Lehigh Valley Hindu community holds its 3rd annual Kite flying festival with blood donation drive
On September 7, 2014, the Hindu community of Lehigh Valley celebrated it’s 3rd Kite festival that bought over 400 people of all ages from community together. The kite festival was organized by local chapter of World Hindu Organization (VHPA) and Anoopam Mission on the grounds of Anoopam mission Swami Narayan Temple that is located on Clearview Rd in Coplay Township. This event was organized in collaboration with Allentown Hindu Temple, Indian Association of Lehigh Valley and Gayatri Pariwar. A kite festival in India is traditionally celebrated on January of each year. However, the Hindu community chose to celebrate it on fall, adopting it to local weather conditions.
The festival was inaugurated by priests from Anoopam Mission and the Hindu temple Society for harmony among human beings and world peace. Many of the young children who were participating in such festival for the first time were thrilled to see the blue sky filled with the rich and colorful tradition of kite flying from the ancient civilization that originated from India.
In addition to the Kite Festival, the community also coordinated an annual blood drive in collaboration with Miller -Keystone Blood center as a part of the “Common Sava Divas across all temples” initiative of Hindu Mandir Exectutives’ Conference ( HMEC). The blood drive is done in the memory of tragic events that took place on 9-11 eleven years ago. In addition to the blood drive, Youth wings of local temples organized fun-fair and games for children.
A special attraction of the event was the cultural program conducted by the Bhutanese Hindu Refugee community. When they shared the details of brutality and religious intolerance that the Hindu community faced in Bhutan forcing them to leave the country and their struggle in the refugee camps in Nepal prior to migrating to US with the help of UN, it bought tears in many eyes.
Over-all the festival brought together the families for a day filled with lot of fun, emotions, community service and sprinkles of spirituality.
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