For Immediate Release: Insert Date

Hindu Festival of Lights Celebration Features
Renowned International Dancer Purnima Jha

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( Oakland, CA)—Oakland Public Library invites the public to enjoy a special dance performance by Purnima Jha in celebration of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, on Monday, October 27 at 6:30 pm. This is the tenth annual Diwali program to take place at Oakland Public Library’s Golden Gate Branch, located at 5606 San Pablo Avenue.

The celebration will feature the internationally renowned Kathak dancer Purnima Jha and students from the Anna Yates Elementary School in Emeryville. Ms. Jha is a past recipient of the Isadora Duncan Dance Award and India’s “Great Daughter of the Soil” award in the arts. She learned to dance from her father, the legendary Natraj Shanker Dev Jha, who was one of the great Kathak artists of the 20th century. Kathak, which literally means “storyteller,” is a theatrical Northern Indian dance form originally performed as a religious rite in Hindu temples. It evolved into a court dance featuring elaborate costumes under the patronage of the Mughal dynasty.

The five-day festival of Diwali, which falls each year in October or November, honors the renewal of life, and the triumphs of light over darkness and goodness overcoming evil. As with other Indian festivals, Diwali is celebrated differently by region. In Northern India, celebrants honor the divine couple, Rama and Sita. In Bengal, Diwali is associated with the goddess Kali. In Gujarat, the festival pays tribute to Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. Houses are whitewashed and thresholds are decorated with elaborate designs of colored powder. Exchange of sweets and the explosion of fireworks accompany the celebration, which many South Asians also celebrate in the West.

Golden Gate Branch has a growing collection of Punjabi, Hindu, and bilingual titles for adults and children, including videos, thanks to an LSTA Global Language Grant.

For more information about the collection or the free family Diwali program, call the Golden Gate Library at (510) 597-5023 or visit the Library’s Web site at www.oaklandlibrary.org. Please refrain from wearing scented products to library events. To request sign interpretation, or other accommodation, call the number above at least five working days prior to the event. The Oakland Public Library is a department of the City of Oakland.