BHOOMI POOJAN - Ground Breaking Ceremony

Posted on April 22nd, 2009 by VM

 

Bhoomi Poojan Ceremony and Speeches:
Aug. 16, 2008 at Veerayatan Sarvoday Tirtham
OVERVIEW OF SPEECHES:
Vikram Mehta: I want to thank all of you for coming here today for the Bhoomi Poojan, which is a ground breaking ceremony. This journey started a long time ago. I was on the Jaina Board selection committee to find a resort location for Jains, who are unique in their dietary habits as they are vegetarian. Over the past twelve years we looked for a location but were unable to find one. At the Jaina meeting last July, many people requested that Acharyaji start the project. For those of you who do not know about Veerayatan, I want to tell you a little bit about Acharyaji and the work she has done. Over the past thirty-five years she has been a true leader in serving poverty-stricken communities and caring for orphaned children by building schools, hospitals, colleges, and vocational training centers. She is like Mother Theresa. I have seen god working through her. Hundreds of thousands of people have benefited because of her. We were fortunate enough to have my daughter’s wedding performed by Acharyaji three years ago. I have my Masters degree in Architectural Engineering and I have been doing development and construction work for the last thirty-five years. So, on the Veerayatan Committee, my job was to find land. My wife and I took off the following week. We looked at over a thousand sites in twelve different states on websites and through e-mail. For every site I was compared the weather, nearby scenery, medical care, and airports. Of course, after looking at fifty or sixty sites, we start to forget what the first ones looked like so it was a really challenging time to go back and forth on each one. Then we selected few sites – thirty-two or thirty-four sites in six states - and we went personally to look at them. Finally we selected four sites – two in Kentucky and two in Tennessee. We finally asked Acharyaji to come and look at the sites. Last October on Vijya Dasmi we reached this site. Boyd, who is right there, was so wonderful about when we told him we were coming to the site. When we reached here Body had everything ready for us – new bed sheets, new towels, and toothbrushes, and the refrigerator was full of all vegetarian food. It was just amazing. The moment Acharyaji saw the sight she liked it and said this is it. Then we came to know more about this town and I met Senator Tommy Kilby and the County Executive, Becky Ruppe. I have never seen anyone working so fast. We made an appointment with Becky Ruppe and immediately got everyone to come to action and we really appreciate that. Finally, we got the roads resolved. Barry Field, our engineer, has worked so hard with his crew here to do surveys and roadways. It was challenging. You can’t find your way back if you don’t have a GPS. Everything is working out and finally we are here. We changed the original plan for this project from just a retirement to a retirement and vacation resort since a lot of young people I ran into said they were interested in it. They are vegetarian and would like to come here. Of course this whole project has from the very beginning been Acharyaji’s vision. We are so happy to have all of you here. And with that I would like Senator Tommy Kilby to say a couple words.
Tommy Kilby: Thank you for inviting me to your groundbreaking here today. We welcome you to Morgan County. We think you picked the most beautiful site in the world. We appreciate the friendliness and hospitality that each of you has extended to us and the peaceful spirit that you have. We appreciate that very much and we need more of that in our world today.
Vikram Mehta: Becky Ruppe, who is the County Executive, has helped us without any reservation, and I would like her to say a few words. Becky Ruppe: Thank you. When I first met Vik, I thought was one of the nicest people I have ever met. Then I met his lovely wife. She is very sweet. We very much enjoyed getting to know them and we want to work with you on your development. We are glad you are here. We have a representative from the city and a couple of guys from the utility district and we want to work to help you get water and help to make you succeed. We are glad that you are here and we will help you in any way that we can. As Tommy said, we need more people with the desire that you guys have to make this the place that you want it to be. Thank you for being here.
Vikram Mehta: I want to specially thank Boyd Roger. I haven’t met anyone as nice as him. He’s always there to help us with anything we need. Of course his wife does all the paperwork. Today you all drove on the nice gravel road and that was done by Mark Kilby, Tom Kilby’s son. He did this grading at the last minute when I told him last week we were going to have people here. Now I want to introduce you to Barry Field, who is our engineer. He has worked for several months on this along with the Utility Board and people from Becky Ruppe’s office. He has done most of the preliminary work for the layout, survey, soil testing, designing of a sewage treatment plant, setting up all the roads and lots, and all the other things. So, the concept plan is laid out and we have the capacity with soil testing, and the sewage treatment plan with the perc. test. The concept plan is to have close to between 750 to 1000 units, including the shops, prayer hall, health club, and housing units. Maybe Barry can explain a little more about it. He and his people have walked this site more than anyone else I know so he can tell you a little bit about that too.
