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PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA, September 23, 2003: South Indian devotional singer Veeramani Raju is performing in South Africa to help raise funds for the completion of the first Ayyappa temple in the southern hemisphere. “Although he has been here several times before, Veeramani has done concerts that had a commercial objective,” said Raj Kolapan of the Pretoria Bhajanai Mandram. “This time round, he is undertaking a series of celebrations in which he sings uninterruptedly from beginning to end while an actual puja occurs on stage,” Kolapan added. “Rather than people sitting in the audience and watching him on stage, he sits among the audience and sings the praises of the Deity that is worshipped.” Performances begin with an educative discourse that makes it easier to understand the full steps of a prayer, from the moment the intention to worship the Lord is made, right until the Lord is bade farewell, with Veeramani rendering appropriate items for every step in the process. The planned development at Sri Ayyappa Kshetram by the Pretoria Bhajanai Mandram includes a temple, community center with clinic facilities, youth center and retirement complex. Donations received during these performances will go towards building the temple.

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