Kojagiri: Celebrating in soothing full moon light

NAGPUR: Sharad Purnima, with its picture perfect full moon, is a night to be sitting out on the terrace or garden with a silver light bathing the ground. Music, food and fellowship just follows. “Ashwin means blue and this full moon exudes the calm and peace associated with this colour,” says artist Chandrakant Channe. “Loud music, dancing and merriment dilutes the intensity.I celebrate it with a night long painting session with young and old artists,” he says.
This night has both mythological and scientific importance, says Bhanudas Kulkarni who has been organizing musical concerts at the Ganesh Tekdi temple on this night for a couple of years. “It is an auspicious occasion and the moonlight has healing properties. We have to maintain its sanctity. Musical or any other programme organized on this occasion should be soothing and not the kind which raises the heartbeat,” he says.
It is an enchanting sight to see the glazed round moon which appears to be hanging low, feels actor writer director Supanto Bhattacharya. “The night reminds me of Shakespeare’s Mid-Summer Night’s Dream. A night to hang out loose, chat, joke and enjoy with family in a calm atmosphere,” he says and adds that the concept has been mauled by today’s generation which has turned it into a loud and crass musical show.
But community celebrations largely rely on musical concerts to celebrate. With large number of people attending it, these events are packaged very commercially. The Sharad Utsav celebrations at Hindi Mor Bhavan will have a cultural show put up by a music troupe on Saturday. “This is our annual celebration and we dedicate it to goddess Saraswati,” says Pramatmanand Pandey, the organizer of the event. “We used to organize it in the open but unseasonal rains have forced us to keep it indoors this year,” he says.
Taking a break from the regular dance and music evening, the Laxmianubandh Maheshwari Mahila Sanghathan will be organizing a Tambola night to celebrate the festival. “People want to meet up and chat at such a get-together which cannot be done at a musical show. So we have kept this grand Housie with big ticket prizes which will be conducted by RJ Raj to add to the fun element,” says Dr Sunita Nawandar, one of the organizers.