The New Orleans Museum of Art and the Indian Arts Circle of New Orleans present India Fest, a vibrant festival of Indian arts, culture, and cuisine. The event features a wide variety of performances, activities and programs throughout the day, including a traditional lamp lighting ceremony, classical and Bollywood dance, sari demonstrations, henna applications, yoga, lectures, film, a cricket demonstration, and more. Don’t miss the guided tour of the new Indian Art Gallery located on the museum’s third floor. Booths in the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden will offer curries, samosas, vindaloo and other Indian specialties from four local restaurants: Taj Mahal, Nirvana, Saffron, and Silk Road. Admission is $5, free for NOMA members and children under 6.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Ongoing activities throughout the day include food booths and mendhi (henna tattooing) in the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden, an altar table in the Great Hall, sari wrapping demonstrations in the Norman Gallery (2nd floor), an artists’ display in the 2nd-floor mezzanine, and a cricket demonstration in the meadow.

Front Steps

• 10 a.m. Lamplighting ceremony
• 11:15 a.m. Bollywood Dance
• 2:15 p.m. Bollywood Dance
• 3:30 p.m. Dhol, traditional Indian drumming

Great Hall

• 12:15 p.m. Bharata Natyam Classical Dance: Students of  Nryita School of Dance, Houston
• 12:30 p.m. Tour of NOMA’s India Gallery
• 1:15 p.m. Classical Dance: Students of Shanti Ramesh, Director of Lasya School of Dance, New Orleans

Stern Auditorium (Lecture Series)

• 10:30 a.m. Peopling of India, by Jayaraman Rao
• 11:30 a.m. Indian Philosophy, by Sudhavna Wadgaonkar
• 12:30 p.m. Bharata Natyam Dance and Lecture Demonstration, by Padmani Chari and students
• 1:30 p.m. Ancient India, The Timeless Heritage, by Robert Arnett
• 3:00 p.m. Art of the Sari, by Lekha Subarea

Contemporary Gallery, 2nd Floor

• Children’s activities throughout the day, including traditional Indian dress-up of dolls, making bookmarks in different languages, storytelling, and a video of The Tiger and the Brahmin.

Templeman Gallery, 2nd Floor

• 11:30 a.m. Mindfulness in Wellness and Illness, by Jayashree Rao
• 12:30 p.m. Yoga: Balance Yoga and Wellness by Diana Shortes
• 1:15 p.m. Meditation: Art of Living in New Orleans, by Natalie Kaharick
• 2:15 p.m. Yoga: Balance Yoga and Wellness, by Gretchen Moore
• 3:00 p.m. Meditation: Art of Living in New Orleans, by Allen Freedman

Sponsors of the 2017 India Fest include Madhu and Deepak Bhavnagar, Navneeth and Chander Gorowara, Nirmala and Dhanpat Mohnot, and Jaya and Mike Motwani.