History and Growth

JULY 14, 1991
Arya Samaj Greater Houston was founded by veteran vedic missionary Shri Ram Chand Mahajan. Building facilities at 1712 Highway 6 South graciously provided by Rita and Sunil Mehta.

SEPTEMBER, 1992
Shri Praveen Gulati becomes the Honorary Priest of Arya Samaj.

JULY, 1993
D.A.V. library inaugurated by a delegation from India led by the President of
D.A.V. Managing Committee.

JULY, 1994
D.A.V. School enrols first group of children for classes in Indian music, Hindi,
Naitik and Vedic Sanskriti.

MAY, 1995
Arya Samaj acquires 4 acres of land for a permanent home for Arya Samaj, D. A. V. School and the Vedic Culture Center.

NOVEMBER, 1996
Dr. Dilip Vedalankar joins Arya Samaj as the Religious Guide.

FEBRUARY 2, 1997
Ground Breaking Ceremony (Shilanyas Vidi) for the new temple complex performed with an Ekadsh-Kundi Mahayajna.

AUGUST 2 & 3, 1997
New Mandir, D.A.V. School and the Vedic Culture Center open with a Sapta-Kundi Yajurveda Parayan Mahayajna.

April 1999
The Hindus of Greater Houston jointly celebrate Ram Navami at Arya Samaj Temple.
Dr. Tanaji Acharya becomes the Religious Guide and starts classes on Yoga and Meditation, Vedas and Upanishadas. Also classes started in Clearlake area.

Summer 1999
Youth camps for children and young adults.
College Level Hindi classes conducted by Shri Arun Prakash.

October 1999
A three day Shibir (workshop) on Preksha Meditation held jointly with JVB.

March 2000
Dr. Prem Chand Shridhar takes over as the Religious Guide.

April 2000
The Hindus of Greater Houston celebrate Ram Navami at Arya Samaj.
A second Shibir (workshop) on Preksha Meditation.
Mr. Wangdi, the Consul General of India in Houston, performs the opening ceremony of the D.A.V. Montessori School.

August 2000
D.A.V. Montessori was established to instill Indian values and traditions by providing education that combines our heritage and culture with Montessori philosophy. School began with six students and two teachers.

January 2001
Shilanayas (foundation laying) ceremony for new bhavan for D.A.V. Montessori, and Sanskriti schools.

Earthquake in Gujarat India. Arya Samaj raised $22000 for earthquake relief and establishment of Jeevan Prabhat to provide family life to children who lost parents in the calamity.

August 2001
Opening ceremony for the new building to house the D.A.V. Montessori School and the D.A.V. Sanskriti School. School rooms in the main temple building are converted into a dining hall.

2002
Gita Ashram Houston hosted their national conference.

Oct. 2003
Arya Samaj along with Mahatma Gandhi Library celebrates Ahimsa Day on Gandhi Jayanti.

September 2004
Arya Samaj joins Mahatma Gandhi Library to celebrate Mahatma Gandhi Week. As a part of that celebration Arya Samaj sponsors city wide Speech Contest for children ages 7 to 18 which is held every year in Arya Samaj facilities.

December 2004 and January 2005
December 26, 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean. Arya Samaj raised $60000 for Tsunami Relief Fund.

April 2005
Acharya Sonerao joins as a second priest to provide religious guidance and support for both D.A.V. Sanskriti & Montessori schools.

August 2005
A full time Director is hired to manage the growing need of DAV Montessori School. The student capacity raises to 70 students. A third class is added for toddler's ages 18 months to 3 years.

April 2006
30 ft. extension of the main Satsung Hall is finished with a complete stage, green rooms & curtains. A state of the art audio, video system & lighting is also installed.

July 2006
Sixteenth Arya Samaj Maha Samelan held at Arya Samaj from July 13th to 16th.

2006
Playground is expanded to add a separate toddler play area. A fourth class is also added for the preschool level (3 yrs. to 5 yrs.). D.A.V.Montessori students participate and perform a dance in front of the City Hall during the Mahatma Gandhi week. Yoga for the students becomes a part of the curriculum. Gymnastic and dance are offered as extra curricular activities.

2007
D.A.V.Montessori students are featured in Houston chronicle on the occasion of Diwali. The school's enrollment goes up to 85 students with eight full time & four part time teachers.

September 2008
Acharya Praveen Gulati replaces Acharya Sonerao as the co-ordinator for the D.A.V. Sanskriti School. Acharya Sonerao moves to Dallas to work with the Arya Samaj there.

