community a chance to offer their prayers in Staten Island instead of traveling some distance to Maha Vallabha Ganapathy temple in Flushing, Queens and Sri Venketeswara Temple in Bridge Water, New Jersey. The temple will serve to the prayer needs of the Hindu Community besides offering facilities for community and cultural events.

In addition to cultural activities which are an integral part of Hindu culture, educational activities, yoga sessions and 'Balavihar' a school for younger children are also run by the temple for the benefit of its members and the devotees.The temple also participates enthusiastically in different community activities such as Harmony day, the New York City Cultural Mosaic event and Annual Interfaith community event in Staten Island which also include a free Health workshop and seminar by various health professionals for the benefit of Staten Island Community.

The culmination of the three day activities was a benedictory address by Pujya Swami Pradyagbhodananda of Arsha Vidya Gurukulam and a classical music recital by Pandit Madhav Gudi and his group. The inauguration of the temple with the newly installed Hindu deities drew a good number of faithful followers.