WisIndians.com: News

News report on Sri Venkateswara Kalyana Utsavam at Hindu Temple of Wisconsin

Close to 60 devotees atteneded the Sri Venkateswara Kalyana Utsavam at Hindu Temple of Wisconsin on Saturday Dec 13 2008. Temple priest Balaram Ji conducted the Puja and Telugu, Tamil and Kannada community members participated in this function.

Utsava Moorti of Venkateswara celebrated his Divine Marriage. During this grand ceremony, Vedic chanting was done and devotees offerred lots of fruits and food for the Divine Couple.

Please view the few pictures

More pictures (40+) are available here.

Click here to view the Video Clips

WisIndians.com provides FREE CLASSIFIEDS tailered to Desi community - classifieds.wisindians.com. Click here to visit the classifieds page.

-Suraj for WisIndians.com

Peace Prayer in Pewaukee Hindu Temple for Mumbai Terrorist Attack Victims

Members of Wisconsin Indo-American/American and other communities gathered for a peace prayer in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks that have killed close to 200 people in 3 -4 days.

About 125 people assembled at the auditorium of Hindu Temple of Wisconsin, Pewaukee, one of the largest Hindu temples in the Midwest, to pray for those killed by suspected terrorists and urged the community and governments to work towards the common goal of getting rid of the terrorism from the society.

Enjoy the pictures and video clips from this event.

CLICK HERE FOR THE PICTURES

CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO CLIPS

"The whole community is shocked by the acts of these terrorists," said Kumud Prasad, President of Hindu Temple of Wisconsin.

Balaram Ji, the priest of the temple chanted the Mantra during the beginning of the prayer event to symbolize the peace to the world.

Members of the Christian, Muslim, Buddhism, Sikhs, Jewish participated in the today’s prayer.

The Peace Prayer was eneded with the following Shlokas sung by Rekha & Kumud Prasad

Sarvesham Svasti Bhavatu
Sarvesham Santir Bhavatu
Sarvesham Purnam Bhavatu
Sarvesham Manglam Bhavatu
Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah
Sarve Santu Niramayah
Sarve Bhadrani Pasyantu
Ma Kaschid-Duhkha-Bhag-Bhavet
Om Shantih Shantih Shantih

Meaning in ENGLISH
May auspiciousness be unto all;
May Peace be unto all;
May fullness be unto all:
May prosperity be unto all;
May all be happy;
May all be free from disabilities
May all behold what is auspicious:
May none suffer from sorrow:

Kamal Shah, Kumud Prasad, Yash Wadhwa were among the distinguished member of the Indian community who delivered the speech during this event.

Enjoy the pictures and video clips from this event.

CLICK HERE FOR THE PICTURES

CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO CLIPS

-Suraj for WisIndians.com

Jashn-e-Sangam: A celebration of Indian-Pakistani freedom day & solidarity

UW-Madison Memorial Union on Aug. 21 2008

Lalita Subramanian, a member of Asian Pacific Dance Study Group,performed at the Jashn-e-Sangam gathering at UW-Madison. The event, which was hosted by South Asia Forum and Indian Graduate Students Assn., was a joint celebration of India and Pakistan Independence Day.

Click here to read More on this.

News report on Deepavali (Diwali) celebration by GMTS

Yesterday (Nov 22 2008), Greater Milwaukee Tamil Sangam organized evening get together and culural programs to celebrate Deepavali. The event was attended by more than 180 members of community. The event was held at the auditorium of Hindu Temple of Wisconsin. The event started around 5:30 PM and closed at 9 PM.

Click here to view the few video clips from this event

Click here for the photos from the event

Following are the highlights of the evening.

1. Early dinner: This event marked the begining of new trend within Tamil Sangam which is successfully tried in other cultural organizations...start dinner early (before the entertainment programs). Accordingly the dinner timing was changed and dinner was served from 6 PM. This was a great success as this made people to come early for the event, avoided the late dinner which might cause inconvenience for the people with medication and also for the benefit of the kids.

Great Food...there are so many varities of items..I couldn't track everything..Few are, Samosa, Pakora, Roti, Baingan Bartha, Navarathna Kurma, Pullav, Rasmalai and many more.

2. Mr. Sreekanth Balasubramanian was the Master of the Ceremony (MC) and was able to keep the audience occupied with games, programs, jokes etc.

3. Excellent Bharatha Natyam performance from Gayathri Vaidhyanathan. Besides an opening homage to Gayathri Devi, the Ten incarnations of lord Vishnu- Dashavatara formed the core illustrations.

