Sri Siddhi Vinayakar

We are really fortunate to have Temples to worship our Hindu Gods in America. One such temple is Sri Siddhi Vinayakar Temple in Sacramento. Monolith Statues of Sri Siddhi Vinayakar, Lakshmi Devi, Saraswathi Devi and other Gods and Goddesses Adorn this Temple. The speciality of this temple is the Navagraha Gods are seated with their wife.

We had a great privilege in attending the Temple’s Kumba Abhishekam in 2002, and were fortunate to see the Big Statues being Installed. When we lived in Sacramento, we used to visit this place very often, almost every weekend. It’s a beautiful temple situated in 4679 Aldona Lane Sacramento, CA 95841 Phone: (916) 483-4760. Sri Siddhi Vinayaka Cultural Center is the official name of the Temple. You can visit http://www.svcctemple.org for more details. Every Hindu Festival is celebrated in a grand manner. We used to take Prasadam during lectures and Milk, Buttermilk and Orange Juice for Abhishekam of Lord Sri Siddhi Vinayakar. Below are some of the Pictures that I shot in 2003.

Sri Siddhi Vinayakar Swamy

Lakshmi Devi

Saraswathi Devi


Sri Subramanya Swamy and Shiva Limgam

Gunaseelam

Gunaseelam is a small hamlet, about 16 Kilometers away from Tiruchirapalli on the banks of the holy river Cauvery, on the Salem – Tiruchirapalli Road. The Lord here is known as "Prasanna Venkatesa Perumal" and it is believed that those who are not able to visit Tirumala can obtain the grace of Venkatachalapathy here. I visited this Temple in June 2006. The photo below is the gopra above the Sanctum Sanctoram of Lord Sri Prasanna Venkatesa Perumal at Gunaseelam. It is also believed that the Lord here is the Elder brother of Lord Venkatesa Perumal of Thirumala. So, A debt ( Bedikkai in Kannada and Nethi kadan in Tamil ) to Lord of Thrirumala can be settled in Gunaseelam and not Vice versa.

My Paternal side's family deity ( kula devuru ) is Sri Prasanna Venkatesa Perumal, and I have visited this Temple a number of times since childhood. We used to have Lord's dharshan and picnic on the Cauvery banks. I lived in a joint family, we all would make a trip to this Temple very often. My Mom used to make delicious Chitra anna and bagala bath (curd rice) and some savories. She used to make sondigai ( vadagam) and a sweet too, specially for the trip. We usually hire a van for the day and travel to many pilgrimage places like Namakkal, Gunaseelam and Sri Rangam. And sometimes samayapuram too. The trip will take an entire day. We will reach home at around 9 pm. This year June, I visited my hometown and my Parents took Me, my husband, and my daughter to Gunaseelam. It was a memorable trip. We had very good Dharshan of Lord Sri Prasanna Venkatesa Perumal and we also visited Namakkal, Sri Ranagam and Samayapuram too the same day.


A Very Nostalgic trip to Gunaseelam. Even though they have renovated the temple, I still can remember the temple structure during the good olden days.