Donating money to charity helps one get the blessings of those in need and at the same time fulfil one’s service to the Lord. The amount of money donated or the kind of service is of little significance. What matters are the intentions with which a donation is made. Further, donating money to temples is considered a noble act since temples are the platform where the devotees can perform their services to the Lord and come in contact with Him. Therefore, helping in building the home of the Lord can be one of the best ways in which one can contribute.

Lord Krishna is giving us an opportunity to become a part of this project. “On building a temple of Sri Madhav one can attain the eternal Vaikunthaloka” — Vamana Purana.

“Having acquired wealth and built a temple with a small portion of it, a person acquires piety and gains favors from Hari.” — Agni Purana.

In the Srimad Bhagavatam we find the following verses: “By installing the Deity of the Lord, one becomes king of the entire earth, by building a temple for the Lord, one becomes ruler of the three worlds, by worshiping and serving the deity, one goes to the planet of Lord Brahma, and by performing all three of these activities one achieves a transcendental form like My own. But one who simply engages in devotional service with no consideration of fruitive results attains Me. Thus whoever worships Me according to the process I have described will ultimately attain pure devotional service unto Me.” “Whoever constructs or helps to construct a temple will protect eight generations of father, grandfathers and forefathers from falling into Hell” – Vamana Purana.

Thank you very much. Hare Krishna.

Akshya Tritiya, one of the most significant days in the Vedic calendar. Akshaya means, “Imperishable” or “that which never diminishes”. But in recent times, the common idea in India is to purchase gold or property or start new things, well this is true. But regrettably we overlooked one important aspects of Askshya Tritiya is also to donate, to give back, do charity. It is said that the charity done on Askshya Tritiya remain “Akshaya” imperishable and eternal. Every year construction of the huge Rath carts in Puri also start on this day. Most devotees know it as the beginning of Chandan-yatra. It is the day Srila Madhavendra Puri applied sandalwood paste on Khira-chora Gopinatha. On this day, Sudama gave the Lord a tiny portion of chipped rice and was rewarded with unimaginable opulence’s. Draupadi was protected by Lord Krishna twice on this day, once when He provided her an unlimited sari at the dice game in return for a tiny piece of cloth, and later, when she needed to provide food for Durvasa muni, the Lord took a single grain of rice from her pot and satisfied the hunger of all the sages.Draupadi, the wife of the Pandavas, received the famous akshaya-patra from Lord Krishna on this day. Treta-yuga begins on this day. To deliver people from sins, Mother Ganges touched earth for the first time on this day. It is also the appearance day of Lord Parasurama. Sage Vyasadeva began to write the epic Mahabharata on this auspicious day for the welfare of all people in general including women and children. It is the culture in India that householders distribute sweets to others on akshaya-tritiya. Householder devotees can take up this great opportunity to sponsor distribution of prasada on this great day. Akshaya-tritiya is a very auspicious day for even a slight amount of religious activity or devotional service rendered on that day grants inexhaustible benefit. For various reasons, grihasthas may not be able to execute this daily, but if they do distribute prasada on akshaya-tritiya day, they will certainly receive inexhaustible benefit. Please take advantage of this exalted opportunity.