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Prayer service held for victims of St. Croix River accident

Jennifer Simonson, ALL

M. Sathanandan and Rose Sathanandan, left to right foreground, and Lalita Sundaram and Shivanthi Sathanandan, left to right background, took part in a special service at the Hindu Temple of Minnesota to pray for the victims of a recent auto accident.

Four friends from India had driven to Stillwater to see the sights, but the trip ended in tragedy.

By ALLIE SHAH, Star Tribune

Last update: April 18, 2008 - 12:02 AM

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More than 60 people gathered Thursday evening at the Hindu Temple of Minnesota to mourn two young Indian natives who died after their SUV plunged into the St. Croix River Sunday night and to pray for the recovery of two others who were injured.

The ceremony at the Maple Grove temple honored Mohanraj Pothiraj, 28, and Rohini Krishnamurthy, 27, who died, and Deepa Vellusamy, 25, and Kalaiselvi Vijayakumar, 25, who remain in serious and critical condition, respectively, at Regions Hospital in St. Paul.

The four friends and colleagues came to Minnesota as employees of Infosys Technologies, a global software firm that sends its employees to serve as consultants to client companies all over the world.

Deepa, Kalaiselvi, Mohanraj and Rohini worked at Ameriprise Financial in Minneapolis. The three women arrived last fall for their first U.S. assignment; Mohanraj had arrived in January for a second stint in Minneapolis.

The four friends had driven to Stillwater Sunday afternoon to see the lift bridge and visit the area. They were in a rented Hyundai crossover SUV, according to police who responded to a report of a vehicle in the river about 10 p.m. Sunday.

"What's going on now is a healing," temple President Nayana Ramakrishnan said at Thursday's solemn ceremony. "We want to invoke anything that we know we can invoke -- it's a question of belief."

Led by two priests, the group prayed first a shanti mantra, a prayer for the peace of the souls of those who died, then a mrutyaunjaya mantra, a healing prayer for the two who remain hospitalized.

Those in attendance, including two cousins of Krishnamurthy and Sixth Congressional District candidate Ashwin Madia, sat cross-legged on a large mat in front of the small temple for the Hindu deity Shiva inside the larger temple.

Temple manager Narender Venkat called Vellusamy a "very charming" young woman who regularly volunteers at the temple's front desk. She and the other victims were at the temple Sunday, he said.

Ikram ul-Huq, the imam and religious director of the Muslim Community Center of Bloomington, was among those who attended.

"The accident was a tragedy," he said. "They came here to better their lives. We are trying to share their pain."

Allie Shah • 651-298-1550