Bay Area Telugu Association Sankranthi event brings festive fervor in California

Bay Area Telugu Association (BATA) celebrated Sankranthi festival in a grand style by hosting various activities such as cooking, Muggulu, AIA Idol (Singing contest), Bommala Koluvu, Melodious Paatala Pallaki musical concert, Classical dance ballet, Folk dances, popular on-stage game show and foot tapping dances.

Special Sankranti Vindhu Bhojanam (dinner with 30+ sumptuous items) was served. Over 1000 guests attended the glittering event, which started at 1:00 pm and went on until 10:00 pm. The auditorium was decorated promoting ethnic and festival look of Sankranti, and the main stage had multicolor backdrops and colorful kites.

The decorations coupled with the traditional outfits by the audience, participants & BATA volunteers reflected a festive atmosphere. The program started with “Paatala Pallki” – Live music concert by talented singers from BATA Karaoke team & Tollywood singers Aishwarya presented melodious super hit songs.

Students from “Paatasala” Telugu School (Initiative by TANA and BATA to promote and teach Telugu language) presented a skit and various other programs.  It was amazing to watch the kids motivated to learn Telugu language. In parallel, cooking competitions for adults (Super Chef), kids (Little Chef), colorful Rangavalli contest, Art contest, Essay writing were organized.

Kids got the ingredients from home and prepared a food item of their choice on the spot without any assistance from parents. The kids demonstrated their cooking prowess. Super Chef displayed the cooking talents of men and women. The finished Rangavalli was a sight to see and brought nostalgic memories of India.

The evening cultural program started at 5:00 pm by inviting all the kids for “BhogiPallu”. The congregation of kids & devotional songs by parents and grandparents made it seem like a big family gathering – “VasudhaikaKutumbam”. The elders gave the blessings to all the kids. In addition, there was “Gobbemmalu” dance with all the women dressed in colorful traditional sarees.

Sankranti Vindhu Bhojanam with over 30 + items – Traditional Telugu sweets, Appetizers, pickles, podi’s, Pulihora, Panasapattu Palav, Curd Rice, Gutti Vankaya, Bendakai Iguru, Mudda Pappu, Dappalam, Killi (Paan) + other items was served. The guests enjoyed the sumptuous dinner from Swagat Indian Cuisine.

Association of Indo American’s (AIA) also celebrated India Republic day. Elected officials attended the event and conveyed their wishes. Consulate General of India Dr. K. Srikar Reddy was the chief guest. Others attending the event include Montano (Mayor Milpitas), Alex Lee (Assembly Member), Murali Srinivas (Sunnyvale Vice Mayor), Sheila Mohan (Cupertino Mayor), Council members Raj Salwan, Raj Chahal, Otto Lee (Supervisor) and other elected officials and AIA leaders.

The guests enjoyed dances presented by the kids, patriotic songs & a special program on lord Sriram in celebration of vigraha prana pratista at Ayodhya. The officials conveyed Sankranti & India republic day greetings to all attendees and congratulated AIA & BATA teams for organizing the festival.

Next to follow were high energy and foot tapping dances by little toddlers and BATA youngsters to the latest super hit songs from Tollywood. BATA team members worked hard in training the little kids in various locations like San Jose, Cupertino, Fremont and San Ramon etc. All the most popular dance songs were presented.

“Start Camera Action” (Fashion show) enthralled audience great visuals, make up and costumes. The popular on-stage game show was an instant hit with large number participating. There was a huge support for this event from businesses.

The program’s Grand sponsor was “Sanjay TaxPro”, Realtor Nagaraj Anniah was “Powered by” sponsor, Gold Sponsor was “Srini Goli Real Estates”. Other sponsors include PNG Jewelers, TASQA.AI & Vyzn realtors. Kondal Komaragiri (President) thanked all the BATA volunteers for their hard work and for making the event a grand success.

He introduced the BATA executive committee – Siva Kada, Varun Mukka & Hari Sannidhi. “Steering Committee” consisting of Ravi Thiruveedula, Kamesh Malla, Sirisha Battula, Yashwant Kudaravalli & Sumanth Pusuluri. “Cultural Committee” includes Sridevi Pasupuleti, Srilu Veligeti & Taraka Deepti.

“Logistics Team” includes Sandeep KedariSetty, Suresh Sivapuram & Ravi Pochiraju. Youth Committee – Sanketh, Uday, Adi, Gowthami, Sindhoora. BATA “Advisory Board” Jayaram Komati, Vijaya Aasuri, Veeru Vuppala, Prasad Mangina, Karun Veligeti, Ramesh Konda, Kalyan Kattamuri & Harinath Chikoti congratulated the team in making the event a grand success.