Following in the wake of its inaugural Cricket tournament, the Vrindavana Preservation Society (VPS) presented yet another masterpiece, the Nandotsava Festival Celebration. The festival was held at the Quincy High School in Quincy, MA on 24th of August 2003. It displayed a wide variety of Indian culture including a Bharatia dance recital, a Kathak performance and a Krishna Lila play.

Nandotsava is the day after Janmastami, which is the day Lord Krishna was born. Nandotsava commemorates the celebration of the birth of Krishna performed by Nanda Maharaj. The common theme of the entire function was Lord Krishna and the events surrounding His life.

Mrs. Neelam Kumar, an active member of VPS commenced the event as the master of ceremonies. The opening act featured a series of Bharata and Kutchipudi dances, performed by the Triveni School of dance. Mrs. Neena Gulati, director of the Triveni School presided over this part of the program. The stage was a torrent of hues with all dance performers wearing traditional dance costumes. A noteworthy part of this section was an enactment of a wondrous episode from Sri Krishna’s life.

After receiving complaints from Krishna’s sister that Krishna has been eating sand, His mother Yashoda forces Krishna to open His mouth. As Krishna reluctantly obeys her, Yashoda sees the whole Universe housed inside His mouth.

The next program item was a Kathak Recital from another talented guest performer Sanjeevani Kukreja. Kathak is an amalgamation of Jaipur and Lucknow Gharana. The dance was performed with a Bhajan titled Bansi Bata Jamuna Tat Nirata ta Banawari.

Numerous sponsors helped fund this event. They were all honored in the next part of the program. This was followed by a slick and informative slide presentation on the VPS by Mr. Rohit Kumar and Mrs. Anju Singh. The presentation outlined several achievements by VPS in India and in the United States. In India VPS has made great strides in its efforts towards preserving the holy land of Braj Mandal. These efforts include reforestation of the area, an establishment of a plant nursery and the building of a cultural center.

The US chapter of VPS has raised $25,000.00 towards the purchase of a 5-acre farmland in Braj. It also helped the founding of the Vaisnava Academy in Quincy, MA. The Vaisnava Academy is a school in the South Shore that promotes Braj Culture, particularly in the youth.

The most recent accomplishment of VPS was the inauguration of very popular Cricket tournament in Quincy in June and July of this year. All the star performers of this tournament, and the winning teams were honored in the next segment of the festival. Awards were handed out to the winning team Lagaan and the runner up team, the Boston Blue Sox.

The next event was the first of a magnificent two-part play, Kamsa Vadha performed by several members of VPS and the Vaisnava Academy. The play was centered on events surrounding Lord Krishna’s birth. It was directed and written by Raghuram Shetty. This part of the play depicted the birth of Lord Krishna to Devaki and Vasudev. Devaki’s wicked brother Kamsa tries desparately to kill the Divine Child but all his murderous attempts are annulled by the divine grace of Lord Vishnu.

The performers included Dennis Kelly as the evil king Kamsa, Nick Cavallo as Narada, Celia Markey as Devaki and Lakshminarayan as Vasudev. The caste also included Vidya Mahadev as river Yamuna, Radhika Garland as Yogmaya, Saurabh Sharma as Vishnu and Mukesh Sharma as Brahma.

Keshav Shukla, President of VPS, then lead a ‘gala’ Bhajan that featured a Braj dance celebration of the birth of Lord Krishna. It was a wondrous sight as many people in the audience participated in the dancing and chanting.

Next came the second part of Kamsa Vadha. This was the climax of the play and was performed in traditional Yakshagana style. In this segment Raghuram Shetty himself, performed as Kamsa with his dexterous son Tejas playing the part of young Lord Krishna. The audience was mesmerized by the bright colored costumes and flamboyant acrobatic jumps from skilled artistes. In this part of the play, the evil king Kamsa meets his end at the hands of Lord Krishna.

The event finally concluded with a sumptuous vegetarian meal presented by Sachi Mata, an active member of VPS. This festival marks the beginning of the new school year of the Vaisnava Academy. The fall session of this subsidiary of VPS includes courses Hindi, Sanskrit , arts and crafts, Yoga and music lessons. Classes are scheduled to begin on Sunday the 7th of September, 2003.

VPS and the Vaisnava Academy have planned yet another event for this year. They will be hosting a Deepavali celebration in early November at the same venue. For more information please contact Keshav Shukla at keshav_vps@yahoo.com.

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