Bharatha Natyam is one of the seven classical dance forms of India,chiefly associated with the South of India ie Tamil Nadu.The name of sage Bharatha or form its origin in the Bharatha Desha.Bharatha Natyam is also iterpreted as Bhaaram Tharayithi Bharatham -the true dispeller of grief and anguish.Baratha Natyam is also that which encompasses Bhaavam (emotional content),Raga (melody) and Thaalam(rhythm).

Source: Wordpress

4. Then comes the program of the evening....Lingastakam by Sharadi Madhusudhana, Akansha Asokan, Akshaya Nagasundar, Anusha Barathkumar, Sneha Karthikeyan, Sneha P, Kajal Khatri and Komal Khatri was superb. These dances not only spread the essence of classical dance, they also show the dedication by these kids who put lots of efforts in learning, preparing, coordinating the dance. This dance was choreographed by famous teacher Kripa Bhaskaran. Kripa Bhaskaran is the founder of Natyarpana, a dance school which trains students in bharatanatyam.

5. The "Chinna Chinna" dance from Mouna Raagam was another hit. This dance was played by 12 girls (Aditi Raj Narayan, Arundathi Pillai, Diya Ramanathan, Drisya Reghuram, Gowri Wahlig, Meher Ali, Nisha Ramanathan, Lakshmi Karri, Ragashree Komandur, Sahana Ravindran, Saranya Varanasi and Yuvapreethi Ganesh.) who presentd this dance with perfect co-ordination, accurate timing and discipline.

5. Young Girl Ananya Rajaram (daughter of Vidya and Raj) sang two Bharathiyar Song - Oli padaitha kanninai (patriotism-soaked lyric of Bharathiyar) and Vetri.

6. GMTS president Mr. Swaminath Shanker gave the details of development within the community and plans for the next year. He also mentioned about the launch of GMTS web site http://OurGMTS.org.

7. Deepak first shot to fame earlier with an exciting dance and unique steps. Since then, he has remained on the horizon, stretching the boundaries of dance with varying degrees of success. He presented few dances in the evening program and well received by all.

Click here to view the few video clips from this event

Click here for the photos from the event

Suraj for WisIndians.com

News report on Deepavali (Diwali) celebration by Milana Kannada Koota

Over 250 members participated in the Deepavali (Diwali) celebration organized by Milana Kannada Koota of Wisconsin at auditorium of Hindu Temple of Wisconsin. The event started around 5:30 PM and closed at 10 PM. The theme of this event was, Deepavali Celebration, Kannada Rajyotsava Celebration and Children's day. Following are the highlights of the evening.

Click here to view the few video clips and photos from this event

1. Early dinner: This event the dinner timings was changed and dinner was served from 6 PM. This was a great success as this made people to come early for the event, avoided the late dinner which might cause inconvenience for the people with medication and also for the benefit of the kids.

2. Excellent speech by Aditi Bharatkumar abiyt Global warming and its' effects and what we can do to save the world from this negative development.

3. Presence of Mrs. Vasanthi Gowda, Vice president of AKKA (AKKA stands for ’Association of Kannada Kootas of America’) who came down from Chicago to witness the Milana event.

4. Great programs narration by MCs Vishunu Borappa and Raji Madhusudan. These two were successful in capturing the audience attention and making the program flow smooth.

5. Invocation song by Manasi, Veena and Anu showed the great co-ordination of voice among them.

6. Lingashtakam Dance by Sharadi, Gitika, Aditi, Akansha, Akshaya was superb. These dances not only spread the essence of classical dance, they also show the dedication by these kids who put lots of efforts in learning, preparing, coordinating the dance. This dance was choreographed by famous teacher Kripa Bhaskaran.

7. Ananya Rajesh's sung Kunidhado Thyagaraja Song which reflected her dedication for the singing and finer details of the classical singing. Kudos to her mother/teacher Geetha Rajesh.

8. What a performance by Aravind, Alamelu, Shahsi, Usha, Roshan and Sarala. They performed group dance 'Onti inda Janti' which included dance for the clips from few movies and this was a super hit. Choreographer Sarala Roshan's efforts payed OFF and audience were cheering ONCE MORE.

9. Our own Milana young performer, Spurthy Kodkani proved again to be a star of the evening. Her dance 'Diya' was a super hit.

10. One has to appreciate the talented kid from Madison, Samik Partha who performed 'Sandalwood to Bollywood Dance' in which he started with Kannada movie dances and ending with bollywood dances. This was a great performance.

11. The speical attraction of the tonight's program was drama from Shikara group, Chicago. They played @ 40 minutes of drama called 'Kharo Khara' which was written by Dr. Chandrashekhar Kambara.

