Source: Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, November 17, 2001: To mark the Hindu New Year of 2058, more than 2,000 gathered at Valley Hindu Temple to light ritual fires, recite prayers for peace and offer food to Lord Krishna. The New Year was celebrated on the fourth day of the five-day festival of Divali, the festival of lights. At the noon service, devotees placed nearly 200 Indian delicacies representing all regions of India on a six-tier tower, the annkut or “heap of grains,” at the base of a statue of Krishna. “Before any food is eaten in the New Year, it is first blessed by the gods,” said Kadam Shodhan, a temple trustee. “It is believed that by offering the annkut to the gods on Hindu New Year, one’s food supply is never exhausted.” Worshippers gathered to chant mantras and offer prayers for world peace.