Governor, Attorney General and more than 4500 Community Members visit India Festival 2010
Press Release
Phoenix, AZ
Neither rain nor ominous clouds dampened the spirits of community members or State Leaders who came to enjoy India Festival 2010 organized by the Indo American Foundation on Saturday, Feb 20, 2010. The event was a huge success drawing over 4500 people. Festival attendees came out in large numbers to taste the variety of different kinds of food, entertainment, shopping, children's activities and much more that were offered at the event.
It was indeed a privilege to have the Governor of Arizona, the Honorable Jan Brewer and the State Attorney General, the Honorable Terry Goddard grace the occasion. In her address, the Governor acknowledged the contributions of the Indo-American community and outlined her plans to improve the State economy and balance the budget while pledging her support for education programs. The Attorney General also acknowledged the contributions made by the Indo-American community and talked of his long association with the community including attending the groundbreaking of the Ekta Mandir. Festival attendees got an opportunity to meet with the Governor and Attorney General as they spent considerable time at the event taking in the different activities.
Community Center
The festival offered something for everyone. Festival goers had a wide array of food items to choose ranging from delicious chaat and dahi vadas to crisp Masala Dosas, sumptuous idlis, hot samosas, pakoras, bondas, tasty chole bhaturas, parathas, Indian pizzas, mouthwatering sweets and ethnic drinks like lassi and chai.
The Cultural program featured a variety of dances, music and Yoga demonstrations. Dances presented on stage included classical dance performances in the styles of Bharatanatyam, Odissi, Kuchipudi and Kathak, to folk dances from the states of Rajasthan, Karnataka and Punjab, to popular Bollywood dance numbers. One of the highlights of the program was the sitar ensemble presented by the SPK Academy.
No festival is complete without vendors selling their wares. As was to be expected ladies were seen buying jewelry and saris that were for sale. That atmosphere brought memories of bustling bazaars in India with sari and jewelry vendors seeing brisk sales through out the day. Children's activities that were conducted by the Ekta Mandir Youth group were also very popular.
The festival was held in conjunction with the 2nd Anniversary of Ekta Mandir's Pran Prathishta. Devotees participated in various religious ceremonies that took place at the temple such as the Snatra puja, Adinath, Mahavir swami and Pashwanath Abhisheks, Balaji and Shiv Abhisheks, Sarva Devta Puja and Yagna, Pushpa Vrishti, and Shikar Abhishek.
We respectfully thank God of Rain for HIS blessings and Cooperation on the "India Festival 2010 and Ekta Mandir Pran Pratishtha 2nd Anniversary" day. With HIS support more than 4500 community members including senior citizens and young children were able to participate and enjoy the festivities. The event turned out to be a very enjoyable experience for the whole family.
Indo-American Foundation would like to thank the community for their support and to all the performers, volunteers and financial sponsors who made this Mega Cultural, Social and Religious event of the year a grand success. Foundation thanks Jagdish Sagar - Program Chair, Kalpana Batni - Festival Chair, Lalit Patel - Religious Team Chair, Gautam Shah - IAF President, many directors, leaders of Non-Profit associations and hundreds of volunteers who worked for several weeks to plan and present this event to the community.
Press Release from Indo-American Foundation of Arizona Board of Directors.