As we are celebrating more in-person events with our larger North Bay Hindu community, we are starting to encounter a growing trend - larger crowds. And perhaps no one else could bring such a crowd together than Shri Krishna on the auspicious occasion of the NBHC Krishna Janmasthami program (see photo album at the bottom of post).
Krishna's birth was celebrated at the Petaluma Community Center, with a program that began with chanting led by the Vishnu Sahasranama / Lalita Sahasranama chanting group, followed by bhajans, kathak program, children's dress showcase and aarti, followed by prasad prepared by volunteer cooks.
The kathak dance program featured the Vandhana Dance Company, the Santa Rosa branch of the Vandhana Kathak Dance School, who performed a pranaam and two additional dances. The small room allowed for an intimate dance studio experience, especially with the seasoned instrumentalists Paul Sihon (tabla) and Montino Bourbon (dotara, a Bengali stringed instrument), accompanying Guru Megan Black of the kathak dance group.
Of course no Krishna Janmasthami would be complete without our young children dressing up as Radha, Krishna, Gopis, Gopikas or simply celebrating in traditional Indian outfits.
We welcome all of you to join NBHC for our next events which we anticipate will include even larger crowds and require larger spaces. Our events will be spread across Petaluma, Novato and Santa Rosa:
Ganesh Chaturthi - Sunday, August 28 (9:30 AM) in Petaluma
Durga Puja - Saturday, October 1 (5:30 PM) in Novato
Diwali (jointly with NBIAA) - Sunday, November 6 in Santa Rosa
To view all of our Krishna Janmasthami photos and videos, see below.