Over 400 people gathered on Saturday evening, October 18th, 2014 at the famous South Fork Ranch, out in the country side in the North Dallas town of Parker. The event took place on a pleasant autumn night that was meant not only as a grand entertainment and festive Diwali celebration but to support the construction of the Radha Krishna Temple of Dallas.
Dozens of volunteers worked tirelessly to make the event an unforgettable evening to remember. Top notch performers came from far and wide and lit up the evening with magic, laughter and celebration. Everyone not only experienced Diwali in all its gaiety and celebration but they had the opportunity to take Diwali’s deeper meaning to heart.
The cultural dance performances mesmerized the audience and filled the night with the richness of India’s heritage. Many older classic and nostalgic Bollywood songs were performed throughout the night and the atmosphere was glowing with warmth and exuberance. The children were thoroughly entertained by two interactive shows of their own with well-known performers including a nationally recognized ventriloquist whose performances mixed acts of juggling, balancing, magic, with lots of high energy, comedy, silliness and surprises. A comedy/magic show filled with mesmerizing illusion in the main hall had everyone on the edge of their seat in suspense and laughter and festive fireworks ended the night.
Many attendees expressed their thorough enjoyment of the evening. Ketan Mehta shared, “I have attended many similar programs, but I would rate Radha Krishna Temple Diwali dinner was clearly one of the best! All the facets of the evening were very well planned and organized – venue was great, food was nice, the overall program was very well conducted with a very good balance of entertainment (both singers and MCs were very good), cultural programs (dances were high quality) and the blessing from Swamiji! The children were nicely attended to in a separate room. Overall, it was a very nice evening which we really enjoyed.“
Guest of Honor, Swami Mukundananda, in his keynote address, shared inspiring stories that shed much light on the role of a temple in the community, how it serves as an ever-shining beacon of God’s love and light upon each and every soul, kindling devotion in their hearts, and how it is after all that everlasting light that we should be celebrating and thus making support of the temple of paramount importance since a temple does so much to uplift a community. Swamiji’s beautiful stories touched everyone’s heart and inspired all to get involved in supporting the Radha Krishna Temple.
Swamiji explained, “For this community we have a landmark event which is going to take place, all of us together are going to have the opportunity to put Dallas on the world map of Divine Monuments with our own gem, which is going to be a shining beacon of Divine Love to inspire the whole community. This temple will require sacrifice from all of us, but that sacrifice is where the Divine Bliss lies.”
The support for the temple was incredible and everyone expressed not only sincere eagerness to make the Radha Krishna Temple a part of their home but also how they could hardly wait for the temple to open its doors and to help with making it a grand success. Through their genuine and enthusiastic support of the Radha Krishna Temple and its mission, everyone present truly experienced a celebration of the deepest significance of Diwali, which made the night ever more special.
We encourage you to stay in touch and get the latest temple news by subscribing to Samarpan, the Radha Krishna Temple newsletter. You can subscribe for the newsletter by sending your email id to us at [email protected]