Oakleigh: The Festival of Colours, Holi with much fanfare and Rang – dry colours at Princes Highway Reserve here today.
Attended by about 5,000 people until dusk on Sunday, the venue was mapped with long queues at the stalls with sumptuous and gastronomic fare, tinker stalls and kids rides including the most popular Camel-Ride, in spite of an overcast day.
Visitors danced non-stop to the beats of DJ Ash and DJ Uday, with performers guiding on stage. Children participated in the cultural program representing folk dances from different regions of India – Giddha, Lavani, Rajasthani and Kashmiri.
Just Beats and Just Dance kept the participating crowd going with Bollywood dancing; long after the show.
Raj Yadav (Dr RnB) Vinita Bhatia and Meenu Puri organised the entertainment with Yash Bhatnagar as MC.
Holika Dahan was celebrated within the Sankat Mochan Temple premises on March 23.
A statement by Sankat Mochan Samiti Inc. (SMS) said that the event was culmination of months of planning and dedicated efforts of the working group which involved members of Sankat Mochan Samiti Inc. (SMS) and staff of Monash Council, who provided partial funding and venue.
Rang Barse was the first Holi celebration the City of Monash, which boasts of the second largest population of Indian background.
The SMS statement also commended the leadership and guidance of Arvind, Yogen and Raj.
The successful efforts of SMS have “created a historical milestone to a never ending road for the future generations…” added the SMS statement.
Earlier, Sankat Mochan Kendra celebrated Shivratri on March 7 from the wee hours of the morning until midnight.
About 800 patrons visited to offer Jalsnan to the Shivaling installed within SMK premises. Pt. Hanumant assisted with Abhishek and Puja for devotees.
Following Rudrabhishek, there were bhajan recitals by Pt. Ajay Yagnik with Ajit Nimbkar on the tabla.
feature photo: President Dr. Sunila Shrivastava introduces Steve Dimopoulos, MP at Rang Barse