Bangla-O-Biswa

Durga Pooja" was celebrated by Bangla-O-Biswa on Oct 4th and 5th, 2003 in Reading, MA. Dr. Tapan Bhattacharya performed the pooja on both days. Each day there was 'puspanjali' after the completion of pooja. This was followed by distribution of "Mahaprasad." Then later in evening, there were lively cultural programs by local artists as well as artists from India. On the 4th, talented local artist, Shauni Deshmukh played Sarod with Nitin Mitta onTabla. There were Bengali and Hindi songs by Mahaprasad Kar and Sri Prafulla Kar, and Odissi dance performance by Sandhyadipa Kar and Utkalika Pahadsingh. On 5th October, a popular vocalist from India, Mr. Narayan Bhattacharya entertained the audience with a variety of songs. Mr. Manoj Banerjee accompanied him on the Tabla. In addition, at the end of the "Dashami Pooja" on the 5th, there was "Sindoor Khela" by the ladies. Dr. Anita Bhattacharjee, the President of Bangla-O-Biswa, oversaw the entire celebration for two days. It was a very joyful occasion.

Gurjar

Gurjar Navratri 2003 was four nights of continuous music and dance. If anyone’s spirits were dampened due to the current economic, financial or political situation this was the place to cheer up and change your mood. It was a very festive and joyous occasion with traditional gujarati folk music. The event was attended by hundreds of people dressed in colorful outfits doing raas garba to the rhythmic beats of the dhol. There was live music all four nights performed by different artists.

Here navratri was celebrated with true devotion to the Mother, or Mataji, as she is familiarly called by the young and old.

Sri Lakshmi Temple

Lata Narayanan and Bhanu Jayaraman
Navarathiri was celebrated at Sri Lakshmi Temple, Ashland, MA with Golu, a colorful display of icons and a series of daily concert (Nadanjali) during the 10 days starting from 25th Sep’03 through 4th Oct’03. Over 90 artists participated in Nadanjali event. Young children performed folk dances like Kummi, Kolatta, Garba, and traditional Bharathanatyam on DEVI was presented by students of various dance schools in New England Area. There was a great blend of music - Vocal, Flute, Guitar, Saxophone, Veena, Violin, and Bhajans. Both Both Hindustani and Carnatic artists delighted the audience with their exemplary performance. A colorful traditional Golu arrangement was displayed for the first time in the 14 year history of the Sri Lakshmi Temple. Many volunteers gave feast to the eyes with their Rangoli. Thanks to volunteers, participants, caterers and the audience who made this event a grand success

Soundarya Lahiri

Dussehra was celebrated with intense fervour and zest by all the members of Soundaryalahari. On all the ten days, Homams were performed to invoke the different forms of the Divine Mother - Bala Tripura Sundari,Gayatri, Annapurna, Mahalakshmi, Lalitha, Saraswathi, Durga, Raja Rajeswari, Chandi and Mahakali. The Homams were conducted as per Sri Suktham way of worship ,combined with the powerful seed syllables or Bija Aksharas, allowing the inner vibrations to resonate with the rituals. Nitya Devi Yajanam was performed symbolizing Goddess Mother as Time Herself. The 15 Nityas are modifications of Lalita as the Goddess with Her three gunas and Her five elements of aether, air, fire, water and earth. As the moon remains itself, though appearing differently according to phase, so too does Lalita. Hence Lalita or Tripurasundari is the 16th day or full moon, with her 15 digits. Sixteen women dressed in colorful saris were worshipped, bringing home the point that Amma is in everyone of us. On Durgashtami day, Bala Puja was celebrated at the Sadhu Vaswani Center where girls aged between 1 to 16 years of age were worshipped by their mothers.It was a feast to the eyes to see all the girls dressed up in their festive clothes accepting the Puja that their mothers were lovingly offering to them. The Saraswathi Puja had all the kids worship Goddess Saraswathi, chant Slokas, and attend Bala Lahari classes. Bala lahari classes were formally inaugurated on this auspicious day, and many eager students attended the classes. The grand finale for the Dussehra were the Chandi Homam and the Kali Homam. As hundreds of people participated with the chanting of the Durga Mantra, the flames leapt up in the air as if to burn away our growing doubts, ego, and selfishness. The divine ecstasy experienced by the devotees was a gift from the great Mother.

Umass Lowell

To celebrate Navarathri the students of UMASS Lowell held a RAAS-Navratri event. The event was held at the Cumnock hall UMass, Lowell campus on Oct 18th. It was organized by South Asian Students Association, the Graduate Indian Student Association and IDRF as a fund raising event. About 400 people attended this event. Traditional Garba, Aarti and Dandiya was played to the live music performed by "Dhamaka Raja" group. Participants from all age groups had fun till late mid-night. Proceeds would be used for supporting Tribal village projects in India.

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