Organization background
The Sri Ranganatha Temple in Pomona, NY is a Vaishnavaite temple (presiding deity is Lord Vishnu (Sriman Narayana)), located in Pomona, NY. It follows the Visishtadvaita Philosophy as given by Bhagavad Sri Ramanujacharya, as elaborated by Sri NigamAntha Maha Desika and as currently followed by the Jeers of Sri Ahobila Mutt, India. Its construction was insprired by the 44th Jeeyar of Sri Ahobila Mutt (His Holiness, Sri Mukkur Azhagiyasingar), with the objective of having an exclusive place of worship in the USA for Sriman Narayana. The Trust that runs the temple was registered in NY in Oct 1987, and the temple has been operating since 2001. In addition to carrying out regular religious functions, the temple also conducts classes relating to Hindu religious scriptures for adults and children, cultural programs relating to Indian dance, and music, and summer camps for children to educate them about Hindu culture and values. For further details, see here.

Project background
Religion and Culture are an important component of the sense of identity of an individual, and preserving that sense of group identity is an important facet of human life. Of the religions practised today, Hinduism is one of the most ancient. The Hindu religion places a great deal of emphasis on spiritual development. The basic idea is that a human being is more than just an individual, who is born, lives according to the whims of fate, and then dies, but is part of something much more grander and ever lasting. The Hindu religion encapsulates this concept of something grander and ever lasting in its various deities. Ancient Hindu mythology postulates a triumvirate of deities and their consorts: Lord Vishnu (the Preserver), Lord Brahma (the Creator) and Lord Shiva (the Destroyer). The worshippers of Lord Vishnu are called Vaishnavaites, and there are several temples all over the world dedicated to this Lord and his various incarnations. The rituals of worship and code of living for Vaishnavaites are specified in several books - however, slightly different interpretations of these books, have led to slightly different sub-groups of Vaishnavaites, one of which are Srivaishnavaites.

The Srivaishnavaite tradition requires its followers to wear Oordhva pundram or Tiruman on their foreheads and eleven other places on their body. The two upward lines of Tiruman, accompanied by the SriChoornam in the centre, are what every Srivaishnava is supposed to wear on his forehead always. The interpretation of the Tiruman is that it represents the foot of the Lord and the SriChoornam in the centre represents his consort - hence it serves as a symbol of the devotee's faith in and surrender to his Lord. Though this explanation justifies the devotee's wearing of Tiruman, it is inconsistent with the fact that most Sri Vaishnavaite temples adorn the Lord himself with Tiruman on His own forehead (and have been doing so from ancient times). If the above explanation for Tiruman were correct, why would the Lord wear an impression of his own foot on His forehead ? An explanation of sorts is provided here . Paraphrasing from this article,

"Sri Koorattazhwan, who posed the original question, also provides the answer, with the key word "BahumAnAt". The Lord is so enamoured of His devotees, that He wishes to follow them in all their practices. When we love somebody a lot, we tend to follow in their footsteps, emulating and imitating whatever they do and say. Similar is the state of Emperuman, who loves us so much that He considers whatever is good for us as good for Him too, whether or not He needs it.
Hence, like the adult accepting the loving and imperfect ministrations of a child, the Lord too accepts whatever we offer Him with devotion. He accepts them not half-heartedly, but with a heart brimming over with gratitude. He accepts them with pride, as the offerings of His own offspring, however imperfect. It is thus that He sports a TirumankAppu too, though He has neither the need nor the compulsion therefor. This is the purport of the term "bahumAnAt" adduced by Sri Azhwan as reason for the Lord's oordhva pundram."

Project description

The Sri Ranganatha Temple of Pomona has several idols of Lord Vishnu in His different incarnations, all of which are adorned with Tiruman. At the time of this project, the Tiruman that adorns the Lord (Moolavar) were made of imitation gold and precious stones. The temple management, along with the devotees wanted to recast these Tirumans with real gold and precious stones, and were looking for funding to pay for the same. GKF will pay for the making of Tiruman to adorn Lord Ranganatha and Lord Lakshmi Narasimha.

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