Festival of Colors March 15

[Guest guest]

HOLI, The Festival of Colors

When: March 15, Saturday 4 pm

Where: Krishna Temple, 8628 S Main St., Spanish Fork, Utah

Contact person: Charu or Vai

Contact Numbers: 798-3559/787-1510

www.iskcon.net/utah

 

The Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork invites all members of the public to

celebrate the festival of Holi on Saturday, March 15th, from 4 pm.

Festivities will begin at 4 pm with a flute, percussion and violin

concert by respectively, Nikhil & Nirmal Narayan, and Divya Ramachandran*.

Shreelata Suresh**, head of the Visvwa Shanthi Dance Company of San

Francisco will present the stories behind this festival in a classical

Indian dance format. Other elements of the festival will be observed with

storytelling, musical interludes, the building of a bonfire, and the

throwing of dry colors on friends and foe alike. The dry powders supplied

by the temple are non stain, but still guests are cautioned not to wear

their ³Sunday Best.² Throughout, guest can enjoy a sumptuous vegetarian

feast. If possible, guests are asked to bring a small offering of fruit,

flower, or even a cooked vegetarian preparation to augment the huge feast.

In India Holi announces the arrival of spring and the passing of winter.

It is a festival that breathes an atmosphere of social merriment. People

bury their hatchets with a warm embrace and throw their worries to the wind.

Every nook and corner presents a typically colorful sight. Young and old

alike are drenched with colors (red, green, yellow, blue, black and silver).

People in small groups are seen singing, dancing and throwing colors on each

other.

Holi has long traditional links with several legends. According to one

popular legend, the word Holi is derived from the demoness, Holika. She was

the sister of Hiranya Kashipu (the name meaning love of gold and a soft

bed), a demon king, who having defeated the Gods, proclaimed his supremacy

over everyone else in the Universe. Enraged over his son, Prahlad's ardent

devotion to Lord Vishnu, Hiranya Kashipu decides to punish him. He takes the

help of his sister, Holika, who is immune to any damage from fire. Holika

carries Prahlad into the fire but a divine intervention destroys her and

saves Prahlad from getting burned. Thus Holi is celebrated to mark the

burning of the evil Holika. It is a celebration of the triumph of good over

evil.

Holi is celebrated with special importance in the North of India. It

solemnizes the love of Radha and Krishna. The spraying of colored powders

recalls the love sport of Lord Krishna and His devotees.

The color, noise and entertainment that accompanies the celebration of

Holi bears witness to a feeling of oneness and sense of brotherhood. No

other festival brings home the lesson of spiritual and social harmony as

well as the festival of Holi!!

To help the temple construction fund, a suggested donation will be asked

for the full course meals served throughout , and bags of colors will be

given for a small donation. For more information, call

(801)798-3559/787-1510/www.iskcon.net/utah

 

 

*Nikhil Narayan:

 

Nikhil is a disciple of Flute maestro Sangitha Kalanidhi Dr. N. Ramani for

the past 10 years.

 

Nikhil began his training at the age of 6 under Sri P.V. Ananthakrishnan and

later came under the tutelage of Sangeetha Kalanidhi Padmashri Sri. N.

Ramani. Nikhil had his arangetram in Madras in 1997, to an audience filled

with musical stalwarts and music critics alike.

 

Nikihl has given solo concerts in Madras regularly, including during the

December Music Festival. He has performed under the auspices of many

prestigious music organizations in India. He has also been accompanied by

such accomplished musicians as violinist Delhi P. Sunderrajan and Kanjira

Vidwan V. Nagarajan, just to name a few.

 

Nikhil has performed extensively throughout the United States giving

concerts in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington D.C., and Cleveland in

the prestigious Tyagaraja Aradhana in 2001 and 2002. He has given solo

performances as well as accompanying his guru. He participated in the well

received 25 flutes concert of Ramani and disciples in the Cleveland

Tyagaraja Aradhana in April 2002.

 

Nikhil is currently in his third year of Law School at the prestigious

Columbia University in New York. Nikhil is born and brought up in the US;

however he has his ancestral roots in Royampettai, a village half a

kilometer from Thiruvaiyaru, where he visits almost annually.

