Massachusetts Tamil Sangam – Light Lamping and Deepavali Celebration 2022

Happy Deepavali!! The joyous festival of lights has illuminated the lives of so many people. So did this festival expand, the growth of the exceptional Massachusetts Tamil Sangam. The recently commemorated non-profit organization in Massachusetts celebrated their Thalai Deepavali with their first stage event on Saturday, October 29, 2022. With a vision for the growth of Tamil culture, community support and service, Massachusetts Tamil Sangam successfully hosted an exciting series of cultural events, Chanda Mellam and a light music show in honor of Deepavali at Sutton High School with over 450 guests.

Upon entering, guests were more than amazed to see that the high school was completely transformed into a deepavali-themed venue, including the iconic “Pattasu Kadai”, lined with the various types of firecrackers one can find in any store in Tamilnadu at this time– all handmade by the creative volunteers behind this event including Jothi Prasad and Veerendiren Nachimuthu. At the ever-so-busy ticket table, guests were greeted by bright-eyed volunteers, Sankar Sundaram, Suresh Periyasamy, Manoharan Ganapathy, Sujatha Varadarajan, Subha Sankar, Chithra Manoharan, Kamalini Balamurugan, Ishaan Giri, Hanuram Manikandan, Aadish Navinkumar, and Tharegha Manoharan. 

The event was graciously initiated with the recital of the Thamizh Thai Vazhthu and a welcome speech by MTS foundation committee member, Saritha Venkatesh. From 1:30 that afternoon, a total of 52 cultural events took place ranging from classical art forms such as Carnatic singing and bharatanatyam pieces to high energy Tamil  local movie kuthu  performances. This showcase of all the various talents strengthened the pillars of Massachusetts Tamil Sangam which proved to be an excellent platform for kids and adults to express their creativity and passions. 

The technicalities of the audio system and the smooth transitioning of programs was made possible by dedicated MTS volunteers, Karthikeyan Arumugam, Thilak Kannan, and Karthi Arunachalam. The emcees for the evening were led by MTS foundation committee members Tanya Desigan and Saritha Venkatesh who beautifully carried out the events, providing the audience with the perfect transitions. The emcees of the event were Saritha Venkatesh, Tanya Desigan, Raji Sankaran, Rampriya Sundaramoorthy, Jeevitha Thilak, Anu Giri, Kamalini Balamurugan, Kavin Mithuna Vijaykumar, Diya Sankar, Nikita Sundaram, Ishaan Giri and Tharegha Manoharan. Volunteers Jayachithra Rameshkumar, Bharathi, Prabhu Kalaimani, Vijay Cruz, and Thanigaivel coordinated the event perfectly from backstage, organizing programs, audio, and managing the always-busy behind-the-scenes. 

During the break, guests were able to socialize and enjoy snacks from Mayuri and visit many vendors and their stalls. The delicious snacks and dinner were organized by energetic MTS foundation committee members Jothi Prasad, Rameshkumar Palanisamy and Navinkumar Loganathan. There were a wide variety of stalls lined up, including Nallam Foods, Lavanya Collections, Sai Flowers, NY Life, RSM-Metrowest, VinBrothersBoutique, Build Wealth Financial Group, Boston Sri Kalikambal Shiva Temple, and Vastra Collections.

Massachusetts Tamil Sangam invited New England’s favorite Chenda Mellam group– Boston Vaadhya Kala Sangam to share their talents and spread joy with everyone that day. Their performance was an absolute thrill to watch, capturing the energy of everyone in the audience the entire time.

In honor of Deepavali, in honor of the return of Lord Rama, in honor of Lord Krishna’s victory over Narakasura, in honor of the victory of light in darkness, and of course, in honor of the great family Massachusetts Tamil Sangam has started to foster in the New England area, all the families who act as the pillars to the new organization, partook in a spectacular light lamping ceremony near the middle of the event to inaugurate the bright future of Massachusetts Tamil Sangam. There was a heartwarming video that was shown to highlight the milestones that MTS had achieved over the last 6 months. Two grand lamps, or kuthuvilakku, were lit in spirit of the auspicious event by the Massachusetts Tamil Sangam’s founding members. The letters M, T, and S, were brightly lit with small diyas and showcased with pride. The ceremony was further crowned by famous MGR song “Dharmam Ulagile, Irukum Varaiyile Nalai Namadhe”. 

Massachusetts Tamil Sangam Foundation Committee: 

Jothi Prasad, Karthi Arunachalam, Krishnasamy Venkataraman, Manoharan Ganapathy, Navinkumar Loganathan, Raji Sankaran, Rameshkumar Palanisamy, Rampriya Sundaramoorthy, Sankar Sundaram, Saritha Venkatesh, Suresh Periyasamy, Tanya Desigan, Thilak Kannan, and Veerendiren Nachimuthu. 

In order to present their audience with a wholesome experience, Massachusetts Tamil Sangam also hosted a light music show consisting of local New England talents Mr. Srihari Sridhar, Mr. Nirmal Ramu, Mrs. Suryaa Ramasamy, and Mrs. Indu Subramanian. They presented us with an assortment of classics such as melodies like Narumugai and dance pieces such as Aasai Nooru Vagai. Their energy was transferred to the audience, especially our younger enthusiasts who got to be part of a flash mob on stage. 
 

To end the lineup of cultural events, a couple energetic adult performances skyrocketed the mood in the auditorium. It was finally time for the excitedly expected vivadha medai, debate show. The day’s controversial yet hilarious topic was: who lost more freedom after marriage? Husband or wife? It was organized by our very own expert debate speaker and avid MTS volunteer, Thilak Kannan. 

The event ended more than successfully due to the overwhelming support from the Tamizhans of MA as well as the hardworking MTS Foundation Committee, who shaped their greatest dream into reality for everyone.  All the participants were extremely happy to receive the trophies from our foundation committee. 

The Massachusetts Tamil Sangam Deepavali Celebration was made possible by their sponsors Century 21 Realtor Lekha Damodharan, HealthMarkets Insurance Producer Ravi Natarajan, RSM—Metrowest, Sai Flowers Inc, Nalam Foods LLC, and VinBrothers Boutique. Their media sponsors were Krisp Fotos and Film and Selva Videos.

Don’t forget to like and follow the Massachusetts Tamil Sangam Facebook page to stay updated for future events. Subscribe and like the Massachusetts Tamil Sangam YouTube channel to not miss out on any updates!

Stay tuned for our Pongal Celebrations on January 21, 2023 at Sutton High School. 

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