Celebrating Diwali at the V&A Waterfront – an Arrangement of Music, Colour and Dance!

The V&A Waterfront ampitheatre was vibrant with colour and sound on Sunday 22 October as we joined in on the Diwali celebrations – a Hindu festival of light with music and dance!

The event was hosted by the Hindu Association of the Western Cape (HAWC) in collaboration with the South African Hindu Maha Sabha and Consulate General of India in Cape Town. The performance feature of the show included musical and dance items rendered by vocalists Nuur Leeman, Fayyazi Mohammed, Christopher Naidoo, Lilaven Gangen and Renu Joshi. There was also Vedic chanting rendered by the Sathya Sai Seva organisation as well as dance items beautifully performed by Nateswhar Dance Academy, Vadhini Indian Arts Academy, Parklands Hindu Cultural Society, Taare and Araadhana.  


The program for the day also featured a dance routine workout by Bollywood Fitness. Their performance included an interactive dance session with a few audience members who all competed to win a prize, lead by the charming Sanvir Manilal. Sanvir was also the event's MC – his invisible backstage presence proved to be humorously entertaining!
Thank you to the hosts of this event for bringing Diwali to the broader public. Another great thanks goes to Ahneesh Valodia from Taare for inviting Cultsha Kennis to these celebrations. It is partnerships like these that strengthen the Cultsha Kennis vision of bringing together various creative and cultural communities in the Mother City – a partnership which has continued for 3 years now! See Taare featured on a previous Cultsha Kennis blog-post: https://cultshakennis10.blogspot.co.za/2015/07/a-taare-tale-bringing-bollywood-dance.html

DID YOU KNOW? Diwali is the Hindu festival of lights celebrated over a 5 day period every year in autumn in the northern hemisphere and spring in southern hemisphere. Diwali spiritually signifies the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, knowledge over ignorance, and hope over despair. The festival also commemorates the return of Lord Rama (along with Mother Sita and Lakshman) from his 14th year long exile and vanquishing the demon-king Ravana. In joyous celebration of the return of their king, the people of Ayodhya, illuminated the kingdom with earthen diyas (oil lamps). Following this practice, Hindu communities all over the world place an abundance of lights on housetops and around temples and buildings. A large part of the Hindu community in Cape Town resides in Rylands, Athlone who regularly congregates at the Shree Vishnu Mandhir, Shree Radha Krishna Mandhir and Sri Siva Aalayam temples. 












Comments

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