MY LOHANA NEWS UNITY IS STRENGTH www.mylohana.com Volume 2018 Issue 6 LCFT - Lohana Charitable Foundation of Toronto Oct 2018 Individual Highlights Welcome Introduction - Page 2 Deepawali - Page 2 Laxmi & Chopda - Page 3 Pujan Diwali Gala Dinner - Page 5 & Dance Navratri Recap - Page 6 The Lohana Directory - Page 9 Laxmi Puja Steps - Page 10 Annual Sponsors - Page 11 Contact Us - Page 13 May the beauty of Diwali fill your world and your heart with joy and may the love that is always yours, bring you endless happiness. Have A Wonderful Diwali And New Year! Page | 1 WELCOME INTRODUCTION Dear Community Members, Namaste and welcome to our sixth edition of the LCFT newsletter. We are in the midst of our Festive Season, celebrating Diwali, the Festival of Lights, and all that is good in the World. We welcome you to join us in our events, in meeting family and friends, and making new ones. Don’t miss out, its going to be lots of fun! Meet & Greet at These Events! DEEPAWALI Deepawali or Diwali is the biggest and the brightest of all Hindu Laxmi & Chopda Pujan festivals. It is the festival of lights: deep means "light" and avali November 7th (Wed) "a row" to become "a row of lights." Diwali is marked by four days (Start the new Chapter with of celebration, which literally illuminates the country with its Prayers for your business, work brilliance and dazzles people with its joy. or education) The Diwali festival occurs in late October or early November. It Diwali Gala Dinner & Dance falls on the 15th day of the Hindu month of Kartik, so it varies November 10th (Sat) every year. Each of the four days in the festival of Diwali is (Celebrate a fun filled Festival of marked with a different tradition. What remains constant is the Lights) celebration of life, its enjoyment, and a sense of goodness. Historically, Diwali can be traced back to ancient India. It most New Year’s Eve Party likely began as an important harvest festival. However, there are December 31st (Mon) various legends pointing to the origin of Diwali. Some believe it to be the celebration of the marriage of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, with Lord Vishnu. Others use it as a celebration of her birthday, as Lakshmi is said to have been born on the new-moon day of Kartik. Diwali also commemorates the return of Lord Rama (along with Ma Sita and Lakshman) from his 14-year-long exile and vanquishing the demon-king Ravana. In joyous celebration of the return of their king, the people of Ayodhya, the capital of Rama, illuminated the kingdom with earthen diyas (oil lamps) and set off firecrackers. Page | 2 UPCOMING EVENTS Date: Wednesday, November 7th, 2018 Time: 7:00pm arrivals to set up. 7:30pm Sharp – Puja will commence Location: Avani Event Centre Address: 8400 Jane St, Vaughan, ON, L4K 4L8 Dinner: Delicious meal catered by Avani Asian Indian Bistro will be served after the Puja. Entry: Members - Free Non-Members - $10 Per Person ** We strongly recommend those attending to register online to help us plan seating and catering. Come join us and begin your Diwali and New Year celebrations with the blessings of Maa Laxmiji and Lord Ganesha. Diwali - the Festival of Lights is celebrated over Five days (Dhan Teras, Kali Chaudas, Diwali, Bestu Varsh and Bhai Dooj). Laxmi Pujan is conducted on the Diwali day. Puja is offered to Maa Laxmiji, Lord Ganesha and Lord Kuber. Through this puja devotees are blessed with Prosperity, Wealth, Health and Longevity. The Puja will be offered with Kishor Bhai Jani. Donations can be made by participants at the event. Page | 3 Who Can Participate in the Laxmi Pooja? This Puja can be done by everyone, including business owners conducting Chopda Pujan, employees and students. We therefore warmly welcome everyone to participate, including children, young families, employees and business owners to come and participate in the Puja and have your New Year begin with blessings and continued success in a colorful way! Please arrive early to prepare your Puja at your table. What to prepare for the Puja: • Ganesh & Laxmiji Murti • 2 Whole Fruits • Suko Maivo • Thak, Luving, Elchee, Sakar • Prashad • Red pen & notebook • Coconut/Steel coconut holder (kadash) • Red Thread • Fresh Flowers • Coins • Rice • Plates, Bowls, Spoons (steel if possible) • Moong • Panchamrat (Sakar, Yogurt, Milk, Ghee, Honey) • Ghee • 2 Diyas • Kanku, Abil, Gula • Tulsi Paan • Bottled Water • Nagarvalna Paan • Agarbatti & holder • Sopari • Vaat for divo • Tissue & Matches • Aarti sani & Kapoor * The items needed are available from most Indian grocery stores – please contact Sharmil Mithia for more information via email [email protected] . Page | 4 Diwali Gala Dinner & Dance ON A SATURDAY NIGHT - BY POPULAR DEMAND Buy Tickets Online LCFT welcomes you to an explosive night of Music & Masti. Join us this