Click here to view the few video clips and photos from this event

-Suraj for WisIndians.com

Credits:

1. Geetha Rajesh for providing the video contents.
2. Srinivas/Roshan for providing the photos from the event.

News report on Diwali celebration by Andhra Samajam of Greater Milwaukee

Close to 200 community members attended the Diwali Festival celebration by Andhra Samajam of Greater Milwaukee on Saturday November 01 2008 which was organized at the auditorium of Hindu Temple of Wisconsin. The event started at around 5:30 PM with social hour time along with light snacks to warm up for the evening cultural programs which included the varieties of programs from kids, adults, ladies and gents alike.

WATCH THE VIDEO CLIPS

WATCH THE PHOTOS (100+)

Mr. Anand Adavi was the MC for the evening program as well director of skit 'Tenali Ramakrishna Kavi' - which included 15+ kids participation. Mr. Hari Bandla - President of Andhra Samajam of Greater Milwaukee started the evening with welcome note. He mentioned the good news about the recognition for Telugu language as Classical Language by Govt. of India which was well received by all the audience.

Evening entertainment programs included the ligastakam dance, couple of movie dances, bharatanatyam by Nisha Maguluru, Skit, and many more.

Details of some of the evenings event.

1. Lingashtakam Dance by Sharadi, Gitika, Aditi, Akansha, Akshaya was superb. These dances not only spread the essence of classical dance, they also show the dedication by these kids who put lots of efforts in learning, preparing, coordinating the dance. This dance was choreographed by famous teacher Kripa Bhaskaran.

2. What a wonderful performance by a young Sreya......she performed the dance from the film Sainikudu. She proved to be a upcoming star,

3. Manasa Bandla performed well for the Rajastani Folk dance ... 'Rangeela Maro Dolna' which was well received by the crowd.

4. One can not forget the skit played by 15+ kids - 'Tenali Ramakrishna Kavi' which was edited and directed by MC Anand Adavi. These kinds of programs show the dedication from both the kids side as well as the director. This 20+ minutes skit was with full of decorated stage, voices delivered by many adults in the background, acting by wonderful, talented kids, music etc etc...WOW!!! Fantastic program and performance. One could see how much audiences were enjoying this program. Kudos to Anand Adavi and Team!!!

I can't close this article without specifying about delicious (and ofcourse spicy) Andhra food served. There were chapatis, okra sabji, dal, Rasmali, Sambar and many more. 10+ volunteers helped attendees in the food serving.

Enjoy the few video clips and photos we captured during this event.

WATCH THE PHOTOS (100+)

WATCH THE VIDEO CLIPS

This was a great program and also the opportunity to learn different culture. We thank Andhra Samajam of Greater Milwaukee for giving this opportunity to be part of the event.

-Suraj for WisIndians.com

News report on 'Diwali Annakut' organized by By BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Satsang Mandal-Milwaukee

On Thursday Oct 30 2008 evening, Hindu Temple of Wisconsin, Pewaukee auditorium was full as more than 400 people attended the Diwali Annakut organized by By BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Satsang Mandal-Milwaukee. People from Milwaukee, Madison, Greenbay, Fond Du lac and other parts of Wisconsin as well as neighboring Illinois State poured into Hindu Temple of Wisconsin, Pewaukee to attend this event.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE PICTURES FROM THIS EVENT (registration required to view the pictures. Registration is secure and FREE, it takes less than 1 minute to finish)

Click here to know about BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha and it's Activities.

The evenings main attraction was the performance by Mr. Jaydeep Swadia, a well known artist from India who was awarded by President of India Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam (ex-President now) for his Vocal singing and compositions achievements.

Jaydeep Swadia, Professional Singer, Bombay, India. Over the years, BAPS's encouragement and promotion of cultural and performing arts has produced artists of national caliber. Jaydeep Swadia developed his singing talents as a child of the BAPS Children's Activities. By the age of 18, he won national acclaim as the ‘Animated Star of Tomorrow', and has since performed on over 20 foreign tours. It is also a matter of inspiration that motivated by Swamiji, he has used his talents to raise millions of rupees through numerous charity concerts around the world.
Source: http://www.swaminarayan.org/news/2004/02/suvarnamahotsav/photo4.htm

-Suraj for WisIndians.com

Credits: WisIndians.com is thankful to Mr. Kumud Prasad, current President of Hindu Temple of Wisconsin, Pewaukee and Mr. Virendrasinh Zala - BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Satsang Mandal-Milwaukee Coordinator for providing the informaiton on this event as well as photos.

News report on Annual fundraiser dinner at Hindu Temple of Wisconsin, Pewaukee

On Saturday more than 100 devotees and supporters of Hindu Temple of Wisconsin, Pewaukee attended the annual fundraising dinner organized at the auditorium of Hindu Temple of Wisconsin, Pewaukee. CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE PHOTOS (40+). Today’s event was attended by many long term supporters of the temple as well as many new faces which was encouraging.

