Cooking up a storm…Volunteering for the Philly Ganesh Fest, Kiran Dahale cooks traditional Hindu dishes for festival attendees. The festival took place on September 18-28 at the Bharatiya Temple in Chalfont.

One of the main goals of the Philadelphia Ganesh Festival (PGF) was to spread awareness of Indian culture.
The event took place at Bharatiya Temple September 18-28.
The idea of starting Indian Culture Clubs was widely advertised by the PGF core team.
“The concept is to bring certain aspects of Indian cultures to schools so that the students know about this culture,” chairperson Mukund Kute said. “My appeal to school districts around the Bharatiya Temple is to help open more Indian cultural clubs in their respective schools and for the students to get an opportunity to showcase what they learn.”
According to Youth Committee (YCOMM) volunteer Saloni Jog, these clubs are “a great opportunity for second generation born Indians to learn more about their culture.”
PGF’s YCOMM program is not only a way to educate elementary through high school students on the culture, but they also participate in activities that help mold a positive personality and helps members exercise traits they need in the real world.
“They seek joy from these activities, and that positively shapes their personality as an individual. That is how we see an impact on the youth, which is a very important aspect of the festival,” Kute said.
Some activities include helping to serve food, guiding cars to parking spots and decorating.
“PGF is a great opportunity to learn how to take leadership roles along with helping with small things that are really important such as decorations, helping to serve food, etc.,” Jog said.
This year the festival was joined by 50 students from Arcadia University and many other non-indian students during IndiaFest. IndiaFest is a two-day music and food festival.
During these days, dances are performed and vendors set up tents to sell food and other items in.
Making food is also an important part of the festival.
According to JKTA Member and MahaPrasad Sponsor Milind Satam, there are more than 1,000 people to feed per day.
A team of 60-70 people work together to make and serve food each night.
“Everyone divides the work of cutting veggies, cleaning, cooking and cleaning after cooking without any hesitation,” JKTA Member and MahaPrasad Sponsor Yogesh Dahale said. “Lots of laughs, jokes, news and any personal issues are shared when we spend 6-7 hours together as a group, which hardly happens in a year.”
The many events that take place over the 10-day period allow for social connections between people.
“My favorite part of PGF is the events because I can hang out with friends,” YCOMM Volunteer Devesh Waghmare said.
Many other attendees agree with this. One of the main highlights of the festival is the amount of people it attracts.
“I love the people I get to see,” Jog said. “My favorite part of PGF would be helping out for the festival as well as seeing all the different artists performing everyday for 10 days such as classical singers, Kathakali dancers and more. It amazes me how talented these artists are and how they come all the way from India to perform for PGF.”
There are many opportunities for attendees to chat with each other and meet new people.
“While the people are in the queue to take the food and while sitting together while having dinner, even strangers come together and share a laugh while having their favorite dish,” Satam said.