SUNNYVALE, CA: Thousands gathered at the annual three-day Diwali Mela here from Friday October 25 to Sunday October 27 featuring cultural performances, booths and Bollywood artists. The Mela started with Rath Yatra at 11am followed by folk dances and cultural activities of young talents from Bay area.
Diwali is the festival of lights and is celebrated after Navaratri to welcome goddess of wealth, Lakshmi. Each year the Sunnyvale Temple celebrates with enthusiasm and this year was no different. Beautiful ladies in traditional attire performed an hour long Kuchipudi dance. There were trade booths selling Indian clothing, jewels, arts, crafts and home décor.
The highlight of the show was live performance by Lambada Dance which started at 8:30 pm on October 25 and went on till midnight. Lambada band enthralled the crowd with their soulful music. The Pune-based Lambada band, after realizing the importance of live music in India, has been creating soulful music. The band comprises Manoj Pandya – Lead Guitars/ Keyboards / Music Programming, Jasraj Joshi – Male Vocals, Josh – Male vocal, Reshma Pandya – Female Vocals, Mahesh Nimbalkar – Drums/ Percussions and Rana – Vocals/ Bass Guitar/ Tabla.
Lambada’s compositions and live performances are a blend of wide repertoire of genres including Sufi, Indian Classical, Classic Rock, Pop, Retro, Fusion, Guitar Shredding and many more, thereby creating a versatile sound. They are a multilingual band incorporating various languages in our live performances and recordings.
They recently won the Baap of all the Bands title on the reality bands competition Idea rocks India 2009-10 aired on Colors television. Manoj Pandya was also adjudged the best musician on the show.
Shopping is one of the best parts of the Diwali celebrations at the Sunnyvale Temple. Folks from all over the Bay Area spent time walking around the 40 booths displaying colorful traditional Indian salwar suits, kurtis, tunics, and designer wear along with handicrafts, business booths, and of course, the food booths serving North and South Indian delights. Raj Bhanot thanked the volunteers, sponsors and media for their support.
Vidya Sethuraman
India Post News Service
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