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It was great to see many high profile attendees who found time out of their busy schedules to attend the function. The fundraising evening raised a substantial amount whose proceeds will boost the amount raised from the sale of dinner tickets. Hindu Temple will use this money to reduce the mortgage debt and regular maintenance tasks at temple.

The event started at 5:30 PM with social hour till 6:45 PM. The evening program was started with slokas from priest BalaramJi. The inaugural speech by temple president

Mr. Kumud Prasad who thanked everyone for attending today’s event and highlighted the need for funds to the temple. He requested all attendees to donate generously today for this good cause.

Program also included the entertainment programs for 1 hour or so, then donations calls from audience and dinner. There were couple of programs (Bhangra and solo dance) after the dinner.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE PHOTOS (40+).

More Photos will be uploaded in couple of days.

-Suraj for WisIndians.com

Photos from Yoga Seminar, Durga Ashtamee celebration and Saraswati Pooja

Please find the photos from following events.

1. 2nd Yoga Seminar, Workshop & Training

Held under the Guidance of Professor Laxmankumar V. Sannellappanavar Karnataka, India- on September 28 and September 29, 2008 at Hindu Temple of Wisconsin, Pewaukee.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE PHOTOS FROM THIS EVENT (registration required, FREE registration)

2. Durga Ashtamee celebration

Held on October 07 2008 at Hindu Temple of Wisconsin, Pewaukee.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE PHOTOS FROM THIS EVENT (registration required, FREE registration)

3. Saraswati Pooja

Held on October 05 2008 at Hindu Temple of Wisconsin, Pewaukee.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE PHOTOS FROM THIS EVENT (registration required, FREE registration)

Credits: WisIndians.com is thankful to HTW president Mr. Kumud Prasad for sharing these pictures with us.

News Report on the Fund Raising Event for assembly candidate Mr. Yash Wadhwa

On Friday Oct 10th, 2008 Pratap & Kamla Singh hosted a Fund Raising Event for assembly candidate Mr. Yash Wadhwa at their residence in Brookfield. It was a successful event with close to 30 attended the event. Many friends of Wadhwa from India, Pakistan & American community attended the evening event (5:30 PM to 7:30 PM).

Highlight of the evening was Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker and Assemblyman Jim Ott who showed up in the event and extended their full support for Yash's election. Kumud Prasad, Kamal Shah, Sudhari Sahu were among the distinguished Indian community members who attended the today’s event and showed their full support for Yash.

Read more on Yash's programs for Wisconsin and his campaign progress at http://www.yashforassembly.com.

Click here to view the photos from the event

-Suraj for WisIndians.com

Credits: WisIndians.com team is thankful for Mr. Kumud Prasad who shared the photos from the event with us.

Yash's profile:

Yash P. Wadhwa is the Director of Operations for the Milwaukee office of Strand Associates, Inc., a consulting engineering firm. Prior to that, Yash was the President/CEO and owner of Larsen Engineers, S.C. for 21 years.

Yash received his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Delhi, India and master’s degree in civil /environmental engineering from the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is a registered professional engineer and a Diplomate of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers.

He is a past president of the Wisconsin Society of Professional Engineers and Wisconsin Association of Consulting Engineers.

He was named an Outstanding Engineer in Private Practice in 1993. He also received Wisconsin Department of Transportation Secretary’s Award for his involvement and work in the consulting industry to advocate and support the continued development of the Disadvantaged Businesses in the State of Wisconsin.

He was a member of a professional delegation to China in 1983 and to the Soviet Union in 1990. He was also a member of Governor Tommy G. Thompson’s 1999 Trade Mission to India.

Yash was honored by Mayor John Norquist when he proclaimed August 25, 1988 as 'Yash P. Wadhwa Day' in Milwaukee.

He serves on the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, Milwaukee Public Museum, MPTV Friends, Hindu Temple of Wisconsin and Wisconsin Coalition of Asian Indian Organizations.

He has actively participated in many civic and community organizations including United Way of Greater Milwaukee, YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee and Junior Achievement of Wisconsin. He is also a member of the Milwaukee North Shore Rotary Club.

He was also listed in the 'Who’s who in the Midwest', 'Who’s who in the world’ and 'Men of Achievement'.

Yash is married to his wife, Usha, for 36 years and has two adult sons.

News Report on DANDIYA RAAS at Hindu Temple of Wisconsin

On Saturday Oct 11 2008 evening, more than 300 gathered today at the auditorium of Hindu Temple of Wisconsin, Pewaukee to participate in the much popular Dandiya Raas program as part of Navarathri celebration. It was nice to see majority of the audience including gents, ladies and kids were in the either traditional Gujarati dress or traditional Indian dress. The event started around 8:00 PM and initial hour audience is low. Much of the audience turned in after 9 PM and I could see most of them staying till midnight. As I was told the program could go till 1:30 to 2 AM Sunday early morning.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE VIDEOS FROM THIS EVENT

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE PHOTOS FROM THIS EVENT ( NOW AVAILABLE)

Live music for the today's program was provided by five members team from Baroda, India. They carefully selected songs to keep the audience dance rhythm going till the end. I really liked all the songs, especially the one they performed around 11:30 PM (refer to the video clip 2) in which they made audience to dance/sit/dance for so many times and everybody seems to enjoyed it without any tiredness.