 

Divya Ramachandran

 

Divya is a disciple of Sri. Mullaivasal Chandramouli. Divya was trained

in Western classical music for several years before switching to training in

Carnatic music under Dr. Susheela Narasimhan with an apprenticeship grant

from Utah Arts Council. She later came under the tutelage of Sri.

Mullaivasal G. Chandramouli. she had her arangetram in 2001.

 

Divya is familiar to Utah music scene during the past five years. She has

performed in many festivals in Utah both as a soloist and as accompanist.

She is a regular performer in annual events like Rama Seva Music festival,

Living Tradition, India Fest of Radha Krishna Temple of Spanish Fork.

 

Divya grew up in Salt Lake City. She is currently an undergraduate student

at the University of Utah.

Nirmal Narayan:

 

Nirmal is a disciple of mrudangam maestro Padmasri Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman

for the past five years.

 

Nirmal had his arangetram in Madras in 1995, presided by Padmabhushan

Lalgudi G. Jayaraman, under the tutelage of Poovalur Srinivasan. He

accompanied Rudrapatnam Brothers and Mysore Nagaraj and won excellent

reviews from many stalwarts of Carnatic music who were in attendance.

 

Nirmal has participated in the Madras Music Festival in 1997, 2000, 2001,

and 2002 under various prestigious organizations in India such as Narada

Gana Sabha, Kartik Fine Arts, Indian Fine Arts accompanying various artistes

such as Sangeetha Kalanidhi Dr. N. Ramani, Malladi Brothers, O.S. Arun, and

Bhooshany Kalyanaraman just to name a few.

 

Nirmal has also accompanied in USA for many professional artists. He has

performed in numerous cities in North America. He has also played concerts

in the prestigious Tyagaraja Aradhana Festival in Cleveland in 1997, 2001,

and 2002

 

Nirmal graduated in December 2002 from the University of California at

Berkeley with a degree in Economics. He performed in Berkeley for charity

shows aimed to raise money for Earthquake relief in Gujrat, as well as

performing in other jugalbandis and cultural programs.

 

Nirmal is born and brought up in the US; however he has his ancestral roots

in Royampettai, a village half a kilometer from Thiruvaiyaru, where he

visits almost annually.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Shreelata Suresh - The Dancer

 

³The clean geometry of her dance lines commands the attention of the most

jaded of audiences² ­ writes a critic about Shreelata¹s performance. Praised

not only for the purity of form and style but also for the immaculate rhythm

of her fleeting footwork, Shreelata Suresh, an exponent of Bharatha Natyam

and Kuchipoodi, has risen to be one of the leading dancers today. Her

performances are ³marked by freshness, dynamism and vigor² and are

³outstanding in terms of both learnt material and her own input².

 

Shreelata commenced her training at the age of six under Vyjayantimala Bali,

the famous dancer and actress. After her arangetram in 1981, she studied

under the illustrious Guru Kalaimamani K. N. Dakshinamurthy Pillai.

Presently she is under the tutelage of Guru V. Krishnamoorthi, whose unique

and innovative choreography has encouraged her to create a distinct style of

her own. Shreelata has also mastered the dance form of Kuchipoodi from Guru

Krishnamoorthi.

 

Gifted with a slim figure and an attractive stage presence, Shreelata has

captivated her audiences in India and around the world. She has given over

150 stage and TV performances in over 20 countries including India, North

and South America¹s, France, Republics of Georgia and Azerbaijan in former

USSR, Australia, southeast Asia and East Africa and has shared this rich

cultural heritage of India with the local people there. Shreelata has

participated in premier dance festivals held in the different states of

India. She played the lead role of ŒArdhanari¹ in Lalgudi Jayaraman¹s dance

drama, ŒJaya Jaya Devi¹ that toured 25 cities of USA and Canada.

 

Her attractive style, expressive movements and fleeting footwork have won

her many awards and titles. Bharat Kalachar, Madras, awarded her the title

of ŒYuva Kala Bharathi¹ in 1996. She was adjudged the finest young dancer in

1991 and again in 1993. In recognition of her talent she has also been

awarded the titles of ŒNatyananmani¹ and ŒNatyaratna¹.

 

Apart from being an active performer in the dance circuit, Shreelata is also

a contemporary teacher of Bharatha Natyam in the pure classical style. She

has founded ŒVishwa Shanthi¹, a dance school and an organization that

promotes peace through dance and other allied arts.