Kuchipudi ballet, "Bhakta Markandeya"
Kuchipudi ballet, "Bhakta Markandeya"
presented by Revathi Komanduri's group
as a Sankara Nethralaya fundraiser
Date: Sunday, May 1, 2016
Time: 2:30pm seating, 3pm program
Venue: Gwinnett Performing Arts Center, 6400 Sugarloaf Pkwy, Duluth, GA 30097
Donate online: https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/1416458
Contact: Seshu Sarma, The SN Atlanta Team, seshusarma@yahoo.com
www.sankaranethralaya.org, www.sankaranethralayausa.org
Sankara Nethralaya OM Trust, Inc., 9710 Traville Gateway Drive, No. 392, Rockville, MD 20850
(855)4NETHRA /(855) 463-8472
Markandeya was a great devotee of Lord Siva. His father, the great sage Mrikandu performed rigorous austerities and worshipped Siva and sought from him the boon of begetting a son. As a result, he was given the choice of either a gifted son, but with a short life on earth or a child lacking intelligence but with a long life. Mrikandu rishi chose the former, and was blessed with Markandeya, an exemplary son, destined to die at the age of 16.
Markandeya came to know about his fate and began to worship Lord Siva with intense faith and devotion. He entered into deep meditation and Samadhi on the day decreed as the day of his death. The messengers of Lord Yama were not able to approach him. Finally, Yama himself went to take away his life. The boy embraced the Siva Linga for protection against Yama. When Yama threw his noose around the boy, Lord Siva came out of the Linga with his Rudra swaroopa and protects Markandeya from the deadly clutch of Yama. He also conferred a boon to Markandeya that he should live for ever as a boy of sixteen years of age. He became a Chiranjeevi. Such is the power of Siva Bhakti!
Srivaani Kuchipudi Dance Academy was established in 2003 as a 501(c)(3) organization under the guidance and blessings of Pujya Guru Sri Vempati Chinna Satyam. This academy was founded by Smt. Revathi Komanduri, who is also the director of the school. Aim of the school is to propagate this beautiful art of Kuchipudi dance amongst the younger generation.
Sankara Nethralaya is a nonprofit charitable eye institution founded by the living legend, Padma Bhushan Dr. S S Badrinath in 1978. It serves 1500 outpatients per day and performs about 150 surgeries daily, almost half of them at no cost to poor patients. Its branches are located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, Mukundapur in Kolkata, Sri City, Nellore and Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. The hospital has plans to expand in more states and possibly other countries. While providing state of the art eye care to those who can afford, thousands of indigent patients receive the same kind of care as a result of funds raised by Sankara Nethralaya Ophthalmic Mission Trust, also known as Sanakara Nethralaya USA, a non-profit, tax exempt 501 (C)(3) organization , based in Rockville, Maryland, USA. As a results of the donations raised in Atlanta, we were able to provide eye care free of charge to thousands of patients since 2007.
Remember, your generous donation will give the gift of vision to many in India.
