The priests at Sri Ganesha Temple are well experienced in performing Archanas, Poojas, Homas, Alankaras, Abhishekams,  Kumbhabhishekams, Brahmotsavams, and Weddings. They all speak Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Kannada and English. Their commitment to the authentic religious practices and the Hindu tradition of worship, has  earned them the respect, admiration, and the devotion of the Hindu  community in Nashville and surrounding areas.

 
Priest Koteshwara Gurukkal
Sri K. Gurukkal
Sri Koteshwaran K. Gurukkal hails from a family of highly venerated priests with rich heritage. Born at Ettukudi in Thanjvur District, Tamil Nadu, he studied at the Saiva Agama School at Thirupugalur and was awarded the “Saivagama Bhushanam” certificate. He was also awarded “Saivagama Vidwan” , “PoorvaBhagam and Uttara Bhagam” certificates by the Thirumala Thirupathi Devasthanam (TTD). From 1980-1986, he worked as a priest at Sri Subramanya Swamy Devalayam in Skandagiri in Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh. Priest Gurukkal joined Sri Ganesha Temple in 1988. In 1993, he got married to Indrani. He has two children Skanda Janani and Mayur Karthik. He speaks Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Hindi and English.

Sri Brahma
Sri Tarakabrahma Sarma Gudipati (Brahma) joined our temple in 2013. He is from Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. He is a qualified priest, specialized in Krishna Yajur Veda Kramantha and Smartha Agama. He has his Prathamadeeksha education from Rashtriya Sanskrit  Samsthan (Deemed University), Delhi in 2005 and the Saahitya and  Nyaaya (Tarka) Shaastra education from Srimajjagadguru  Shankaracharya Samskritha Pathashala, Dharwad. He got a gold medal on Sahitya and Nyaaya Shastra from Dharwad in 2007. He got his Sahitya certification from the Government of Karnataka. Before coming to Nashville, he was a priest in Dharwad temple in Karnataka. He speaks Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Hindi, English and Sanskrit. He is married to Srimathi Swapna. He has three daughters Manogna, Abhigna and Anagha.

Sri Narayana
Sri Narayana Bhat joined our temple in 2014. He is from Bangalore, Karnataka. He is a qualified priest, specialized in Krishna Yajur Veda Kramantha. He did his education from Sri Shankaracharya Mahasamasthana, Dakshinamnaya Sri SharadhaPeetha, Bangalore (1997 – 2004) and Shiva Agama Pravara Education from Government Maharaja’s Sanskrit College, Mysore. He has experience in working as a priest and performed many religious ceremonies. He speaks Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and English.  He is married to Tejaswini Hegde and has a daughter Varuni.

Sri Soorya
Sri Sooryanarayan Bhat joined our temple in April 2017. He is from Bengaluru, Karnataka. He studied Rigvedam Samhita at Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, Shankaracharya Veda Pathasala, Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu. He passed Shaivagama Pravara, Shaivagama Praveena exams at Karnataka State Government Maharaja Sanskrit College, Mysore. He speaks Kannada, Hindi, English, Tamil, Malayalam, Konkini, Tulu, Marathi and Sanskrit. He is married to Padmasri and has a daughter Dravina.
Priest Sampath Kumar
Sri Sampath
Sri Sampath Kumar joined our temple in October 2019. He is from Puducherry (Pondicherry) near Tamil Nadu. He did his education (“Sivagama Vidhyanidhi”) (2007-2013) and Master’s (“Sivagama Acharya”) in Saivagama (2015-2017) from Veda Agama Samskrutha Maha Patashala, The Art of Living International Ashram, Bengaluru with affiliation from Sri Venkateswara Vedic University, Thirupathi. He got his “Sivagama Pravara” from the Karnataka board. Also passed qualifying exams by HRI and CE, Tamil Nadu and Karanataka. He also passed 4 levels of Sanskrit Exams (Pravesha, Parichaya, Shiksha and Kovida) at Samskrutha Bharathi Trust, Rajapalayam. He specialized in performing homas and “Chandanakappu” alankarams for moorthis. He has experience in working as a priest and performed many religious ceremonies. He speaks Tamil, Kannada, Sanskrit and English.

 

Sri Balaji Battar

Sri Balaji Battar                                                    

Sri Balaji Battar joined our temple in May 2022. He is from Madurai, Tamil Nadu. He did his education (Pancharatra agamam, Divya Prabandam) from 2004 to 2012 from Sri Venkateshwara Veda Pathasala, Tirumala, Tirupati Devastanam in Andhra Pradesh. He also passed Tamil Nadu Priest Agama Exam and Andhra Pradesh Government Pravesha Exam. He worked as a priest in Tirumala Temple (2012-2015) and Coimbatore Varadaraja Swamy Temple (2016-2021). He specialized in performing homam and alankarams for moorthis. He speaks Tamil, Telugu, Sanskrit and English. He is married to Vijayalakshmi and have two daughters Hamshika Sri and Dharshika Sri.