I could see many kids were being held by parents on their shoulder or arms while dancing as the auditorium was full while little older kids were dancing along with the adults.

Around 10:30 PM audience were served with the light snacks to fill their energy for the next round of dance.
Dinesh Sanghavi, Himanshu Parikh, Yogesh Khatri and Jitu Shah were among the distinguished members of the community who contributed in organizing this successful event.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE VIDEOS FROM THIS EVENT

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE PHOTOS FROM THIS EVENT ( NOW AVAILABLE)

Raas or Dandiya Raas, along with Garba, is the featured dance of Navratri evenings in Western India. The word "Raas" comes from Sanskrit word "Ras". Origins of Raas can be traced to ancient times. Lord Krishna performed Raas Lila" (Lila means Lord Krishna's playful dance. Word "Lila" is also referred to things that God does that we do not fully understand. There are several forms of Raas, but "Dandia Raas", performed at Navratiri time in Gujaratis the most popular form. There are other forms of Raas, namely Dang Lila from Rajasthan where only one large stick is used and "Raas lila" from north India. Raas Lila and Dandia Raas are similar. Some even consider "Garba" as a form of Raas, namely "Raas Garba". In Dandia Raas men and women dance in two circles, with sticks in their hands. In the old times Raas did not involve much singing, just the beat of Dhol was enough. "Dandia" or sticks, are about 18" long. Each dancer holds two although some times when they are short on Dandiya they will use just one in right hand. Generally in a four beat rhythm opposite sides hit the sticks at the same time, creating a nice sound. One circle goes clockwise and another counter clock wise. In the west, people don't form full circle, but often form raws. Raas is also performed at social functions and on stage. Staged Raas can be very complex with intricate steps and music. Raas is a folk art and it will change with times. When African slaves and ship workers (who are Muslims) arrived on the coast of Saurashtra (Part of state of Gujrat India, they adopted Raas as their own and used African drums. While it originated from Hindu tradition it was adopted by the Muslim community is Saurashtra. Singing entered the Raas scene later on. Most songs were about lord Krishna initially but topics such as love, praise of warriers who fought gallant wars, Goddess Durga and even Muslim Raas songs were born. It is common to think that Raas has to be fast, but that is not the case. Grace and slow movements are just as important.

Source: Wikipedia

-Suraj for WisIndians.com
Credits: WisIndians.com is thankful for the Gujarati community and Hindu Temple of Wisconsin for giving us the chance to participate in this program and learn/spread their culture.

News Report on Bhakti Vrksa - A Prayer Meeting

On Oct 04 2008, Over 25 members of the different family attended the weekly religious meeting "Bhakti Vrksa" (refer to the end of this article for more details on Bhakti Vrksa) at one of the member of the "Nilachala Bhakta Vrinda" of Milwaukee area. I went to the home of Sonali Badi where that evening’s meeting held at around 5:30 PM and the program started already. It was nice to watch all the kids patiently listening to Subudhi Krishna Prabhu for the stories from Bhagavad-Gita. Around 10 kids were gathered around Subudhi Krishna Prabhu and listening to him, answering his questions from previous classes/lessons.

This is a great program for kids since they were encouraged to enhance their curiosity and taught various stories from the great Bhagavad-Gita which will help these kids to understand the universe and adopt few good examples in their own life. I found this program very different (and better) than other similar programs which I have attended in the past where adults were only the main focus of the program.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE PHOTOS FROM THIS EVENT (registration required, FREE registration)

Subudhi Krishna Prabhu will conduct about 1 to 1 1/2 hours of teaching, questioning the kids. Then the adults will start the
kirthanas. Different members will sing Kirthanas and others follow each line. After four kirthanas everybody was ready for Aarathi. All members of the group were encouraged to do the aarathi and again I see much interest in the kids to perform aarathi.

One should appreciate Subudhi Krishna Prabhu dedication to this program. He and his wife will drive from Chicago every Saturday to conduct these meetings. He is such a simple person with lots of patience and love towards kids. He encourages kids to learn, remember and try to adopt these principals in their life, now and in future.

Sonali and Arun Badi arranged this week’s meeting in their home in Brookfield. If you would like to attend future meetings please view the schedule on WisIndians.com calendar or contact Mr. Ramesh Bhat (262-923-1393) OR Mr. Trinad Pattem (262-794-0961) for more details like location of next meeting, prasadam.

