SANKRANTHI event was organized by on January 16th, 2010 at LANDMARK MIDDLE SCHOOL auditorium. Over 400 Telugu people living in Jacksonville attended and enjoyed the celebrations. TAJA committee started the preparations for this event from 1:00 PM at the venue which was overlooked by the President Mr. VENKATA LUKALAPU. The stage was given the traditional look of the villages from Andhra Pradesh. The center stage was decorated with huge posters of TAJA & Telugu Thali picture. Also, there was the state map attached with live paddy on one side to bring the remembrance of harvest day of our farmers. The other side had the city map of Jacksonville. The Telugu Thali was garlanded with multi colored garlands which extended to both the ends of the stage garlanding the state map & city map. Pattu saree beautifully folded to resemble the peacock tail was placed in between the cutouts. Also, on the front of the stage, one side was decorated to give a village atmosphere, with a village hut which was painted with traditional muggulu for the doors & in front of the entrance, banana plants & sugarcane sticks were placed to give the sankranthi look. Sankranthi celebrations started from 4:00 PM, with the members mingling & socializing while snacks were served. It was wonderful to see our people come in traditional attire. Muggula Poti for women members was organized by Mrs. Padmaja & Mrs. Navya which started at 4:30 PM. It was really mind blowing to see our women folks participating with lot of enthusiasm. To keep the kids busy while the women members were busy in proving their Rangoli skills, a Quiz program was coordinated by Mr. Raghu Reddy Sagili. Many enthusiastic participants displayed their creativity by carving out various types of Muggulu in the Rangoli competition. Many of them captured the essence of Sankranthi with beautiful designs. Smt. Uma Eyuni, Smt. Radha Rani, Smt. Esha Kancha and Smt. Aruna obliged to be the judges to pick the winners & runners for the Muggula Poti. Bhogi Pallu was organized for kids to get rid of drushti & bad evils. Parents showered their kids with regi pallu, flower petals, akshanthulu & penny coins which were made available at the venue. Important aspect of Sankranthi the Bommala Koluvu was organized by Mrs. Manjari Gokul where in variety of dolls were beautifully placed & displayed. All the members took turn to see it. The stage programs started from 6:30 PM with the children from Telugu Badi singing the song "Maa Telugu Thaliki" written by Sri. Sankarambadi Sundaraachari. Telugubadi children performed two skits, the first titled "APOHA" wherein the kids enacted a story written by parents that was highlighted in a humorous way, the misconception of the people back in INDIA that Telugu families in USA do not teach their children Telugu. The skit allowed the children to showcase the various topics they learn in Telugu Badi. The second skit was titled "ELUKA PELLI" which was a story from Panchatantra. There was also a "Pushpanjali" bharatanatyam performed by the kids from Telugu Badi. Appreciating the kids for their wonderful performances, prizes were given to all the kids who participated, by the Telugubadi coordinators Mr. Raghu Chatradhi & Mrs. Anupama Gattupalli. After the first performance by kids from Telugu Badi, Gobbemmalu were arranged in the center of a wonderful Muggu which was placed in the center of the stage & our women members were invited to dance around the Gobbemmalu. There was a flow of them onto the stage & was a never seen before kind of event to see our women dancing for the gobbemmalu song that was played which was further continued for the gobbemmalu song sung by Mrs. Shanta Rayaprolu. The audiences had a treat of Telugu cine songs in between the programs. Some of the super hit songs of Tollywood were rendered by Mrs. Sandhya, Mrs. Sravanthi and Mrs. Vasavi Rani. To name a few are "Chinni Chinni Aasa" from ROJA, "Manusuna Vunadhi, Chepalani Vunadhi" from PRIYAMAYINA NEEKU, Mounamganey Yedhagamani" from NAA AUTOGRAPH, "Nuvantey Nak Ishtamani" from SANTOSHAM and many more. Added to this was a beautiful bharatanatyam performance by Mrs. Sasi Arun & Mrs. Manjula Chandran. There were four sessions Vishnu Sthuthi, Anamacharya Sankeerthana, Thillana and Mangalam. Prizes were given to all the winners of the sports and games conducted by TAJA. Muggula Poti winners Mrs. Latha Anantoji and Mrs. Laxmi Karri and runners up Mrs. Sheetal Moyya & Mrs. Pallavi Palwai were awarded prizes. The TAJA women throw ball team, winners of the INDO-US Commerce Association Tournament, were also awarded prizes. The prizes were handed over by the president Mr. Venkata Lukalapu to all the prize winners. The sankranthi celebrations were ended by vote of thanks by Vice-president Mr. Srinivasulu Miryala followed by national anthem. The entire event was anchored by Mr. Raghu Reddy Sagili. TAJA would like to specially thank Mrs. Sasi Arun and Mrs. Manjula Chandran for doing an excellent performance. Also TAJA would like to thank the sponsors Prudential. The event wouldn't have been a success without the efforts of many volunteers and also the management of the Landmark Middle School. Authentic Andhra food, catered by Mayuri, was served in the end and all the items proved to be a great hit and provided the perfect ending for an evening that was celebrated with lot of enthusiasm, galore and fun with family and friends.