December 14-20, 2009
Jeevan Prabhat Inauguration Mahaotsav

May 15, 2010
D.A.V. Montessori School Celebrates 10th Anniversary

November 7, 2010
Arya Samaj Greater Houston’s kicks off a food drive for Houston Food Bank from Nov 7, 2010 to Dec 31, 2010 as a part of Community Service Campaign.

September 9-11, 2011
Arya Samaj Greater Houston celebrated 20th anniversary of its founding with a Chatur Veda Shatak Yajna over three days. 

December 11, 2011 Sunday
Acharya Prem Chand Shridhar retired after 12 years as the Chief Priest at the Arya Samaj Temple.

February 12, 2012 Sunday
Acharya Suryanarayan Nanda Joins Arya Samaj

April 21, 2012
Hindu Khel Divas, a joint program of the Arya Samaj Greater Houston and the Durga Bari temple, was held on April 21st from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm at the two temples.

September 22, 2012
Arya Samaj celebrated the completion of the expansion project with a grand opening ceremony. The project includes a new addition to the school building essentially doubling the capacity, extending the dining room to almost double its area, and expanding the parking facility.

June 21-22, 2014
DAVSS held a two day " My Indian Heritage" Summer Camp for DAVSS Children from 4 to 14 years of age. The camp was held from 10 am to 5 pm on both days and included lessons about Indian Culture and Heritage through a variety of activities,

May 17, 2015
Shri Dev Mahajan, the Management Coordinator, introduced Kavita and Dr. Harish Chandra to the congregation at the Sunday Satsang.  Dr. Harish Chandra Ji, an engineer by education and his previous profession, is coming to your Arya Samaj via United Kingdom. 

May 21, 2015
Interfaith Ministries of Greater Houston honored Devinder and Dr. Sushma Mahajan at the Tapestry Gala 2015 at Hilton Americas for their lifelong contributions through various charities in Greater Houston and Interfaith tradition. 

May 24, 2015
The D.A.V. Montessori School celebrated fifteenth anniversary of its founding at Arya Samaj Greater Houston with a widely attended cultural program as a part of the Sunday Satsang.

July 30 to August 2, 2015
Arya Samaj Greater Houston hosted the Silver Jubilee Sammelan of the Arya Pratinidhi Sabha of North America from July 30th to August 2nd.  This four day conference was attended by delegates from many Arya Samajs in the United States and other countries. 

September 24-25, 2016
Arya Samaj Greater Houston celebrated its Silver Jubilee with a grand two-day program including a health fair, cultural programs by children from D.A.V. Montessori and D.A.V. Sanskrit Schools in addition to traditional havan, bhajans and pravachan. 

November 11, 2017
ASGH Volunteers joined Habit for Humanity in Building a House:  Arya Samaj of Greater Houston, under the guidance of Anil Gupta ji, worked with Houston Habitat to help out in signing up, volunteering, raising funds to buy materials, and helping build a new home.

October 25-28, 2018
Sarvadeshik Arya Pratinidhi Sabha, in a letter, honored with a declaration to recognize Arya Samaj Greater Houston as the Model Arya Samaj in countries other than India. Shri Mahajan was presented a plaque bestowing this honor on Arya Samaj Houston:

January 12, 2020
At a Management Committee meeting, stewardship of Arya Samaj Greater Houston passed from Shri Dev Mahajan to Shri Sanjay Jain.  Sanjay Ji assumed the duties of the Management Coordinator of the Samaj.

March 6 - 30, 2020

Arya Samaj suspended in-person services due to Covid-19 pendemic.  Services continued initially on Youtube, and then on Zoom and Youtube.. The schools, DAVSS and DAVMES also suspended in-person classes and move them to Zoom. DAVSS opened the online classes to the whole world with founding, in cooperation with seven other Arya Samaj's in US, of VSS Global.

May, 2020
Arya Samaj volunteers. led by Sanjay Sood, organized a food drive to feed more than 700 families affected by Covid 19 pandemic.

November 13, 2020
Arya Samaj celebrated Deepawali with a Drive through program.  Click here to see an article about the celebration in a community newspaper.

July 25, 2021
Arya Samaj resumeed in-person services with a relaxation of Covid 19 restrictions. All the services are continued online too via Youtube and Zoom.

May 1, 2022
Acharya Bramdeo Mokoonlall joined Arya Samaj as the School Acharya responsible for DAVSS as coordinator, for the VSS Global virtual program., and for curriculum development for both the schools.

July 27 -July 30, 2023

Arya Pratinidhi Sabha of America (APSA) held its 33rd Mahasammelan hosted by Arya Samaj Greater Houston with a gala program on Saturday, July 29th evening. Almost 300 delegates from U.S.A., Canada, India and many other countries participated in the celebrations.