By Gaur Gadadhar das
This year NIOS (North American Institute of Oriental & Classical Studies) participated in the annual “Celebration of Cultures” festival in Nashville on October 3, 2009.
Representatives from various cultures such as China, Japan, Mexico, Bolivia, Kurdistan and others participated. This was our first year of full participation. We had booths at three sites — the Global Village, the Global Market and the Food Vending site.
At the Global Village site, we presented the theme “Vedic Village: Cultivation of the Human Spirit.”
At the Village site, we had separate tables displaying various themes — music, clothing, simple living high thinking, vegetarianism, and Vedic literature. Sri Sri Nitai Gaur Chandra from Murari Sevaka were present on one of the tables along with other Puja paraphernalia.
Mother Sadhavi from Hillsboro, NC was present and was the center of attraction for kids. At the food vending area, we set up a “Higher Taste” food booth.
Our third site, “Govinda’s Bazaar” sold a wide range of items such as saris, Vedic themed T-shirts, incense, books and other spiritual items.
At the Global Village stage, our group performed Dandiya and Bharatnatyam dances and two separate performances of Hare Krishna Maha Mantra chanting by the devotees.
Later, in the evening, devotees chanted the Damodar Ashtakam, led by Vedasara Prabhuji, president of ISKCON Atlanta.
All in all, the devotees felt very pleased with our first participation in a public festival such as this. We feel it was a great way to start the month of Kartik.