A Night to Remember - TAGC Sankranthi Celebration

Chicago, IL: Not even a freezing January evening could stop the crowd of nearly thousand people gathered at the Lemont Temple auditorium from feeling the comforting warmth of the season of Sankranthi!

Now in its 40th year, the Telugu Association of Greater Chicago (TAGC) successfully continues to bring families and friends together to celebrate major festivals, said Saroja Ravi in a press note. And celebrate they did ' with a sumptuous dinner served by Masala restaurant followed by an evening of memorable entertainment. The vision of the TAGC president, Sundar Dittakavi, to involve the youth more than ever before, was evident as nearly 167 children participated in a dazzling array of songs, skits and dances, proving that there is certainly no dearth of talent in the Chicago Telugu community.

By combining the celebration of Sankranthi with the occasion of Republic Day, a variety of traditional and patriotic themes were presented via song and dance. Opening with a musical prayer (Sailaja Iyer) and Bharatanatyam invocation (Vanitha Veeravalli), the Sankranthi fervor was visible in dance items like Tandanana (Hema Yaddanapudi) and Swagatham/Ghallu Ghallu Gajjalu (Sobha Tammana).

The little ones enchanted the audience with performances in Chitti Potti Bommalu (Pavitra Karumuri), Suride (Sonia Agarwal), Sankranthi (Lopa Banerjee), and Forest Act (Asha Adiga). A creative montage of movie songs through the decades by the little children (Lopa Banerjee) added a fun element to the program.

Several folk dance performances such as Gogulu Pooche/Ravamma Mahalakshmi (Prasuna Vootkur), Pachha Pachhani Palleturu (Rohini/Archana Bokka), Kolattam (Devaki Janakiraman) and Tappetlo Taalalo (Sonia Agarwal) transported the audience to vivid memories of the Sankranthi season in Andhra Pradesh.

Traditional vocal singing was showcased in Indariki Abhayambu (Valli Musty) and Paluke Bangaramaayena (Sailaja Ramayanam).

The cleverly-written Telugu skit 'Panikirani Panivadu' (Vani Dittakavi) enacted by Youth Committee members offered a break in the routine with several laughs.

Classical dance items such as Tali Tarangam (Vijayalakshmi Shetty), Sambasiva Yanave (Kiran Mattey), and Niradasama Neelakrishna (Hema Yaddanapudi) were beautifully presented.

The stunning, patriotic-themed Jayathi Jayathi (Janaki Anandavalli), patriotic medley (Prasuna Vootkur) and toe-tapping Youth-Committee Fusion dance (Tejaswi Dittakavi) added the final touches to the show.

The humorous banter between the emcee duo of Ramanadh Kandalai and Kumar Kotlo as Yama Dharmaraja - Chitragupta delighted the audience. The second half of the program was also handled with great ease and wit by emcees Kiran Abbaraju and Salila Danturthy.

Colorful cutouts of beautifully-decorated rangoli and kites as stage props together with a festive bommala-koluvu greatly enhanced the celebratory ambience of the auditorium.

Members of the next ATA committee and program sponsors/Official Partners were introduced, competition winners were announced, and a vote of thanks by TAGC secretary, Murthy Pisipati, followed by 'Jana Gana Mana', concluded the festive evening.

Click here for the event pictures!