Nashville Ayyappa Bhaktha Sangam
We are a volunteer-run sangam, and we keep only what we need to run the season — your registration, the pujas you book, and the donations you make. This page says what we hold, why we hold it, who can see it, and how to reach us about it.
Last updated September 2026
When you register we ask for your name, email address and phone number. A postal address is optional; it matters most when you host a padi puja at your home, so the swamis know where to come. Your devotee record also holds your deeksha details — the years you have kept the vratam and the date you received the mala. As the season goes on we keep the puja days you book, any yatra coach seat you ask for, and the gifts and season donations you make, with their amounts and dates.
We use it to run the season, and for nothing else. Your registration goes to a Guru swami so that he can review and approve it. Your booking holds your puja day, your request holds your place on the yatra coach list, and your donation record lets the treasurer issue your receipt. We use your email and phone to send you reminders about a day you booked or a donation that is still due.
Guru swamis see registrations, puja bookings and deeksha records, because they are the ones who approve them. The treasurer and the auditor see donations, receipts and refunds. Committee members can see who has given and where people stand in the coach queue. Nobody else sees your details — not other devotees, and no one outside the sangam. We do not sell your information or pass it to anyone for their own use.
Card details are typed into Square's own secure form and go straight to Square. Your card number never reaches this site or its database. What we keep is Square's payment id, the amount and the date, so the treasurer can match your donation to your record and issue your receipt.
Receipts, confirmations and reminders are sent through Resend, our email service, from receipts@nabstn.org. Every one of them is about something on your own record — a booking, a donation, or a decision on your registration. We do not send marketing email, and we do not give your address to anyone else.
Receipts and the donation records behind them are kept for as long as tax law requires us to keep them. Your profile, your bookings and your deeksha record stay for as long as you are a member, so the years you have kept the vratam remain on your record.
If something on your record is wrong, tell us and we will correct it — write to contact@nabstn.org, or speak to a Guru swami. You can also ask us to delete your details. Some records have to be kept: a receipt already issued, and the donation behind it, stay in the books for as long as tax law requires, but we will remove the rest.
Write to contact@nabstn.org with any question about your information, and a volunteer will answer. We are a small sangam run by devotees in their own time, so please allow us a few days.