-Suraj for WisIndians.com

Credits: WisIndians.com team is thankful to Badi family and all members of the "Nilachala Bhakta Vrinda" for allowing us to be part of their meeting.

More on Bhakti Vrksa

Bhakti Vrksa (literally "tree of devotion") is the name given to a system wherein a group of devotees meet on a fixed day and time of every week, either in a devotees’ home or in the temple. The purpose behind the meeting is to share Krishna conscious experiences, read Bhagavad Gita as It Is and to get association and develop good relationship with the other members of the group.

The number of members that can be part of one particular Bhakti Vrksa group is not fixed and can vary between 8 to 20 people. Each group has a Group Co-coordinator, who supervises the meetings. Among other things, the Bhakti Vrksa is a system to encourage people to read and understand Bhagavad Gita in a systematic, consistent and regular method. Reading together in a group and sharing the understanding with all the others strengthen each individual faith and devotion. The group members also have prasadam (food that has
been offered to the Lord) together, that in turn strengthens their relationship and spiritual understanding.
Source: http://www.krishnaevents.com/bvrksa.htm#bv

Why is it called "Bhakti-vrksa"?

In the Chaitanya-Charitamrita, Lord Chaitanya and His movement are compared to the tree of devotion, the bhakti-vriksha: The Lord brought the desire tree of devotional service to this earth and became its gardener. He sowed the seed and sprinkled upon it the water of his will. By his inconceivable powers, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu himself became the gardener, the trunk and the branches of the tree of devotional service simultaneously. From the trunk grew many branches and above them innumerable others. Thus the branches of the
Chaitanya tree formed a cluster or society, with great branches covering the entire universe. Lord Chaitanya would go from village to village, and everywhere he went, each person he preached to would branch out and make five more families Krishna conscious. Each of those families would make five more. The bhakti-vriksha programme uses a similar dynamic, with small groups that multiply by each member bringing new people to Krishna Consciousness.

Source: http://www.angelfire.com/nj4/bhaktivriksha

Navarathri Festival Celebrations in Madison

The Indian American community in Madison celebrated Navarathri/Dasara with a classical music festival on Sept. 27 at the Balachandrans' home. Navarathri festival celebrates the worship of three goddesses: Durga (goddess of power and strength); Lakshmi (goddess of wealth and prosperity); and Saraswati (goddess of knowledge and learning).

Click here to read more on this news

News Report on RAAS-GARBA by Gujarati Samaj of Wisconsin

Tonight more than 250 members of the 'Gujarati Samaj of Wisconsin' participated in the RAAS-GARBA program organized to celebrate Navarathri. The event was held at New Berlin West High School, New Berlin, WI. Most of the ladies and kids were in the traditional Gujarati dress where as some men were in the traditional dress. The event started around 7:30 PM and slowly members started sprinkling to the event and stage. As I see majority of the audience joined the dance and enjoying the same.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE PHOTOS FROM THIS EVENT (registration required, FREE registration)

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE VIDEO CLIPS FROM THIS EVENT

Music for the today's program was provided by much popular, Milwaukee based Hangama Entertainment. They carefully selected nice songs to keep the dance rhythm going till the end.

Kids were taught by parents and elders on the rules of the dance and one could see how much they were enjoying while dancing along the sides.

Amirtbhai Patel (President of Gujarati Samaj of Wisconsin), Naginbhai Patel, Hemant Vakharia, Neil Mody & Sanjay Dhimar were among the distinguished members of the 'Gujarati Samaj of Wisconsin' who contributed in organizing this successful event.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE PHOTOS FROM THIS EVENT

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE VIDEO CLIPS FROM THIS EVENT

Garba, is an Indian form of dance that originated in the Gujarat region. Unlike other famous types of Indian dance such as bharatanatyam and odissi, garba is much more similar to Western social dancing than the presentational style of the others. The greatest difference between garba and western social dancing is that it is circular and is religious in origin. The meditative circular movement and spiraling dance has similarities to other ancient spiritual practices.

The name garba comes from the Sanskrit term Garba Deep. Garba, when translated, most closely resembles the English preposition inside, and Deep is a small earthenware lamp. For this reason, many traditional garbas are performed around a central lit lamp. Traditionally, it is performed during a nine-day festival called Navaratri. Traditionally, either the lamp (the Garba Deep), or an image of Amba is placed in the middle of the concentric rings as an object of veneration, thereby delineating the dance. People dance around the deity clapping rhythmically. At every step they gracefully bend sideways, the arms coming together in sweeping gestures, up and down, left and right, each movement ending in clap.