Barry Field: I appreciate having the opportunity to be here. Let me introduce myself just a little bit. I’m Barry Field with Field Engineering in Crossville, and I came to Crossville twenty-two years ago. I’m a native Tennessean. I fell in love with the plateau, without a doubt. I love to come to the plateau, and we settled here. The big thing I told Vik and Mrs. Mehta the first time they were in my office was that the limiting factor on property such as this is obviously the terrain and waste water treatment. We did a lot of work and gathered a lot of preliminary soil data. Working with the County Executive and the city, we were able to get some of the details of this issue worked out. This is a beautiful piece of property. To find this much property with this much decent soil on the Cumberland Plateau is quite a feat. We did a preliminary soil analysis on this entire property. To find this much good soil area on the Cumberland Plateau on this small of an area is really awesome. Waste water is always your limiting factor. We hired a group of licensed soil technicians, got them out here, we did some GPS work so they could know where they were and we put stakes in different places all around the property because we didn’t want to just put them anywhere. We picked the better more level areas on the property to do the soil analysis and basically this is what we came up with. This layout is how we came up with this preliminary plan. We took the soil analysis and the topography map. I think we’ve done enough due diligence to figure out what we’ve got and what our options are. We kind of developed everything around the creek, which is part of the border. These wide areas are where we’re looking to do waste water disposal. We had to reserve those areas so we could have habitable areas for residents. This is a very pristine natural area and we reserved this as a natural preserve for walking trails because it’s just a beautiful natural property and will be a huge amenity to the property. I’m just proud to be here. I think it’s absolutely awesome. Ms. Sterling: I am the City Recorder with the City of Sunbright, and we’re very excited about you all coming to do this development in our area and we welcome you. Anything we can do to help facilitate this development, please be sure to give us a call. Ben Stewart: I’m Ben Stewart, Utility Manager, and I’m proud to be here today to see what we can do to help facilitate this resort vacation place. I’ll be looking forward to working with you to see what we can do to help you out. Vikram Mehta: Our plans are to start as soon as Barry finishes up some final things and as soon as we get water here. We may start a portion of the area first in phase one, which might include about two-hundred housing units plus the common areas such as a health club and other facilities. Acharyaji has an optimistic plan to celebrate Paryushan here next year.
Acharya Chandanaji: Translator (translating Hindi into English): Thank you all for your support for the project. I selected Vikram and Harsha Mehta for this project. I have been doing social service for over thirty-five years. People have helped me build hospitals and schools in order to serve the communities. In the last thirty-five years I have not met people like Vikram and Harsha Mehta so I am very happy. Dedication like their’s in somebody is like a gift from god. I asked Vikram Mehta if he had any doubts in his mind about the project and he expressed that he is one-hundred percent in support of this project. Vikram Mehta said that when he came to the United States from India he had $1.34 in his pocket and if at the end of this project he has even $1.35 left, he will consider himself richer.
Acharya Chandanaji: Love nature, respect nature, respect everybody and if we cooperate with each other we will get peace on earth. This is the message we want to spread.
Vikram Mehta: I want to thank every one of you again before we start the prayer and above all I want to thank my wife, who is the greatest support of all. We had ten thousand people inquire about this project and she answered all their questions and was able to talk to everyone. Without her support we wouldn’t be able to do anything. Of course I also had very good support from my children. Amee and Ted have worked on the website and helped every time I asked them to. My other daughter, Urmi, and her fiancé, Ed, have been a great help. Even when Urmi was studying, she always found time to put things together for this project. A lot of other people helped us as well. Maheshbhai and Pramilaben have been very supportive. We can always count on them. Aarthi, Harriet, Ramolaben, and others have been very helpful. A lot of volunteers have worked over the past year. Harsha and I have sometimes put in sixteen or seventeen hours in a day for this project, but it is well worth it and this project should now proceed smoothly. Now, we will do the Bhoomi Poojan. Acharya Chandanaji:
Acharya Chandanaji: When we do work, insects or small lives get hurt, so we ask forgiveness. Translator (translating Hindi into English): The whole family has put in effort for this project. When the whole family is supportive, then a project like this can be done, because you need support from everyone in the family. Here, the whole family is supportive so this project can be accomplished. We have well wishes from people in the U.S. as well as people overseas for this project. We thank them for their blessings.
Prayers Shubhamji: As Acharyaji said, this is for the happiness and peace for the whole universe. The first lap is going to be made byHarsha and Vikram Mehta, and Amee, Ted, and Asha. Acharya Chandanaji: Translator (translating Hindi into English): On behalf of everybody, we have prayed for the peace and well-being of every living being in the whole world. We have asked for peace from everybody.

