Southern California Kashmiri Pandits Celebrate Shivratri
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| Events & Community Members in news |
| Southern California Kashmiri Pandits Celebrate Shivratri 28th Feb 2009, Los Angels, USA |
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| Keeping the long-held tradition alive - Kashmiri Pandits from various parts of southern California came together to celebrate Shivratri at the UCLA,Colina Way Club House in Los Angeles on the evening of February 28th. This spiritual event brings KPs together every year and is always celebrated with nostalgia as former youth return as adults and new youth are added to the mix. The function began with a Shivratri Pooja led by well known priest Mr. Shesha Samundra from Riverside Temple at 5pm. A children's cultural program followed during which many of our young children performed to various Hindi / Kashmiri numbers.This segment of the evening was arranged by Mrs. Anu Kaul. Next was a devotional song session of Kashmiri and Hindi Bhajans led by Dr Suraj Bhat. Many "tumaknaris" were used to give some Kashmiri flavor to this one hour program. The melodious tunes were similar to the Bhajans heard at Hari Parbat and Tulmula shrines in Kashmir. Later, a talk on "Kashmiri Shavism" was presented by Mr. Amit Kak. Many volunteers helped make this event possible. Special recognition was given to Mrs. Monica Salman, Mrs. Ragini Pandita, Mrs. Anu Bhat and Mrs. Shivani Chaku for their efforts. Dr.Amrit Nehru along with the organizers of the first ever National Kashmiri Pandit Camp in Big Bear Lake on July, 4, 2008, were also recognized for their tremendous above-and-beyond arrangements. Details were discussed about this year's Summer KP Camp being held at Lake Tahoe on July 4th. It was announced that buses are being arranged to take all participants and families to Lake Tahoe on the 3rd and will be returning on July 5th. The little children were presented with Hearth gifts arranged and wrapped beautifully by Mrs. Shivani Chaku. The evening ended with a potluck dinner with Kashmiri dishes and "Khawa" chai and another round of bhajans, ghazals, and songs sung by various participants. We would like to thank each and every participant because without your presence we could not have had such a wonderful evening. Our special thanks to Dr. Suraj and Anjali Bhat for arranging the club house, Dr. Raj and Ranjana Wanchoo for arranging the Pooja and the priest.Mr Pavitar Handoo for serving us hot and tastey appitizers.These hundreds of years old religious functions keep us together as a tight-knit community, probably more so after the exodus of our community from the Valley of Kashmir. Finally- Our thanks to Dr. Vijay Wali, Dr. Vijay Dhar, Mr.Jeet Kotru and many others for their generous donations from time to time. Amrit Nehru, Ajay Garyali, Sanju Salman Photos,Coutersy
Dr Raj Pandita
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Mr Amit Kak
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