2025 Puranava Festival: Thousands Celebrate India’s Diverse Arts

PEARLAND: The 7th Annual Puranava India Art & Culture Fest organized by Houston chapter of Global Organization for Divinity (G.O.D.), was held on Saturday April 19, 2025 at the Pearland Town Center. It attracted a moving crowd of about 2000 attendees of all cultural backgrounds from around the Greater Houston area and other nearby cities, through the entire day. The event was supported by a City of Pearland cultural arts grant through Visit Pearland.

Several dignitaries attended the event including the Honorable Mayor of City of Pearland Mr. Kevin Cole, the Honorable Mayor of City of Manvel Mr. Dan Davis, Mr. Prashant K. Sona HOC Consul for Culture & Commerce and Ms. Anju Mallik Consul for Community Affairs from Consulate General of India Houston, Executive Director Ms. Tracy Rohrbacher and Arts Administrator Ms. Sara Peters from Visit Pearland, Ms. Ranjana Narasimhan Community Leader and Board Member of Meenakshi Temple Society, Ms. Probha Saikia and Mr. Kalyan Saikia, community leaders from the Houston Assamese community, and many others. All the special guests had words of praise for the Puranava Culture Fest and community service of Global Organization for Divinity. The Mayor of Manvel city also presented a commemorative proclamation for Puranava to G.O.D.

The vibrant festival brought India together by showcasing performing arts from different regions of India presented by numerous cultural groups from the Greater Houston Area. The performances were presented both on stage as well as in the form of street performances during a lovely Chariot Fest when a divine chariot was pulled around the pavilion by attendees. Apart from the classical dances of Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi from south India, Odissi from Odisha, and Kathak from north India, there were also numerous folk dance performances this year. These included two Assamese Bihu performances, Gujarati Garbha, Kerala Thiruvathira, Rajasthani Ghoomar, Marathi Mangala-Gauri, Bengali Baul, Karnataka Kamsale, and Tamil Nadu’s Poi-Kaal Kudhirai and Valli Kummi. Additionally, there were also three different folk percussion performances – Parai from Tamil Nadu, Chendamelam from Kerala and Dhol Tasha & Lezim from Maharashtra. A unique performance was also SIlambattam martial art from Tamil Nadu.  In between the street performances in front of the divine chariot, the chariot was pulled around the pavilion by attendees, to the chanting of the Mahamantra.

The fest also featured a special Kids Zone where children could make and take special art and crafts, learn about how the solar cycle impacts our daily routines, build temple gopurams with legos, play traditional Indian games, taste Indian candy, win raffle prizes, play in a bouncehouse, and more.

G.O.D. volunteers also offered lovely henna art and a free Photo Booth where attendees could take pictures with Indian accessories against an Indian backdrop.

During the first half of the event, about 200 children of all ages participated in youth competitions in Chess, Art, Written Quiz, Classical Music, Classical Dance, and Ethnic Costumes that were conducted from morning through the afternoon and presided over by expert judges from around the Houston area. A Puranava Harikatha contest was also conducted at Sri Aishwarya Srinivasa Perumal Temple a week earlier. Awards for all the competitions were distributed that afternoon by the chief guests.

All day long, the festival had vendors selling ethnic clothes, accessories, beautiful handicrafts, artwork, financial and educational services, Indian mattresses, facepainting and more. Delicious Indian vegetarian street food including south and north-Indian dishes including fresh dosa, batura, and chaat made onsite,  juices including fresh sugarcane juice, and cotton candy and popcorn, was procured, prepared and served by G.O.D.’s entirely volunteer-run ‘Kicha’s Kitchen’ and was a huge hit with the attendees.

As part of the organization’s annual giving program, Love to Share Foundation America conducted two drives benefiting two local nonprofit organizations – a pet supplies drive supporting Sunnyside Street Dogs and a gift card and blankets drive supporting The Sanctuary Foster Care.

For more information, please visit our Facebook pages – GOD Houston, Sri Aishwarya Srinivasa Perumal Hindu Temple, Love to Share Foundation America, Puranava 2025 event page, and our websites – www.puranava-usa.org, www.asptemple.org, www.lovetosharefoundation.org