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Sunday's memorial marked the 40th day after their deaths. In the Hindu religion the 40th day is a critical one in the journey of the departing souls to God, Srini Raghavan, one of the memorial's organizers, said afterwards.

Two handicapped teenage sons survived the crash. Pavan, 19, has cerebral palsy and is completely disabled. He attends Longview School. Sairam, 12, is mildly autistic and attends Gaithersburg Middle School.

They will be cared for by an older sister, Padma Soundararajan, 29, who did not make the trip with the family.

Through tears, Soundararajan spoke to the nearly 200 friends and colleagues of her parents and sisters, thanking everyone for their help.

"We're divine, but we're also human," she said. "I've had to embrace the human in the last few weeks."

Only six months earlier she had stood on the same stage to congratulate her father on the 25th anniversary of a music festival he founded and continued to organize at the Lanham temple.

Music was central to the lives of the Soundararajan family.

An altar containing photos of the departed family was placed on the right side of the stage. The family pictures were placed below a picture of Saint Thyagaraja, a revered 17th-century composer of classical Indian music.

The altar is a significant piece in Hindu rituals. It usually contains pictures of Hindu deities, revered Gurus, and in this case, the pictures of departed souls, Raghavan said.

Soundararajan said her father, Raju, 64, was "obsessed" with music, specifically classical Indian music, South Indian vegetarian food and home cooking.

Her mother, Jayanthi, 41, woke at 4 a.m. to make breakfast and lunch for her father before he went to work at the Montgomery County Public Schools Shady Grove bus depot. After that, she got her sisters ready for school and then her handicapped brothers.

Jayanthi never complained, but she was in constant back pain, Soundararajan said.

"She always had a smile on her face," the daughter said. "She was truly made of steel, the strongest woman I've ever known."

Jayanthi Soundararajan might nap for 20 minutes before going to her own job as a software engineer at Lockheed Martin. At night she cooked dinner, helped all the children with their homework and then did her own work. In 2007, Jayanthi Soundararajan earned a bachelor's degree from Strayer University.

"Sometimes she didn't go to bed till 2 a.m.," Soundararajan said.

Priya was a poet whose writings showed wisdom beyond her years and Lakshmi cared about the environment and was her soul mate, she said.

"My dad called Lakshmi my twin because we were so similar," Soundararajan said.

Priya, 16, had finished her junior year at Clarksburg High School and Lakshmi, 14, had finished her freshman year at the school.

"Priya and Lakshmi danced in this world, danced as bright lights," she said.

Many speakers described the sisters as happy, energetic and talented.

"[They] loved without boundaries and inhibitions," Soundararajan said. "We all have something to learn. They were probably here to teach us."

Family friends painted a picture of a close-knit family.

"I was drawn to that family. Every one has an exemplary heart," Thara Viswanathan said.

They also had "an innate capacity to do service," she said.

This included bringing food regularly to homeless shelters.

"We're here to get inspiration from their good and pure love," Viswanathan said.

The families' lives were examples for others to follow, said Piyush Ghayal.

The Soundararajans were devotees of Swami Sri Sathya Sai Baba, whose teachings stressed the importance of service.

"Swami said trials and tribulations are part and parcel of life," Ghayal said. "They help us learn and grown. Life is a challenge, meet it."

Before the memorial closed, Dr. Shiva Subramanian, a temple founder, promised that friends would continue to help Soundararajan with her brothers' long-term care.

"It can be physical help, fiscal help," he said.

A fund has been set up for the family.

"It's incredible how people are coming together; still, much needs to be done," Siva Sreenivasan said.

The speeches, songs and prayers ran longer than expected and the group had to vacate the room before the planned luncheon.

"Raju would never allow anyone to walk out without food; please take the box lunches," Sreenivasan said.

Volunteers stood outside of the room handing out the boxes.

Contributions may be sent to the Soundararajan Memorial Trust at SunTrust Bank, Greater Washington/ Maryland, 19134 Montgomery Village Ave., Montgomery Village MD 20886.