Organised by the Christchurch branch of Atmiya Youth Group, a wing of the Yogi Divine Society (YDS) New Zealand, the city's annual Ratri before Navratri festival held last Saturday was a big success with attendance exceeding 850.
Dipak Kalidas, an active member of YDS and the main organiser of the festival said, “We started this yearly affair in 2012 and have grown since then. We do it in two parts. First is the Ratri before Navratri celebrations which was held last Saturday, followed by the main event on September 23.”
The organisers and main event sponsor – Guruji Food Mart also acknowledged and gave prizes to the best dancing groups as well as those wearing the best costumes. They also noted that apart from celebrating the age-old festival of Navratri, their motive for organising these annual events is to spread the YDS's message of selfless service to mankind and living in harmony with self, friends, family, society and environment.
A star attraction at the festival was Neel Patel, winner of MIK Tarana Idol 2015, who sang dandiya raas and garba melodies continuously for almost four hours. Mr Kalidas, who is a multi-talented musician himself, was at the Octapad, ably supported by Ravi Maisuria, lead percussionist at Taal Productions – a music production company.