Sri Siva Vishnu Temple
6905 Cipriano Rd, Lanham, MD 20706
Phone: (301) 552-3335  Email: ssvt@ssvt.org  Follow us on
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Volunteer

Volunteering: Your Temple is run by volunteers. By volunteering your time and effort you can make a difference in the temple.

Volunteering is now made even more easier!     Signup for volunteering!!

Most of the activities in the temple are carried out by the dedicated efforts of volunteers. The Religious, Kitchen, Cultural, Maintenance, Public Relations and Youth committees are some of the committees where volunteers are needed.  

Volunteering helps meet people and make new friends; it helps the temple increase and improve the services offered by the temple; and brings a feeling of satisfaction and inner peace in the individual. For details about the activities of these committees, call the temple and ask for the name and phone number of the respective coordinator.

We strongly urge you to sign up for any volunteer activity and get your family members and friends involved. Please contact us using the feedback form , and the committee co-coordinator will call or email you to set up. Students can apply the volunteer hours they spend at the temple towards any school volunteer requirements. 

Details of each committee/task force is given below:

Governance Board (GB)

  • Sri. Prem Chandar - President
  • Smt. Surya Reddy
  • Sri. Harihar Singh
  • Sri. Umesh Umashankar
  • Smt. Uma Potarazu (BOT Rep)
  • Sri. C.K.Dhananjayan (BOT Rep)
  • Sri. Ramachar Mukunda (BOT Rep)

  • Board of Trustees (BOT)

    Coordinator: Chairman of the Board of Trustees – Smt. Uma Potarazu

    The The Executive Committee (EC) of BOT consists of: :

  • Chairman – Smt. Uma Potarazu
  • Vice Chairperson Operations – Sri. Prabhakar Thyagarajan
  • Vice Chairperson Policy - Smt. Priya Ganesh
  • Treasurer - Sri. Krishna Bappanad
  • Secretary - Sri. Vasu Murthy

    Trustees:

  • Sri. Ananth Badrinath
  • Sri. Angarai Venkatasubramanian
  • Smt. Anu Iyer
  • Sri. Bangalore Shivacharan
  • Sri. C. K. Dhananjayan
  • Smt. Charu Narasimhan
  • Dr. Rajagopala Rao Tripuraneni
  • Smt. Nithya Nagarajan
  • Sri. Ramachar Mukunda
  • Sri. Sreekumar Sreedharan
  • Smt. Vijaya Gollamudi
  • Smt. Vijaya Reddy

  • Governance Board Members (BOT Representatives):

  • Smt. Uma Potarazu
  • Sri. C.K.Dhananjayan
  • Sri. Ramachar Mukunda

  • Deputy Officers:

  • Vice Chair Operations – Smt. Anu Iyer
  • Vice Chair Policy – Smt. Nithya Nagarajan
  • Assistant Treasurer – Sri. Sreekumar Sridharan
  • Alternate Secretary – Smt.Vijaya Gollamudi

  • Operations Committees Trustee Liaisons:

  • Religious: Smt. Charu Narasimhan
  • Cultural: Sri. Sreekumar Sreedharan
  • Food: Smt. Vijaya Reddy
  • Education: Smt. Vijaya Gollamudi
  • Public Relations: Sri. Angarai Venkat Subramanian
  • Maintenance: Sri. Ananth Badrinath
  • Publications: Sri. Danny Dhananjayan
  • Vasthram/Saree: Smt. Pria Ganesh

  • BOT Leads/Representatives: Key Task Forces by GC/GB/BOT:

  • External Public Relations officer: Smt. Pria Ganesh
  • Security Officer: Sri. Prabhakar Thyagarajan / Smt. Pria Ganesh
  • Policy and Procedure Manual: Smt. Nithya Nagarajan/ Sri. Ram Mukunda
  • Volunteer Initiation/Training: Smt. Uma Potarazu / Smt. Anu Iyer
  • Youth Involvement : Smt. Nithya Nagarajan
  • Master Plan: Sri. Danny Dhananjayan / Sri. M.G. Menon
  • Priest Term Review: Smt. Charu Narasimhan / Sri. Vasu Murthy
  • Review by laws: Dr. Rajagopal Rao Tripuraneni
  • SSVT Vidyaalaya: Danny Dhananjayan/Prabhakar
  • Devotee Satisfaction: Smt. Uma Potarazu
  • Legal Compliance: Smt. Nithya Nagarajan

  • BOT Leads: Annual Event Task Forces:

    Annual Functions and Task force leaders:
  • Mini bazaar - Smt. Vijaya Reddy and Smt. Any Iyer
  • BYOG - Smt. Charu Narasimhan and Sri. Sreekumar Sreedharan
  • Ganesh Chaturthi - Sri. Vasu Murthy and Sri. Angarai Venkat Subramaniam
  • Diwali – Sri Bangalore Shivacharan, Smt. Priya Ganesh and Smt. Nithya Nagarajan
  • Annual Dinner – Sri Ananth Badarinath, Smt. Priya Ganesh and Sri. Krishna Bappanad
  • Service member recognition - Sri. Angarai Venkat Subramaniam, Sri. Ram Mukunda
  • SSVT Endowment – Investment Management Committee

    Committee Chair: Sri. Shekar Narasimhan shekarn@verizon.net

    SSVT Endowment is designed to complement the temple’s income by creating two Funds to secure the temple's future and support the achievement of its mission. The Education & Culture Fund shall be managed so as to provide financial support for educational, cultural and other efforts consistent with SSVT's mission to benefit its congregation and the broader Hindu community. The Financial Security and Stability Fund is to provide long-term financial security to the Temple. It shall be managed so as to provide financial support through its earnings for debt relief and for long capital needs of the Temple. The Committee, consisting of the Treasurer, four trustee-emeritus and two independent financial specialists, is a fiduciary committee, and is responsible for monitoring the investment management of the Endowment and ensuring adherence to the investment guidelines and asset allocation strategies approved by the Board of Trustees. The Investment Management Committee will employ one or more investment managers of varying styles and philosophies to attain the Fund's objectives.  

    SSVT Endowment -Development Committee

    Committee Chair: Sri. K. G. Venkatraman (Ramani), (301) 646-1232, kvenkatram@aol.com

    Established to explore ways and means to market the endowment to the congregation and to work alongside the Investment Management Committee to provide seminars and educational opportunities for estate planning and planned giving.

    BOT Committees

    Finance Committee:

    Coordinator:  BOT Treasurer – Sri. Krishna Bappanad, treasurer@ssvt.org

    Finance committee advises Board of Trustees on all financial matters: debt levels, budgeting, congregation loan rates, expense ratios and other management tools. Day-to-day operations are managed by the Accounting Team, which is overseen by the Treasurer. 

    Accounting Team: Sri Krishna Bappanad, Smt. Swathi Chandrasekharan
    Tax Deductible donations: Smt. Usha Krishnamurthy
    Debit-Order program management: including devotee communications

    Operations Committee:

    Coordinator:  Vice Chairperson Operations: Sri. Prabhakar Thyagarajan, vc-ops@ssvt.org

    • Coordinates the day-to-day operations of the temple including scheduling and devotee services.
    • Authorized to spend up to $2,500 within budget parameters for operational expenses.
    • The Operations Committee coordinates the work of all Devotee committees and Task Forces which are listed below

    Cultural Committee:

    BOT Liaison: Sri. Sreekumar Sreedharan, Coordinator:  Smt. Raji Ramesh, cultural@ssvt.org

    • Organizes and conducts dance, music, drama, and other cultural programs under Temple's auspices.
    • Provides a venue for exhibiting the talents of young artistes in the region.
    • Assists in raising additional resources for sponsoring artistes from India.
    • Oversees the making and selling of audio tapes.

    Education Committee:

    BOT Liaison: Smt. Vijaya Gollamudi, Coordinator: Smt. Aparna Ramaswamy, education@ssvt.org

    • Educate children of Hindu roots about their rich culture & religion 
    • Increase the learning for parents and adults so that they can better teach their children and better represent the Hindu community in interfaith settings 
    • Provide an opportunity for those from non-Indian background to learn about Hindu culture.

    Engineering/Facilities Committee:

    BOT Liaison/Coordinator - Sri. Ananth Badrinath, engineering@ssvtorg

    • Provides technical advice on all matters relating to construction, installation, remodeling and maintenance of all temple buildings and grounds

    Maintenance Committee (reconstituted):

    BOT Liaison/Coordinator - Ramachar Mukunda, maint@ssvt.org

    • Keeps all temple-owned buildings and grounds in safe and working condition.
    • Hires and supervises contractors and other workers who perform maintenance functions and capital projects.

