Newsletter – April 2025
Vanakkam all. We are a quarter of the way into the year and the days seem to be moving along rapidly. A mini barrage of celebrations are coming along the way starting with Lotus celebration of Holi on March 16th at the Ka’ala Neighborhood Park. We had over 130 participants who enjoyed sumptuous lunch prepared by a wonderful group of volunteer cooks followed by the traditional color festivities This is one open event that we feel we can certainly accommodate more people and hope that we will attract a lot more to participate next year. Holi Day Celebrations at the Ka’ala Neighborhood Park on March 16, 2025 A slew of New Year celebrations have already started with us just having celebrated Gudi Padwa and Ugadhi. Within the next two weeks we will have multiple regional celebrations including Puthandu (Tamil), Vishu (Malayalam) and Pohela Boisakha (Bengali). These festivities bring us renewed vigor and joy to tackle the challenges and the hopes of a New Year. So let us rejoice in these times to commit to making the best of what we have and wishing all a very non-denominational Solar New Year. For the exercise minded individuals in the group, I would like to wish good luck with your participation in the Hapalua Half Marathon set to be held on April 13th. Honolulu has already started experiencing temperatures in the 90’s and I can only urge you all to pause and be mindful of our contribution to the challenges of global warming by celebrating Earth Day on the 22nd of this month by at least planting a tree to help mitigate some of our challenges. Typically April is the month we celebrate Founders’ Day as the first pooja at the Wahiawa Shiva Temple took place in the month of April. We are trying hard to secure the venue for this event and will keep you posted if we are able to hold this celebration this month. Please stay in touch and participate in our activities and also do not hesitate to donate generously for our programs. Stay safe and until next month I wish you a very warm aloha, V. Balaraman President on behalf of the Board of LOTUS LOTUS AND COMMUNITY UPCOMING EVENTS Mona Das is a featured guest at the Spring 2025 Symposium of the Center for South Asian Studies at UH Manoa. She will be speaking at the Art Auditorium on April 3rd. Please see the below flyers for details..   Kahani, a dance concert coordinated by Prof. Sai Bhatwadekar will be held at the Doris Duke Theater, Honolulu Museum of Art on April 26th, 2025. Details on the event including Tickets can be found at this link. Founder’s Day and Volunteer Recognition: Tentatively planned for April 20th 2025. Details will be forthcoming. Temple Activities – April 20th, 2025 Our monthly pooja at the Wahiawa Shiva Temple will start promptly at noon on the 20th. We are tentatively planning the Founders Day event right after the Pooja. We will keep you posted about the details.  Decorated Shiva Lingam on Holi Day – March, 2025 April 2025: April 5: Rama Navami April 13 – Solar New Year and Puthandu April 14 – Vishu and Baisakhi April 18 – Good Friday April 20 – Wahiawa Shiva Temple Pooja Day April 20 – Easter Sunday April 22 – World Earth Day |
