(Left) The joyous procession. (Photo: SFA Productions)
The Hindu Temple of Atlanta in Riverdale, Georgia,
(HTA) organized a spectacular Ganesh Utsav celebration
from September 3 to 11, 2016, which attracted
hundreds of devotees from Atlanta and places as far
as Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Florida. A majestic
ten-foot Ganapathi idol was again specially made in Hyderabad for
HTA and installed in the specially built canopy in the
forecourt of the Shiva temple.
Ganesh Utsav celebrations began with Sankusthapana
in the Balaji temple and Kalash Pooja in
the Shiva temple. A platform under the canopy was
an ideal setting for the dazzling idol of Lord Ganesh,
resplendent with rich adornments, artistic décor, and
lavish fresh vegetables, flowers, and fruit garlands.
Through the nine-day Utsav, elaborate rituals and
archanas were perfromed, and shlokas and Ganesha
mantras were chanted by eight priests.
On the second day, a Ganesha-making workshop
was held for kids. HTA supplied materials and instructions
to over 1,500 families and kids to make about
2,000 environmentally friendly clay Ganeshas. Families
enjoyed a day of designing and creating their very
own personal Ganeshas. A puja for these handmade
Ganeshas was performed in the mandap later.
Balvihar children at Ganesh puja. (Photo: Swaroop Kolachina)
On the second Sunday, 9/11, BalaVihar children at
HTA performed Shri Ganesha Puja under the guidance
of Acharya Geetha Raghu. The puja began with a moment
of silence in honor of those who lost their lives
on September 11, 2001. HTA provided laddu and vada
for naivedyam, and parents brought Ganesha’s favorite
food, modakam. At the end, Chief Priest Srinivasan Sarma
performed Mangala Aarathi and blessed the children.
One of the cultural programs. (Photo: SFA Productions)
At night, the Telugu Association of North America (TANA) lit up the skies with dazzling fireworks.
Many Indian organizations volunteered and
provided cultural performances lasting daily for about
12 hours. Vikas Anand Goyal and Vaisheshi Jalajam
emceed with verve.
Youngsters performed in front of the imposing
idol of Lord Ganesha. Dancer and dance guru Sasikala
Penumarthi and Kalaivani Dance and Music Academy’s
students performed well-synchronized performances
to Lord Ganesha songs. The North American Telugu Association (NATA) and Amruthavarshini
organizations performed devotional and
light musical songs in praise of Lord Ganesha. On
September 9, Natya Jyothi’s Jyothi Chintalapudi’s
students performed Ganesha Kuchipudi recitals.
Sobiya and her students performed Bharatnatyam
dances from the Natyaveda Dance School, Madhusudhan
Soujanya performed Bharathnatyam, and Swapna,
Kavitha, and Anurag from the Maharashtra Mandal
enthralled the audience with Ganesha songs.
Saturday, September 10 was marked with nonstop
entertainment and spiritual fervor. Hundreds of
devotees and visitors participated in the preculmination
of the nine-day celebration with a grand Ganesh
Nimajjanam ceremony.
Bidding during the auction of laddus. (Photo: SFA Productions)
Temple chefs Ramakrishna and Srinivasan had
prepared three big laddus (Ganeshji’s favorite!). A lively,
exuberant auction was conducted by Vikas Goyal
and the laddus were sold to the highest bidders,
Dr. Supriti Balyan, Ramesh, and a third bidder who
remains anonymous.
Padma Rajaram’s students Srimayi and Aditya
sang beautifully, Savitha group and Revathy Komanduri’s
students performed solo and also synchronized
classical dances, Mamata Patel showcased little kids
performing, Leeraji was graceful in her Kathak performance,
and Sri Dutt Raag Fine Arts presented a
rocking performance with dancers in captivating
costumes. Gopal Turaga in Ganesha costume looked
adorable. Supriya and IKATAN group’s students wearing
orange headbands gave a lively performance. The
“Maiya Yashoda” by four children elicited big applause.
The audience were treated to dhand pradarshan, with
the energetic dancers playing Holi with colored powder
and colorful kurtas. The Punjabi Society added to
the fun with graceful Punjabi gidda and high octane
dhol, live dappu, and bhangra. Kolatam, exuberant garbas
and dandiyas, Lezim, yogchap, and Hyderabadi teenmar
enthralled young and old.
Ganesh with matka. (Photo: SFA Productions)
All this was followed with exciting matka-breaking
by kids and adults. In the evening, a huge procession
around the temple was accompanied by live
music. It was exciting to watch a shower of flower
petals from a helicopter! Maha Mangala Aarathi was
performed reverently to the beating of the drums and
traditional nadaswaram music every day. The HTA
kitchen under Sairam Surapaneni provided food to
all thrice daily.
The final visarjan. (Photo: SFA Productions)
Finally it was time to bid farewell to much-loved
Ganesh. Enthusiastic young devotees came out of the
canopy, dancing and shouting “Ganapati Bappa Morya”
to the pulsating beat of dhols as Lord Ganeshji’s idol
was placed in a truck, which was followed by a bus
with about 50 devotees. The Ganesh Visarjan ceremony
was performed in Savannah, with joyous
shouts and wishes for his return the following year.
As they say, “with the immersion ceremony, the Form
(physical) returned to the Formless (spiritual).” The
Ganapati idol became one with the water.
HTA President Dr. P. B. Rao thanked all and looked
forward to next year’s celebrations.
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Thanks:
HTA President Dr. P. B. Rao personally and on behalf of the Executive Committee and Board of Trustees thanked everybody that participated in this year’s festivities, and commented, “We are highly indebted to countless volunteers and their families for the stage decorations, Photography by ByteGraph, Vakiti Creations, SFA Productions, Swaroop Kolachina, Tejesh, KalaAkriti, etc. We would also like to thank Nate Natesan for Swacch Devalaya.
The Hindu Temple of Atlanta recognizes and deeply appreciates the efforts of all the organizations HSS, Gujarati Samaj, Punjabi Society, Maharashtra Mandal, TANA, NATA, TAMA,ATA, GATES, TDF, IACA, TATA, IFA, GATA, GCANA, Orugallu, NKK, Saraswathi Music Academy, Shruthilaya, Natya Jyothi, Natya Abhinaya, Amruthavarshini, Natya Abhinaya, Shiv’s Institute of Dance, Indian Classical Dance Academy, Natyaveda, Kalaivani Dance Academy, Nataraja Natyanjali, SEWA Academy of of Kuchipudi Dance, Softpath Eagles Cricket Team, Mehul Raja, Iskcon, media partners Wownow, NRI Pulse, Atlanta Dunia, Rashtradarpan, TV Asia, Khabar, Deccan Abroad, and Mahadev Desai.
The executive committee and management of HTA are deeply appreciative of Jagan Mohan Rao and Ravi Chander, chief coordinators of the festivities. Aravind Goli (Puja committee chairperson) along with the Temple priests ably coordinated this year’s rituals and deity decorations. We are highly indebted to countless volunteers and their families in particular for devoting countless hours in spite of their busy schedules, to make the celebrations a grand success.
The celebrations could not have been possible without the office staff and volunteers. We also beg the forgiveness of every one for any lapses and shortcomings and will make every effort to rectify them in the celebrations of next year.”