 

The Auspicious Bhoomi Poojan of Veerayatan Sarvoday Tirtham
by Urmi Mehta
The time ticks and the moment arrives, and the divine designs bloom, thus making history -- Bhoomi Poojan (Ground-breaking ceremony) of Veerayatan Sarvoday Tirtham at Sunbright, Tennessee, USA. Located in the picturesque surroundings of Tennessee with hills and dales, rocks and valleys, forest and trees, Veerayatan Sarvoday Tirtham is a project awaited, expected and urged by many people for a long time in the United States. Veerayatan Sarvoday Tirtham will be and institute where everyone will experience peace and bliss every moment. A pristine location with a flowing creek and ponds was selected as the site of a retirement and vacation resort on a sprawling 560 acres of land in the vicinity of Sunbright village, between Knoxville and Nashville. The area is known for its moderate temperature and unspoiled wilderness. The Smoky Mountains and Mammoth Cave National Park are unique nearby attractions. Veerayatan Sarvoday Tirtham is a concept of holistic living wherein the way of life is a manifestation of inner peace, bliss and tranquility. Based upon the Jain principles of non-violence and vegetarianism, as taught by Bhagvan Mahaveer, the resort community will be a gathering of like-minded individuals of all ages and families. The profound natural beauty at the site in Tennessee will not only provide solace to body, mind and spirit but also enable the seeker to awaken the spark of divinity within. This is a resort for all ages. Beautiful homes will be enhanced by the community infrastructure which will include religious facilities such as temple, discourse hall, prayer hall, museum, publication unit, spiritual and cultural center. The resort community will also have amenities such as walking and jogging trails, a fitness center, shopping mall, business center, yoga club, community hall, library and dining hall. In all, the magnificent 560 acres will be an ideal community emphasizing peace and harmony. You are all invited to enroll and choose your own home in this unique retirement and vacation resort along with other like-minded people. In July 2007, Pujya Acharya Shri Chandanaji envisioned the establishment of Veerayatan Sarvoday Tirtham in America. Inspired by the vision of Shri Chandanaji, Dr. Harsha and Mr. Vikram Mehta undertook the uphill task, utilized their own resources and dedicated themselves unconditionally to the project. All the formalities for the acquisition of land were fulfilled and the land was acquired with complete legal documentation within one year. On the auspicious date of August 16th 2008, Bhoomi Poojan was performed under the holy presence and guidance of Pujya Acharya Shri Chandanaji, the embodiment of love, purity and spirituality. The Bhoomi Poojan began with prayers by Sadhvi Shri Shubhamji, followed by rituals and blessings by Pujya Acharya Shri Chandanaji. The program was attended by distinguished guests, patrons, well-wishers and dignitaries from various parts of the United States. Some of the special attendees were: State Senator Tommy Kilby, County Administrator Becky Ruppe, the City Council Person, members of the Sunbright Utility Board, Dr. Mahesh and Mrs. Pramila Shah from Maryland, Drs. Mahendra and Chandra Varia from Kentucky, and the Project Developers Dr. Harsha and Mr. Vikram Mehta, their daughter and son-in-law, Ms. Amee Mehta and Mr. Ted McCaughan, and their granddaughter, Asha McCaughan, all from Chicago. During the ceremony, special thanks were given to Dr. Harsha and Mr. Vikram Mehta by Mr. Deepak and Mrs. Sampurna Shah of Atlanta for their relentless efforts in the execution of a project of such magnitude in the short span of nine months. They specifically mentioned that such dedication is a model to be emulated. With his personable style, Mr. Mehta gained the support of local people. In fact, his hard work and constant motivation are inspiring in their own right. Mr. Vikram Mehta expressed his gratitude, and informed those present that the concept of Veerayatan Sarvoday Tirtham, as visualized by Pujya Acharya Shri Chandanaji, will begin to be transformed into reality with engineering of the resort's layout and finalization of floorplans within one week's time. He is hopeful that the project will progress at a rate such that Paryushan Parva of 2009 may be held at the resort. More information regarding this celebration will be forthcoming and will be available on the website, www.veerayatan.net. Veerayatan Sarvoday Tirtham has generated a tremendous amount of enthusiasm, joy and the full-hearted participation of members of the Veerayatan International family. Hundreds of emails and phone calls of support and good wishes continue to pour in. Countless words of congratulations and appreciation were conveyed at the ceremony, yet Mr. Mehta maintained his usual modesty and emphatically expressed that Veerayatan Sarvoday Tirtham is but a divine grace of Pujya Acharya Shri Chandanaji.