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Sri RanganAtha temple

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vraghuna • April 8, 1998 


Respected Sri. Sadagopan,

I had a few ideas for fund-raising for our Ranganatha Temple, and wanted to 
share them with you for what (little) they may be worth. It's possible some 
of these are already being acted on. I'm copying the list on this message as 
this may trigger new (and possibly much better) ideas for a stellar 
fund-raising effort for our Lord's home in Pomona. (Of course I don't know 
if there is a reason not to go out and give publicity on a large scale and 
I'm suggesting something not-so-welcome. If so, I apologise...)

Before I begin, I've sent you a seperate email with my pledge.  Thank you 
for your (as always brilliant) amrith-bindu-like sweet emails on Lord 
RanganAtha and your fervent pleas making us aware of such opportunities.

1. Could the temple make available receipt-books to those of us who would 
like to take to cultural activites and collect for the temple? With that the 
devotees could take something tangible to family/friends/bhakta-samoohams 
and help people take action right then instead of spreading the word 
alone... We can then give the people receipts and forward the checks and 
finally send the stubs with the contributor names/addresses...

2. Are there ads that can be placed in all "indo-american" papers? (The 
Rajasthani community  in particular may also be interested in this temple, 
(as I'm sure you know) there has long been a connection with the Srirangam 
temple and Marwaris especially visit regularly in India. Some may be on the 
bhakti-list or we can reach information to Rajasthani Associations in our 
cities.

3. Are there flyers that can be faxed/emailed that we can then print on 
colored paper and take to our local temples/cultural centers etc?

4. I can ask a local Bharatanatyam dance school director if she will put up 
a fund-raising performance, and help to organise it. Others on our Bhakti 
list or people they know might have access to any number of local/more 
universally famous talents that may be willing to contribute in this 
fashion. Is it possible to arrange a more organised tour across the country 
by pooling all our efforts and getting, say, Sri. Seshagopalan concerts in 
major cities...? (I presume, even if such efforts take time, that funds will 
still be required for continued management, and this may help.) Towards 
this, are there organizations (such as South Indian Fine Arts society in CA) 
that people have connections with so we can gain from joining hands...?

5. You have kindly donated your music tapes. When possible, and when the 
temple has the means to make copies, if the list/order forms can be made 
available to us, we can collect orders and funds.

Please feel free to modify/reject any or all of the above. Others on the 
list may possibly have much more experience than me and may add their 
insights/ideas.

Thank you.
Namaskaram,
Viji Raghunathan.