The Cleveland Shiva Vishnu Temple Logo
Our temple is a Vedic or a Hindu temple. The Vedas are the most ancient body of knowledge available to the mankind. In the Vedic vision there is one reality behind and supporting all diversity in the universe and creation. As being such It is not limited by anything and is limitless in all senses. However, it is through the mind alone one relates to this reality. The mind by its nature can only grasp through names, forms, properties and relationships. So the temple has Shiva and Vishnu as a Lord (Ishwara) to aid devotees' mind to relate to the one and the same absolute reality.
In the temple logo, the Tripundra - the insignia with three horizontal gray bars - represents Lord Shiva while the Urdhvapundra - the insignia with vertical yellow and a red center vertical line - represents Lord Vishnu. These insignias are intertwined to indicate that both are one and the same reality which is represented by the phonetic symbol called 'OM' in white.
Relating to the ultimate reality is being sensitive to All in the creation since it is the underlying and connecting factor. Being subjected to happiness and afflictions are two sides of the same coin called existence of living beings. To remove the afflictions it requires to apply proper effort for the required length of time. However, one may find this may not produce adequate results. So an additional and deliberate effort is undertaken to supplement the already applied effort and a prayer is such an effort.
The afflictions of living beings are varied and endless. The temple invokes a prayer for the happiness (to be free from the afflictions) of all living beings. That Vedic prayer in the Sanskrit language is 'Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinaha' - means May all be happy. This prayer forms the part of the Cleveland Shiva Vishnu Temple Logo. All the Vedic rituals and prayers performed at the temple reflect what the temple logo stands for.