Spring finally arrived in Massachusetts. Well, at least in spirit. The Vrindavana Preservation Society (VPS) and the Vaisnava Academy celebrated their 2nd annual Holi Mahotsava on the 20th of March, the first official day of spring. Attended by about 500 people, the event took place at the Broad Meadows School Auditorium in Quincy Massachusetts.

Holi, the festival of colors, is a celebration of faith. Prahalad, a young devotee was rescued from a fire thanks to the grace of Lord Vishnu on this day. Holi is a celebration of love. Sri Sri Radha Krishna, the divine couple and their cohorts joyfully played with Holi colors at Vrindavana on this day. For many Indians who attended the Holi Mahotsava, it was a Déjà vu to a time of celebration and festivity with friends and family in India.

The program was opened by the able duo, Mrs. Anju Singh and Mrs. Jyothi Shetty. The opening act featured melodious Bhajans from special guest performer Neelima Chaturvedi. She was accompanied by Jeery Leake on Tabla, Priyasha Chaturvedi, Mohini Bhakata, Anil Tandon, Parul Bhakata and some of her students.

Next Celia Markey, a long time VPS member and Yoga instructor led a Bhajan of devotional songs. Sanjay Dasa, Viryavan Dasa, Rick Chadwick and Kate Roper accompanied her. Celia was an instant crowd pleaser. The auditorium reverberated with the sound of clapping hands and chants of ‘Radhe Shyam’. A group of colorfully attired young performers from the Triveni School of Classical Dance artistically presented three dance performances in the next section of the program.

Following the dance, Nick Cavallo, Acting Director of the Vaisnava Academy presented a slide presentation on the accomplishments of VPS in India and the United States. The presentation highlighted a recent trip to Vrindavana, India made by several members of VPS, USA. The significant accomplishments of this trip include donation of clothes to needy residents of Vrindavana and establishing a joint venture with the Indian Department of Archeology to preserve an old Madan Mohan temple in Vrindavana.

The finale of the program was a play presented by the children of Vaisnava Academy, a South Shore school seeking to promote Indian culture in Massachusetts. The school is a subsidiary of VPS. The play centered on the Divine Loving couple, Sri Sri Radha Krisha. Lord Krishna and His clique of pranksters collude to visit Sri Radha Rani and Her Gopis to celebrate Holi with them. The hostile Gopis attack Krishna’s friends with sticks. However, festivity and Divine Love are in the air and the Gopis and Krishna’s friends soon join together with the Divine Couple in a colorful, joyous celebration. All children who took part in the play received numerous accolades from an enthusiastic audience for their outstanding performances.

Activities were then moved to the school gymnasium where everyone present joined in the traditional celebration of smearing Holi colors and Garba. A sumptuous meal from Sachi Matha’s Kitchen ended the evening’s festivities.

This enormously successful program is the forerunner for several cultural programs VPS has planned for this year. These events include the 2nd Annual VPS Cricket tournament, to be played in June-July and the Nandotsava festival, which VPS will present in fall, this year. For more information on VPS events please visit the newly updated VPS website at www.vps-international.org.

|