Photos of the event can be viewed at Sankranthi 2010 Gallery

Photos of the event can be viewed at Ghantasala Aradhanotsavam

Photos of the event can be viewed at  Ugadi 2009 Gallery

-TAJA Committee 2008 - 2009

Dear Members

TAJA solicits you all to join for Sri Virodhi Naama Samvastara Ugadi Vedukalu on Saturday, 04/25/2009

Event starts at 3:00 PM with Socializing and Snacks.

This is the link to the TAJA 2009 Ugadi Celebrations Evite invitation that has been sent to your emails, please RSVP by 04/22/2009.

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Over 350 Telugu people living in Jacksonville, FL have attended the Sankranthi Sambaralu organized by the TAJA at Englewood High school Auditorium on January 24, 2009. The stage was decorated with many traditional items that reflected the atmosphere in many villages of Andhra Pradesh. Telugu proverbs placed near the stage reminded everyone of their elementary school days and left every one with sweet nostalgic feelings. Keeping the tradition of celebrating Sankranthi alive, the program started at 4PM with kite flying by kids of all ages, while adults were socializing and having snacks. Andhra chai was sponsored by Ekal. Many enthusiastic participants displayed their creativity by carving out various types of Muggulu in the Rangoli competition. Many of them captured the essence of all 3 days of Sankranthi with beautiful floral designs. Children attending the Telugu Badi classes presented a play with all the important and entertaining sights of Sankranthi like Gangireddu and Haridasu. Keeping in tune with the changing times, kids didn't forget the importance of the movies during the Sankranthi time and presented a "cinema bandi" with wall posters on it. The skit presented by the kids had left everyone with hearty laughs. The large participation by the young children vindicated one of the main missions of TAJA which is to promote the Telugu language among the kids in USA. DVD's promoting the same were awarded to all participating TeluguBadi kids The musical program by Venkat Chennubhotla and Jagathi Vempaty entertained the audiences and added the tollywood flavor to the evening with their beautiful rendering of many songs from old and new Telugu films. To all the winners of the sports and games conducted by TAJA, awards were distributed by Mr.Ashok Bajaj of Ekal, Mr.Raymond Riddick of Prudential. Rangoli prizes were distributed by the Judges Smt. Anasuya Ainapur, Mr.Ashok Bajaj and Smt Vijaya Kumari Yarlagadda. Sheetal Pyata & Saritha Chekilla, Bhagya Sanka & Vijaya Kala shared the Third prize. Padma Katepalle & Jyothi Gotoor won the Second prize. Latha Kanoji & Lakshmi Karri won the grand First prize. The event was anchored by Prashanth Polineni and Samantha Kancha. TAJA would like to specially thank Mr.Venkat Chennubhotla and Ms. Jagathi Vempaty for coming to Jacksonville all the way from Atlanta. Also TAJA would like to thank the sponsors Prudential and Ekal. The event wouldn't have been a success without the efforts of many volunteers and also the management of the Englewood High School. Authentic Andhra food, catered by Mayuri, was served in the end and all the items proved to be a great hit and provided the perfect ending for an evening that was celebrated with lot of enthusiasm, galore and fun with family and friends.

Photos of the event can be viewed at  Sankranthi 2009 Gallery

-TAJA Committee 2008 - 2009

Dear Members

TAJA wishes you and your family a very Happy Sankranthi.

TAJA requests you all to join for Sankranthi Sambaraalu on Saturday, 01/24/2009 @4:00 PM

Note: Interested Rangoli participants, please send an email to info@taja.us by 01/19/2009.

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