Sedona Vedic Center Hosts New Year's Festivals

BY: DASARATH DAS

Jan 11, SEDONA, ARIZONA, USA (USA) — Aside from a lingering issue I am unsuccessfully trying to resolve with my godbrothers of the NA GBC, we recently had three well attended programs over the holidays. For Christmas we advertised "Come and Celebrate An Indian Christmas". Seventy-five very well dressed ladies and gentlemen attended to sing Vedic Vaisnava chants, view a movie entitled "Jesus In India", hear a short talk by myself, and taste a delicious feast of prasadam.

There was a small admission cost, and there were plenty of comments by satisfied and appreciative persons. The poster was quite attractive and designed to attract the mostly spiritual and new age kind of crowd that resides in Sedona. Also, as there are more than 4 million visitors to Sedona each year, some of our guests were from out of state and even from other countries. They were pleased to find a place where they could celebrate a truly mystical Christmas.

Next we had a New Year's Eve celebration, renting out a large and gorgeous room at the Sedona Library. Starting at 7 pm and for an admission price of $25, the 80 attending guests were served a seven course feast in a fine dining atmosphere, while melodic music and chanting of Sura's Temple Bhajan Band from Los Angeles serenaded their hearts.

European born Srivani performed beautiful Bharat Natyam classical Indian dance. (She is one of the best and you can visit her website: Srivanidancer.com).

Later we also showed the panoramic movie, "Himalayan Pilgrimage" on a 20 ft. suspended screen. The movie was produced by B.V.Narasingha Maharaj (Jagat Guru Swami). The program was finished a little before midnight, giving us a chance to hop over to another "chant in the new year" festival at a large and popular yoga studio, with more than 200 people assembled. Ah Sedona!

Two days later we were off to a new frontier, to put on the same show in a small Arizona city called Prescott. Posters were adorning bulletin boards throughout the town, and the local newspaper featured a large article with Srivani's picture before the event. Seventy people attended, all dressed like they were going to the opera. Although Prescott is known somewhat as an early American cowboy town, there is still a large pocket of people who look to India's spiritual culture for inspiration. Almost all gave their names for further contact for ongoing events sponsored by the Sedona Center of Vedic Culture.

To view our website, please visit SedonaVedicCulture.com.