JKYog Diwali Gala 2020 When Bhakti Met Bollywood
JKYog Diwali Gala 2020 hosted by Karan Wahi, India’s top television anchor, and produced by Harry Anand, featured world class performances in music, dance and comedy by renowned Bollywood artistes. The event was organized on Dec 12, 2020 in support of the JKYog Center for Indian Culture and Education at JKYog Worldwide Headquarters, the Radha Krishna Temple of Dallas.
Never Before Seen Behind the Scenes Glimpses
Watch scintillating glimpses of behind-the-scenes action during the filming and production of the virtual event featuring top Bollywood artistes: India’s top television host Karan Wahi, playback singer Jyotica Tangri (of Pallo Latke fame), dancing superstar Tushar Shetty, dancing prodigy Tejas Varma and the award winning I Am Hip Hop Dance group, star percussionist Naitik Nagda, comedian Balraj Syal, rapper Mac Hardy, and producer Harry Anand, winner of 13 MTV awards.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6V0uSgvFqXw
In a stellar confluence of Bhaav, Bhakti and Bollywood, the ace performers proved that there are many ways of worshipping God. The world class standard of the production showcased the commitment, hard work and selflessness of the artistes and of producer Harry Anand in service to the divine. The pandemic was especially challenging for performing artistes due to absence of in person stage shows, and yet they selflessly offered to perform free of charge considering the cause of raising funds for the JKYog Center for Indian Culture and Education to preserve and propagate Indian cultural and spiritual values.
JKYog Founder, global spiritual leader Swami Mukundananda delivered a rousing Diwali address, praising the devotion or “Bhaav” of the performers.
Bhakti and Bollywood: The Importance of Bhaav
In the process of eschewing materialism for spirituality to grow in devotion, it is natural to avoid kusang or influences that take away the divine contemplation. Many devotees thus had a question in their minds – why should a spiritual organization like JKYog support Bollywood performances on its social media channels?
Swamiji’s keynote resolved this confusion with hard hitting stories from the Vedic scriptures. Watch the full message here:
Swamiji narrated a heartwarming story from the Ramayan. When Lord Ram went into the forest, he spent the first night on the banks of the river Tamasa. By the second night he reached the banks of the river Ganga at Shringverpur, a small tribal village. The chieftain Nishadraaj, could not believe that the master of the universe was coming to his village. He felt,”I am such a sinner, the Lord will not even look at me.” Still having no hope of receiving shelter at the Lord’s feet, he prostrated himself at the Lord’s feet. Lord Ram immediately descended from the chariot and embraced him. Touched and enthused by this causeless mercy of the Lord, Nishad Raj ran back to his village and ordered his tribe to bring fruits, berries, firewood, and other items in service of the Lord. Lord Ram was smiling away at the devotion of the humble villagers who enthusiastically complied with Nishad Raj’s orders.
The story illustrated that in the spiritual realm the “Bhaav” or the intention is more important. As Swamiji says, God looks at the love of the giver and not the gift of the lover.
Drawing parallels with Harry Anand’s enthusiasm to reach out to various Bollywood artistes and organize a world class production in service to God and Guru for the JKYog CICE, Swamiji smashed doubts with a resounding message and encouraged people to watch the program enthusiastically.
“It is my duty as a spiritual teacher: look at the bhaav with which they have done it. Now, naturally if Bollywood stars are going to present something, they are not going to present bhajans with dholak and manjira as you and I do. Whatever they know they offer at the feet of Guru and God, and that is what Lord Krishna has said in the Bhagavad Gita:
O Arjun, whatever you do, whatever talents you possess, whatever abilities you have, you offer them in my service.
…This has been a difficult year with so many dark times for so many people and their intention is to have some scintillating performances, to brighten up people’s moods and to instill optimism in every home. So put that nasty intellect away.”
Watch the full telecast of the JKYog Diwali Gala 2020 from on Swami Mukundananda Youtube Channel.
Swamiji’s Diwali Keynote Takeaways: Destroy the Darkness Within
The word Deepavali comes from the roots, Deep and Avali meaning rows of lights. Traditionally light has been understood as a symbol of knowledge, illumination, and enlightenment. Hence, we pray
“O Lord lead us from darkness to the light, from falsehood to the truth”
While we illumine our houses from the outside, let us also ponder the means to destroy darkness from our hearts.
The Bhagavad Gita points out:
“That which worldly people look on as daytime, the wise see as night and what the wise see as day, the worldly look upon as night.”
In the darkness of ignorance, souls dream that they will gain happiness from money, fame, or other material things, until one day everything is taken away. There is danger at every step in the form of old age, diseases, and death itself. Yet we remain entangled in the limited happiness of material pursuits while time ticks away, day by day inching us closer to the inevitable end of our lives.
However, this darkness of Maya disappears when we bring the light of the Supreme divine Lord. That is the true purpose of Diwali. Like we welcome Lord Ram into Ayodhya, we should welcome his love and knowledge into our life and our hearts.
JKYog Center for Indian Culture and Education
Pointing to the first generation of Indian immigrants and their struggles to pass on their cultural traditions to their children Western influences, Swamiji stressed on the importance of temples in facilitating the propagation of ancient Indian traditions and spiritual values across generations of Indian immigrants, in the United States. He highlighted the positive impact of the Radha Krishna Temple of Dallas in this regard in the Dallas community.
The JKYog Center for Indian Culture and Education, a sprawling state of the art 24000 square feet sacred space for spiritual and cultural excellence, is part of Phase 2 expansion of the Radha Krishna Temple of Dallas, scheduled to be completed in 2021. The groundbreaking ceremony was performed in May 2020 despite the numerous obstacles posed by a raging pandemic, by heroic volunteers who in Swamiji’s own words, took inspiration from Lord Ram, who accomplished the greatest feats during his 14 years of exile.
Watch heart touching, emotional glimpses of the Phase 2 journey here:
As a part of the silent auction organized to support the CICE, Swamiji fashioned and painted a clay pot with his own hands. Check out the divine video here:
Since its inception the JKYog CICE has been offering high quality spiritual courses, with able instructors disseminating the wisdom of the Vedic scriptures for the benefit of humanity, in an easy-to-understand way with modern presentation techniques and examples. Throughout 2020 and 2021, to keep spirits high during the pandemic, they offered world class events sustaining and promoting Indian cultural and spiritual values: 48 Hour Akhand Diwali Kirtan to support education and healthcare, JKYog International Festival of Yoga featuring renowned experts like Dr. Smita Naram, Sadhguru, Sadhvi Bhagavati Saraswati and Baba Ramdev, Worldwide Ramayan Utsav featuring renowned spiritual leader Pujya Bhaishri Shri Rameshbhai Oza, International Women’s Day Awards Conclave featuring Mother of Orphans Padmashri Dr. Sindhutai Sapkal, Global Janmashtami Mahotsav showcasing performances of world renowned Indian classical artistes such as Grammy Award Nominee Sikkil Gurucharan, Indrani Mukherjee, Deepti Omchery Bhalla etc and the JKYog Global Youth Conference featuring several award winning youth entrepreneurs and President’s Award winner Dr. Major. Deepak Rao.
Visit radhakrishnatemple.net/cice to learn more.