Bhattar ji comes from a long lineage of accomplished priests and is a seventh generation priest from the village of Sugganahalli in Karnataka State of India. He is a graduate from Mysore Maharaja Sanskrit College, Mysor. He is also a recipient of the Pancharathraagama Praveena in 1983. H has 40 years of experience.

He worked in several popular temples across India. Since 1998, he had worked at Hindu Temples in Kentucky, Florida, Ohio and Alabama in USA. He has joined HTCI in November 2013. 

Bhattar ji is an expert in shodasha karmas, all types of pujas and samskaras , Homas, Abhishekams, Utsavams. He is an expert and a degree holder in Pancharathraagama Padmasamhita (one of the 108 samhitas associated with temple pujas). The rendition and pure diction of various slokas, vedic chants along with the detail in the ritual assert his knowledge of Sanskrit and command over the ritual procedures. 

Fluent in: Sanskrit, English, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi 

Comfortable in: Gujarati

Sri Surya Sundara Vamsi Vadrevu Ji completed 8 years of Krishna Yajurveda Smartham (Panchadasakarmantam) in a span of 4 years at Ganganapalli Veda Patasala (2007 - 2011). He also studied Yajurveda Smartham (Panchadasakarmantam) from Sri Gayathri Paurohitya Samakhya. He is certified in Surya Namaskara from Srikakulam in 2013.

He worked as a priest in Sri Shiridi Sai Seva Samaj from 2014 - 2019, in Sri Shirdi Sai Baba Temple, Pittsburgh temple from 2019 - 2021 and as a priest at Jaya Hanuman Temple, Seattle from 2021. He has also performed pujas, Kumbabishekam and Maharudras in several cities.

He is familiar with all Panchadasa Karmas like Wedding, Upanayanam, Namakaranam and all forms of Pranaprathishta (Kumbabhishekam), Archana, Abhishekam and Sathyanarayana pooja. He is also familiar with all kind of Homams (like Chandi Homam, DurgaLakshmi Homam, Saraswathi Homam, Dhanwantari Homam, Sudarshana homam, Navagraha Shanthi)

Fluent in: Sanskrit, Telugu & English 

Comfortable in: Tamil 

Shri Kamlesh Tiwari ji hails from a family of priests from Varanasi. He is married and his wife and kids are in New Delhi.

Tiwari JI completed PAurohitya-Pathyakarma from Bhartiya Vidya Bavan, Delhi Kendra. He has also visited all twelve Jyotirligams and has performed various Pujan there. 

Tiwariji performs all kinds of pujas with RgVeda (Shakal Shakha - Swasti Vachan, Shre Ganesh Mantra, Shri Suktam, Lakshmi Suktam, Vishnu Suktam) and Shukla Yajurveda (Madhyan dinya Shakha - Swasti Vachan, Rudrashtadhyai, Karm kand Pujan.

He has performed many pujas, Anushthans,Yagna, Havans (like Chandi Homam, DurgaLakshmi Homam, Saraswathi Homam, Dhanwantari Homam, Sudarshana homam, Navagraha Shanthi), Abhishekam, Katha, Muri-Sthapana, Pran-Pratishtha, 16 Samskaras and all the Pujas of Vaishnavagam and Shivagam. 

 He also enjoys singing bhajans, kirtans as well as parayanam of Tulasi Ramayanam and Bhagwatam.

Fluent in: Awadhi, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Bundeli, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Odia, Pahari, Punjabi and Sanskrit.

Sri  Baskaran Sundaram Gurukkal completed 8 years of Sivagamam & Krishna Yajurvedam at  Agama Veda Pathasala. He also attended Karaikkal Srikanta Shivacharya Veda Shivagama Pathashala for 3 Years and Sivasakthi Vedha Sivagama Vidyalayam for 5 Years.

He worked as a priest for six years at the Arulmigu Subramaniya Swamy Temple, Thiruttani, Tamilnadu.

He is familiar with all Karmas like Wedding, Upanayanam, Namakarana and all forms of Prana Pratishta (Kumbabhishekam), Saivaga Puja, Archana, Abhishekam and Sathyanarayana pooja.

He is also familiar with all kind of Homams (like Sahasra Chandi Homam, Durga Lakshmi Homam, Saraswathi Homam, Dhanwantari Homam, Sudarshana homam, Navagraha Shanti and all kind of Astrology dosha prayachitham homams). He has Shivagama Vidhvan certification.