Diwali with Lohana Family and Friends to celebrate our very own amazing Festival of Lights in true Lohana style! The evening is on a Saturday night, at a new venue, and introduces Live Music, Celebrity Entertainment, Indian Dances, Finger-Licking Indian Vegetarian Cuisine, and a Fabulous World Class DJ to dance the night away! • LAST CALL - Ticket sales will strictly close on October 31st, 2018 - so bring your family & friends and secure your seats today! Date: Saturday, November 10th, 2018 Time: 6:00pm – Cocktail Hour 7:00pm (sharp) - Entertainment & Gala Evening Location: Avani Event Centre Address: 8400 Jane St, Vaughan, ON L4K 4L8 Dinner: Delicious full course cuisine catered by Avani Asian Indian Bistro Dress: Dress smart to impress! Entry Fee: LCFT Annual Paid Members - $50 Per Person Non-Members / Guests - $60 Per Person Children under 12 - $25 Per Child (Please appreciate that with increasing overheads and labor costs with suppliers, booking of a highly rated venue on a Saturday night, provision of top-class entertainment, and an excellent full course dining experience, we have tried our level best to keep the ticket costs affordable and subsidized while providing value – we welcome you to join us). Page | 5 NAVRATRI – GARBA WITH DISCO DANDIYA- RECAP On 20th October 2018, members of the Lohana Community with family & friends celebrated Navaratri together at the Sharad Purnima Garba and Disco Dandiya. This year the music was provided by Kirit Bhai Mistry of Goonjan Entertainment with a special half hour of Disco Dandiya by DJ Bhagirat. LCFT also hosted a Mithai Competition this year which was well received and garnered a lot of entries. Members & Friends got to prepare some very delicious home-made Mithai’s and congratulations to the winners of the competition: - Taste Category Winners (Seniors) Taste Category Winners (Juniors) 1st Prize- Dakshaben Jadav 1st Prize- Sanna Luthra 2nd Prize- Ramilaben Pelan 2nd Prize- Keval Mithia Presentation Category Winners (Seniors) Presentation Category Winners (Juniors) 1st Prize- Truptiben Thakkar 1st Prize- Sanna Luthra 2nd Prize- Hastibalaben Badiani 2nd Prize- Zeal Thakkar We would also like to thank the following for their contributions towards making this event a success: ❖ Our lead organizer for the event, Kajal Gadhia, who did a wonderful job in bringing everyone together. ❖ A special thank you to the Garba Sub-committee & team of this event including Alka Panchmatia, Deval Chandarana, Rashmi Kantaria, Sheetal Dave, Neesha Mithia, Kavita Kara & Sejal Thakrar ❖ Anuben Devani, Dakshaben Shah, Bhavnaben Radia & Pritiben Thakrar for assisting with the decoration Page | 6 ❖ Our Judges Indiraben Somaia & Sunitaben Somaya for judging the Mithai Competition ❖ To all our participants for preparing and bringing delicious Mithai’s for the competition. You all are winners!! ❖ Kiritbhai Mistry for providing the amazing music & Bhagirat Raichada for the Disco Dandiya experience ❖ The Delicious food was catered by Jalsa Kitchen, who were also one of our annual sponsors ❖ Our Youth Volunteers led by Ronak Panchmatia & his team who assisted tremendously during the Garba, also earned their volunteer hours for school. ❖ A warm Thank you to all LCFT members, and those of the Community that helped to set up in the evening and during the Garba. Your help was priceless and very much appreciated! ❖ Thank you to Sanjay Dave for contributing his time in taking and editing the photos of the event NAVRATRI – HIGHLIGHTS Page | 7 NAVRATRI- HIGHLIGHTS Page | 8 ANNUAL MEMBER’S MOBILE APP - DOWNLOAD IT TODAY! Paid Annual Membership has its benefits. You can now have the Lohana Directory on the go, on your mobile phone. Are you on our Directory? To learn more, click the button below: TO LEARN MORE – CLICK HERE To become an annual member and pay your annual dues online, please click the button below: Page | 9 STEPS FOR LAXMI PUJA AT HOME 1. Purify your house. Clean your house properly. Sprinkle Gangajal or water to purify the surrounding 2. Set up the platform. Spread the red cloth on a raised platform and keep a handful of grains in the center 3. Place the kalash. Place the kalash in the middle. Fill it with 75% of water and put one Supari, one Flower, a Coin and some Rice Grains. Put 5 mango leaves in the kalash and arrange them in a circular design on the neck of the kalash 4. Place Goddess Lakshmi. Keep a small Puja thali on the kalash and make a small flat mountain of Rice Grains. Draw a lotus with haldi over it and place the idol or Goddess Lakshmi in the center. Place some coins in front of it. 5. Place Lord Ganesha's idol. Lord Ganesha is given first importance in every puja. Therefore, on the right side (South-West direction) of the kalash, place the idol of Ganesha. Apply a tilak of haldi and kumkum. Put some rice grains on the idol.