28-12-2011 Wednesday Inauguration @ 10-30 am

“Ojas” a rare Brilliance in dance by  Nirupama & group

29-12-2011 Thursday – Goshti Gayana @ 10:15am ( Everyday)

Vadiraja Namavali By R.K. Padmanabha @ 1 pm

Harikatha by Santh Bhadragiri Sri Achyutha Dasji

Carnatic Classical Vocal by Vidwan N. Vijayashiva & Group

30-12-2011 Friday Dr R.K. Srikantan – vocal @ 6-30 pm

31-12-2011 Sat; Hindustani Classical By Pandit Venkatesh Kumar @ 6-30 pm

01-01-2012 Sun; Geya Nataka – “Nada” By Vid RKP (direction)

02-01-2012 Mon; Carnatic Classical Violin By Mysore M. Nagaraj & M. Manjunath@ 6-30 pm

03-01-2012 Tue; Carnatic Vocal by Sriram Parasuram & Anuradha Sriram

04-01-2012 Wed; Carnatic Vocal by Gayatri Venkaraghavan

05-01-2012 Thu;  Raga based Filmsongs by M.D. Pallavi and Ajay Warriar @ 6-30 pm

Lecture-Demonstration of Ragas and Classical Compositions By Dr. RKP

06-01-2012 Fri; Saxophone by Kadri Gopalnath @ 6-30 pm

07-01-2012 Sat; Jewels of Karnataka – 24 Hours Classical Concerts

Diwali, popularly known as the “festival of lights”, is observed incessantly for five days that kicks off in late Ashvin and concludes in the early Kartika month according to the lunisolar Hindu calendar. Each day of the festival is associated with six different principal stories. In North India, worshipping of Lord Ganesha and Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, is an important part of the Diwali festival that signifies welcoming of prosperity and wealth.

Narak Chaturdasi is celebrated a day before Diwali, but in a smaller scale. The rangolis are created in front of the courtyard and doorway. Tiny footprints made of rice paste are specially drawn symbolising little feet of Goddess Lakshmi entering the house. Govardhan Puja is celebrated on fourth day of the Diwali festivity. The puja is performed predominantly in the northern states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Bihar.

The second day is celebrated as Amavasya. This is said to be the darkest day of the year. On this day, one has to take the abhyanjana(oil bath), worship Lakshmi, feeding Brahmins and light lamps in the evening. As this day is dedicated to worship of Lakshmi, this day is also celebrated as Lakshmi Puja. There is a saying that one will get inexhaustible wealth, if he whole heartedly worships Lakshmi .

On all the three days, we light lamps in homes, buildings and even roads. It is also even said that, this festival is celebrated on the return of Lord Rama to Ayodhya after slaying Ravana. The people of Ayodhya had lighted up candles to welcome Lord Rama. Lighting signifies our prayer to remove darkness (Andhakaara) and enlighten our life with Jnana. There is a custom of bursting crackers representing the victory of righteous over non-righteous.

UNITED STATES, October 3, 2011 (by Sona Gajiwala): It’s rare that you feel good about paying a wedding vendor. There are, however, a few vendors to whom I feel OK paying a premium, for they have identified specific needs for a demanding demographic, and have stepped outside their comfort zones and crossed cultural lines to fulfill them.

My favorite example: Billy, from Maharaja Farm, a stable in the suburbs of Chicago. Billy is an average, midwestern dude who recognizes the importance of the baraat for an Indian wedding. The baraat is the groom’s procession at an Indian wedding. In India, the groom often arrives at the wedding venue on a horse (or an elephant) accompanied by a small Indian marching band, with his friends and family dancing alongside him.

Billy, after having been asked to loan out his horse for some of these events, discovered a need for his horse that fell way outside that of mainstream America — a profitable need that wasn’t being met by anyone else. He rebranded himself as Maharaja Farm, and now offers full-service baraat coordination that can’t be found anywhere else in Chicago. He outfits his horse and his handler in traditional Indian attire, and offers his customers the option to upgrade to a package with a red carpet lined with display fireworks.

Another component of an Indian wedding where I discovered this brand of entrepreneurship is with American decor companies and their creation of mandaps (Hindu wedding canopies). I’ve looked through these companies’ sample books at photos of stunning, traditional Indian wedding canopies — accompanied by price tags upwards of $40,000.

As an Indian-American, you’re often saturated with information about Indian-owned businesses that were created to satisfy the masses, but you rarely hear about non-Indian run businesses that solely exist to satisfy our small (but growing!) population. This is the kind of innovation you like to see in a tough economic climate. Even if you don’t understand their culture yet, try to figure out what people want and give it to them.

UNITED KINGDOM, October 9, 2011 (BBC): A new US$1.6 million Hindu temple has opened in Leicester after a special procession down the city’s Belgrave Road. The Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Belgrave is one of the biggest in the Midlands. Located on the corner of Catherine Street and Gypsy Lane, it features temple architecture found in northern India.

Celebrations on Saturday and Sunday included prayers, dances, music, decorated floats and the consecration of several Hindu statues. Spokesman Kirit Patel said: “We’ve been building up to this moment for a while now, and the Mandir is finally going to be open to all.” The temple will be used for worship, community meetings and Gujarati lessons.

Temple organizers have worked with residents to ensure congestion in the area would be kept to a minimum. The new temple replaces the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir on St James Street, in the city centre, which had no parking.