Fluent in: Sanskrit, Tamil & English 

Comfortable in: Hindi, Telugu

Sri Prashanth Kumar Janda Ji comes from a Purohit's family from Telangana/Andhra pradesh India. He completed his Krishna Yajurveda smartha course from Veda Patasala - Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam. He has extensive experience of around 18 years in Paurohitya, Prashanth is very well versed with all rituals of Devata Aradhana.

 He is proficient in pujas such as Satyanarayana Vratam, Naming ceremony, Wedding, Engagement, Gruhapravesam Yagnas, Ganapathi, Navagraha, Mahasudharshana, Mrutyunjaya

Dhanvantari, Lalita,Laxmi,Saraswathi,Chandi saptashati, all shanthi Homams, all shoodasha Karmas, Samskaras, Devata Utsavams and Devata kalyanams.

He is also experienced in Panchanga/Jyothisham and can suggest Muhurtams for all occasions such as Marriages etc. Prashanth's vast experience includes both temple based roles and Paurohitya, he is associated with HTCI from 2016. Before joining us, he worked in  Basara saraswati temple, Kolar Kanyakaparameswari Temple and in Ganesha temple Hyderabad.

Fluent in - Telugu, Hindi, English,Tamil

Sri  Hethirajan Chakrapani Vani Ji completed 8 years of Krishna Yajurveda Mulantham at  Sri Parashara Gurukulam. He also studied Sri Pancharatra Agama in Rajagopalaswamy Temple.

He worked as a priest for two years at the Sridevi Bhoodevi Sri Vaikuntanatha Swamy Temple, Chennai, Tamilnadu.

He is familiar with all Karmas like Wedding, Upanayanam, Namakarana and all forms of Prana Pratishta (Kumbabhishekam), Puja, Archana, Abhishekam and Sathyanarayana pooja.

He is also familiar with all kind of Homams (like Sudarshana homam, Navagraha Shanti Homam, Ganapathi Homam, Narashimha Homam, Sahasra Chandi Homam, Durga Lakshmi Homam, Saraswathi Homam, Gayathri Homam, and Dhanwantari Homam.

Fluent in - Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, English

Shri Abhinandan Jha is from Kashi, Varanasi. He studied Rigveda (Shakala branch), Shukla Yajurveda (Madhyandini branch), and Krishna Yajurveda (Taittiriya branch) at Maharishi Veda Vigyan Vidyapeeth. In 2016, he passed the Shastri exam and obtained his degree, followed by the Acharya exam in Sanskrit in 2018. From 2011 to 2015, he served as the chief priest at two temples: Shri Ram Janaki Mandir and Shri Manokamna Siddha Sarkadiya Hanuman Ji Mandir, Junagadh, Gujarat. In 2016, he participated in a 6-month special Rudrabhishek program led by Shri Jyotishpeethadhishwar Jagadguru Shankaracharya Swami Shri Vasudevanand Saraswati Ji Maharaj, Jyotirmath, Badrikashram, Himalayas. Between 2018 and 2023, he visited two temples: Shri Lolarkeshwar Mahadev Temple and Shri Ma Mahishasur Mardini Temple. Throughout this period, he also served as the chief priest at Kashi, Varanasi.

He had the privilege of performing Valmiki Ramayana, Ramcharit Manas Akhand Parayan, Shri Madbhagwat Geeta, Vishnu Sahastranam Stotra, traditional marriage ceremonies, Chuda Karma, Naam Karan, Nandi Shraddha, and many other rituals. He also gained extensive experience performing them during his nine-year stay at Maharishi Ved Vigyan Vishwa Vidyapeeth Arail Prayag (UP) and other ashrams across India. In addition to Vedic activities, he was immersed in the rituals and traditions of ashram life.

He spent a month at each of the Dwadash (12) Jyotirlingas, experiencing Lord Shiva Namak Chamak Rudra Abhishek and the unique cultures of these sacred places. He has also performed numerous Vedic rituals, including pujas, yagyas, havans, abhishekam, katha, murti-sthapana, prana-pratistha, the 16 samskaras, and all the pujas of Vaishnavagam and Shaivagam.

Languages:

• Fluent: Hindi, Sanskrit, English, Awadhi, Bhojpuri, Gujarati, Bundelkhandi

• Comfortable: Bengali, Udia, Marathi, Punjabi