In mid winter on a sunny morning of Sunday, January 01, 2006 over 10,000 people from in and around Georgia thronged the Hindu temple here and offered prayers for the new year. For many Indian Americans here it’s general practice to start New Year with a visit to this temple, where the annual Navodaya mela is held, and offer prayers to the main deity Balaji. 

The third Navodaya, 2006 started with waking up prayers, suprabhatam in both the Siva and Vishnu temples. Many events took place all day long. People started gathering in the wee hours at the temple. All deities in the temple complex were specially decorated for the occasion. This congregation at the temple included many flavors of India, every thing delicious and fresh. Indian heritage, tradition and culture were beautifully show cased. The temple auditorium was fully packed for cultural programs.

One of the visitors from California told this reporter, “I am really impressed with the celebrations. It will stay in my heart even after my return home.”
“ I have decided to visit Atlanta every year for New Year,” he added. 

Besides the sale of a variety of food items specially made by the temple devotees/volunteers, garments, jewelers, appliances, house construction material, art exhibition, furniture and stalls of not-for-profit institutions were present in the exhibition and rendered their services to the visiting public. 

The Hindu Temple of Atlanta is a focal point for Hindus who congregate at weekends to celebrate Hindu festivals, cultural and social activities. Classes are held in Yoga, instrumental music, dancing, and languages. The Temple also hosts field trips from Atlanta Schools and Universities.
It also attracts tourists and visitors who come to marvel at this ornate, architectural gem of a temple. With the addition of the Shiva Temple, there will be an upsurge in the temple’s popularity and multifarious social, religious and cultural activities.

Dr. Aruna Prasad, president of the temple told NRI Pulse that he was excited to see a larger turnout than he had expected. It was three times the number as compared to previous years. So much so that the temple parking space has been filled up by 11am! “It had become difficult to manage parking of incoming vehicles and we were forced to direct vehicles to the nearby parking space,” said Dr. Jaya Shree, this year’s coordinator of Navodaya 2006. She said she was excited to see a grand response from the community.” 
“We managed to supply food to the visitors with great difficulty,” she added, and thanked volunteers for their commitment and devotion in the service of the community.