Modern garba is also heavily influenced by raas, a dance traditionally performed by men. The merger of these two dances has formed the high-energy dance that is seen today.

Source: Wikipedia

-Suraj for WisIndians.com

Credits: WisIndians.com is thankful for the 'Gujarati Samaj of Wisconsin', Amrit Patel of AP Foods and Kamil Trivedi for giving us the chance to participate in this program and learn their culture.

Odissi Dance by Sanchita Bhattacharya at HTW, Pewaukee

Close to 50 patrons wateched the superb Odissi dance performance by Sanchita Bhattacharya. This event was organized by INDIA MUSIC SOCIETY of Milwaukee. The program was held at the auditorium of Hindu Temple of Wisconsin.

Hindu Temple of Wisconsin
N4063 W243 Pewaukee Road (Hwy 164 N)
Pewaukee, WI 53072

A disciple of both the two resurrector-doyens of Odissi, Gurus Mayadhar Raut and Padmabibhusan Kelucharan Mahapatra, Sanchita is not only a spellbinding Odissi soloist , she has also represented Indian Classical dance
in many prestigious world culture forums.

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Today's program started at 7:30 PM and closed at 11 PM. During this period Sanchita perfromed various odissi dances. She performed following dances during the first half of the program:

- Durga Stuti
- Stories of Lord Krishna's childhood
- Stories of Radha and Krishna

Banking on her strengths- ultimate devotion and excelling expressions, vigorous and strong footwork and sculptureous gestures, Sanchita has made her mark as Odissi choreographer of repute depicting traditional and humanitarian subjects which are socially relevant today. Her latest project The Draupadi Phenomenon demanding dignity for today’s women has earned accolade all over.

Today, during the second half she performed 'Draupadi Phenomenon' which was applauded by the audience.

Click here to view the additional pictures from this event.

-Suraj for WisIndians.com

Credits: WisIndians.com would like to thank Aruna Talapatra for providing the pictures and information on the event. Please visit Aruna's photography web site http://www.arunatalapatraphotography.com for wonderful pictures captured in her camera.

'India Day' by Association of Indians in America (AIA-Madison Chapter) at Madison

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Hindustani music concert by Pt Nagaraj Rao Havaldar

Bangalore based noted vocalist Pt Nagaraj Rao Havaldar delighted the audience with his bold and rich voice and graceful style of narration at a local concert. Close to 30 music lovers enjoyed this 3 hours long session from Pt Nagaraj Rao Havaldar who was joined by vocalist Omkarnath Havaldar and Manpreet playing Tabla.

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Pt Nagaraj Rao Havaldar's Hindustani music concert was organised by prominent member of Kannada Koota - Dr. Shivaram (refer to this link for more info on this event and future classes by Dr. Havaldar). Dr. Shivaram made all the arrangement for the concert in his home at Mequon. There is no doubt that Pt Nagraj Rao Havaldar from Bangalore has carved a niche for himself as a talented and dedicated Hindustani vocalist in peninsular India. What adds to his personality is his sheer simplicity. And, that is what makes a rasika to enjoy his music.

The concert started with hindustani music for first two hours and rest one hour was light music, Bhajans.

-Aruna for WisIndians.com

Credits: WisIndians.com would like to thank Mr. Madhusudan for providing the detailed information on this event.

Ganesh Festival Celebration by Milana Kannada Koota

Today more than 100 Kannada Koota members participated in the Ganesha Festival Celebration Organized by Milana Kannada Koota of Wisconsin at Hindu Temple of Wisconsin, Pewaukee. Today’s program included the Gowri Pooja by ladies, Ganesha Pooja conducted by priest Rabghuchandra Bhat and excellent classical music program by Omkarnath Havaldar with support artists Vidya Anand (vocal and Veena) and Saritha Deshpande (Vocal).

Please view the 30 pictures from the event on WisIndians.com!
Please view the 5 video clips from the event on WisIndians.com!

Today’s event venue was sponsored by Kannada Koota members Mrs. Anu Pavan and Mr. Pavan Nagarajarao.Milana president Mr. Anil Murthy honored Anu and Pavan for sponsoring this event.

The Ganesha and Gowri idols were created by creative team consisting of Dr. Shivaram, Anil Murthy and Anu Murthy (daughter of Anil Murthy). They created these excellent looking idols using the clay and Anu Murthy did an awesome job in painting these idols.

The classical music program by Omkarnath Havaldar (son of Dr. Nagaraj Havaldar) was the center piece of attraction in the today’s event. Mr. Omkarnath immersed audience with many bhajans in his superb voice.

Dr. Shivaram addressed the audience and updated them about the upcoming concerts and music lessons from Dr. Nagaraj Havaldar. During his stay in USA Dr. Nagaraj Havaldar will conduct series of concerts and music classes. Those who are interested can contact Dr. Shivaram at 262-512-1190.