    Fund Raising Committee (New):

    BOT Liaison/Coordinator - Bangalore Shivacharan, priadganesh@gmail.com

    Food Committee:

    BOT Liaison: Smt. Vijaya Reddy, Coordinator: Smt. Bharathi Reddy, kitchen@ssvt.org

    • Provides refreshments during weekends, holidays and special puja days.
    • Assists in Temple's annual bazaar and special fund raising events.

    Public Relations Committee:

    BOT Liaison: Sri. Angarai Venkat Subramanian, Coordinator:  Smt. Uma Babu, pr@ssvt.org

    • Provides information on Temple services and programs to the congregation.
    • Recruits volunteers to assist in religious, administrative and other special programs.
    • Conducts ongoing and special fund raising activities.
    • Schedule Front Desk volunteers

    Religious Committee:

    BOT Liaison: Smt. Charu Narasimhan, Coordinator: Sri Srinivas Tirumalasetti, religious@ssvt.org

    • Plans and manages Temple's religious programs.
    • Organizes relevant pujas for Hindu religious days and special occasions.
    • Selects priests specialized in different services to serve the needs of the congregation.
    • Ensures the cleaning of sarees and dhotis for idols 
    • Maintains inventory of jewelry and other idols-related assets.

    Youth & Community Service Committee (Aakaar):

    Coordinator: Rugmini Gopal, rugminymami@yahoo.com

    • Provides a venue to teach Hindu mythology and rituals to children and young adults.
    • Involves children and young adults in religious, cultural, and social programs of the Temple.
    • Creates opportunities for social services in the larger community.

    Task Forces

    Information Technology (IT) Taskforce

    BOT Liaison: Sri. Ram Mukunda, – it@ssvt.org

    • Develops and implements computer systems and networks to support and automate Temple operations. Implement IT processes in various functional areas, including the phone system and front desk operations, Point of Sale (POS) and payment system, security system, ssvt website, email services including flyers/newsletter/program announcements, employee management (scheduling, timecards, payroll, accounting), audio/video operation and maintenance, temple document archival, and social media.

    Decorations Taskforce

    Coordinator: Bharathi Reddy

    • Decorates Temple premises during special pujas and functions.
    • Assists with decorations when devotees rent the Temple auditorium for marriages and religious events.

    Devotee Database Services Taskforce

    Coordinator: Smt. Usha Krishnamurthy - database@ssvt.org

    • Maintains current database of congregation members for mailing newsletters and other promotional materials.
    • Prepares congregation lists for fundraising and special events.
    • Maintains an account of donations and provides devotees with a report of their contributions for tax filing.

    Flowers Taskforce

    Coordinator: Mythili Ramesh flowers@ssvt.org

    • Prepares garlands for all deities.
    • Estimates flower needs for special pujas.

    Garden Taskforce

    Coordinator: K.G. Venkatraman

    • Plants and maintains flowers in Temple premises
    • Supervises workers who take care of Temple grounds.

    Insurance Taskforce

    Coordinators: Sasi Menon, K.G. Venkatraman

    • Deal with all temple employee insurance benefits, including health, workmen’s compensation and other insurance, ensuring the best pricing, benefits and coverage for all 
    • Deal with all temple building insurance matters and ensure that the temple’s assets are well protected

    Hundi Collection Task Force

    Coordinator: Geeta Mani  - hundi@ssvt.org

    • Collecting, recording and depositing of all temple funds on a routine basis. 
    • Hundi Counting Team: Kusum Raghavan, Sundar Mahadevan, Suresh Narasimhan, Jay Sriram, Kannan Ramaswamy and Bhanu Krishnakumar are team leaders who lead a team of 5 to 6 volunteers.

    Publications Task Force

    BOT Liaison: Sri. Dhananjayan: ddhananjayan@gmail.com

    • Publishes Temple's monthly newsletter.
    • Prepares souvenirs and other special publications.
    • Releases new or updated versions of religious texts for devotees.

    Publicity Task Force 

    Coordinator:

    • Oversees telephone voice mail and messaging system
    • Coordinate the preparation and dissemination of publicity materials for the various committees.
    • Arranges for placement of ads, video clips, etc. for upcoming events in various publications and television stations.

    Transportation Task Force 

    Coordinator: Sri Angarai Venkat Subramanian

    • Coordinates and manages devotee transportation and parking during temple special events and weekends.

    Please serve your Temple in the committees and taskforces that you like. You can contact the coordinator listed or you can call the Temple at (301) 552-3335 or by e-mail at ssvt@ssvt.org

    Phone: (301) 552-3335  Email:  ssvt@ssvt.org