At the same time one could see many of the kids playing outside as the weather was very pleasant and these kids wanted to take a break from the inside function.

Priest Raghuchandra Bhat performed the puja while team consisting of Anu, Meena, Manasi played mangala song during the mangalarathi. After theertha prasada, the delicious lunch prepared by Milana members (potluck) were served by committee members and volunteers.

The Ganesha visarjana program started soon after the lunch. Ganesha idol along with the Gowri idol were immersed in the water container by following all traditional aspects and later Dr. Manoli (Secretary of HTW) took the container to his private lake for final visarjamna.

-Suraj for WisIndians.com

Sri Krishna Janmashtami celebration at HTW

On Sunday Aug 24 2008, more than 500 devotees poured into Hindu Temple of Wisconsin, Pewaukee to participate in the Sri Krishna Janmashtami celebration.

The celebration started with cultural programs at 5 PM and concluded at 7 PM with the a wonderful dance ‘Govinda Ala re’ by five boys (view the video clip).

Mr. Yash Wadhwa (Events Chair at HTW and 2008 state legislative candidate from District 22 - Milwaukee North) thanked the devotees and kids for participation in today’s event. Mr. Kumud Prasad, President of HTW also thanked all participants who made this celebration a huge success.

Click here to view the few pictures from this event.

Click here to view the video clip from this event.

Later, past presidents of HTW, Mr. Sadananda Manoli and Mr. Pratap Singh distributed the token of appreciation for the kids who participated in today’s event.

Our temple priests, Sri Balaram Ji and Sri Tiwari Ji lead the devotees for Sri Krishna Puja. Special attention was given to the couples/individuals who sponsored the puja (one can sponsor the puja by paying a nominal amount to the temple which will be used for temple expenses and further developments).

Volunteers prepared dinner for devotees. Dinner included Poori (fried Indian flatbread), two vegetable curries, rice item and sweet. Many volunteered to serve the food- namely, Vasundhara Sekhar, Venkat Kodali, Surya and many more.

Today’s programs were as follows:

05:00 pm Cultural Program

07:00 pm Sri Krishna Puja by Sponsors

08:00 pm Dinner ($3 per person)

09:30 pm Didiji Lecture, "Krishna : Ocean of Nectar

10:15 pm Bhajan, Puja and Celebrations

-Aruna for wisIndians.com

Note: At this time we do not have the information post 9 PM events. We will update this article as soon as we get the information from the sources.

Raghavendra Swami Aradhane at HTW, Pewaukee

More than 100 devotees participated in the Raghavendra Swami Aradhane at Hindu Temple of Wisconsin, Pewaukee. These 3 hours long pooja was conducted by the visiting Udupi Puttige Mata priest Sri Haridas H Vadishacharya. Most of the devotees were immersed in the Guru Raghavendra Swami because of excellent speech by Sri Haridas throughout the pooja. As per the many devotees who attended the pooja today, we didn’t see such a highly educated in the Vedas, knowledgeable and clear speaking priest in and around Wisconsin.

Sri Guru Raghavendra Swamy (1595-1671), one of the influential saints in Hinduism, lived in the 16th century. He advocated Vaishnavism (worship of Vishnu as the supreme God) and the Dvaita philosophy advocated by Madhvacharya. He is considered by his devotees to be a reincarnation of Prahlada, the devotee who was saved by Vishnu in his avatar as Narasimha.

Mantralayam in present day Andhra Pradesh, close to the Karnataka border, is the abode of Raghavendra Swami. The Raghavendra Mutt in Mantralaya (previously known as Manchale) is visited by thousands of devotees every year. Raghavendra Swami attained samadhi at Brindavan (sacred tomb) which is located at Mantralaya. Sri Raghavendra Theertha is also known as Guru Rajaru and Rayaru lovingly by his devotees.

Please view the pictures from the event on WisIndians.com!

Please view the video clip from the event on WisIndians.com!

The whole event was organized very well by Jayashree and Dr Sriram along with various community members – Anu and Pavan, Shivaram, Poornima and Jayaprakash, Vasanthi Shetty, Manju and Anil Murthy, Saritha Deshpande, Meena Segu and more. Totally it was an excellent co-ordinate event which also made participants feel emotionally/devotionally while Sri HaridasJi explaining the meaning of the Raghavendra aradhane. Sri HaridasJi explained Guru Raghavendra as kindest saint we could able to visualize.

He explained that Guru Raghavendra is like a kid as he will come whenever someone calls him.

Mr. Ravishankar sang a devotional song on Guru Raghavendra while the Mangala Aarathi was going on. After theertha prasada, the delicious lunch was served by the volunteers.

-Suraj for WisIndians.com