The Guru is defined as "One Who Removes Darkness"; Guru-Purnima is the day chosen to honor all such Enlightened Masters. At Omkarananda Ashram Himalayas, the events of 11th July, 2006 were dedicated to our most important spiritual treasure: Sadgurudev Paramahamsa Omkarananda Saraswati.

The Patanjala Yoga Kendra at Omkarananda Ganga Sadan hosted two sacred dance-performances on the evening of 8th November 2006: by Omkarananda Saraswati Natya Kala Academy, represented by Kumari Somashekhari from Omkarananda Ashram Himalayas, and by a visiting Brahmachari dancer from Ashram Gandhi Puri in Bali, Indonesia.

The performance space, with its views of the holy Ganga River was transformed into a temple by virtue of the devotional dances presented; the local and international audience assembled was transported to Divine dimensions as a result of this exceptional cultural event.

After a brief welcome and introduction by the Master of Ceremonies, Shri Siddhartha Krishna of the Patanjala Yoga Kendra, two Special Guests were invited to come forward to light the lamps and initiate the evening's special presentations. Swami Vishveshwarananda, President of Omkarananda Ashram Himalayas and Swami Narasimhulu, Ashram Trustee came forward together to light the lamps in front of the Patanjali and Paramahamsa Sri Swami Omkarananda Saraswati shrine.

The Balinese dance performance began; Brahmachari Indrya Udayana, President of Ashram Gandhi Puri, gave a few words of explanation first. He said that the Ashram was dedicated to bringing Mahatma Gandhi's principles of Truth, Non-Violence, and Respect for All Religions to Bali as a way of preserving the ancient traditions of the island's Hindu community. The dancer, also a Brahmachari, was skilled in the art of temple dance as a way of expressing devotion and worship; he mentioned that normally these dances were only presented in the temple, no where else. With his hopes that the presentations offered would "build a bridge of understanding between India and Bali" the first dance, dedicated to the life and practice of Brahmacharya, took place.

One male dancer appeared, dressed in an exotic Balinese silk costume and makeup, very feminine in appeal. When asked about this later, it was explained that the unity of masculine and feminine qualities was the ideal for brahmacharya, the theme of the dance. With very precise hand and eye movements, and accompanied by dramatic Balinese music, the Divine was celebrated in appropriate style by this accomplished dancer.

Next, two dances from the Indian classical tradition, Bharatanatyam, were offered by Kumari Somashekhari; these dances also originated in the temple premises and their performance was an integral part of the ancient worship rites in India. Flawlessly attired in her beautiful traditional dance dress and glittering accessories Kumari Somashekhari took the stage and introduced her first dance.

The first dance was dedicated to Lord Shiva as the Cosmic Dancer, Nataraja, who dances the dance of Absolute Existence. Somashekhari explained that the dance was symbolic in meaning: the specific hand and feet positions showed Lord Shiva's ability to help us overcome the inferior human qualities of anger, greed, attachment, etc. and confer the boon of liberation from the cycle of rebirths to all souls. Her vision of Indian classical dance as sadhana, or spiritual practice was evident by her sublime rendition of this devotional piece.

Kumari Somashekhari then continued with another dance-item, a beautiful blend of rhythm and melody, "Kalyani Jatiswaram". Somashekhari explained before her dance, that originally there were 6 divine Ragas, corresponding to six seasons in India. The first five Ragas are a creation of Lord Shiva and the sixth one, Rag Kalyani, is a creation of Divine Mother Parvati. Rag Kalyani can be performed any time but it is best performed in November/December season. Kalyani depicts Grace, Sweetness, Auspiciousness, Joy, Blessedness, Abundance. Again, the audience was moved by her graceful performance in adoration of God.

The final dance was from the Balinese troupe; the same male dancer as before was to enact the three remaining stages of Hindu life (after brahmacharya): householder or grihasta, the elder teacher or vanaprastha, and finally, the stage of sannyasa or renunciation. Each of these three stages was depicted by three different, very colorful face masks which the dancer changed during the course of the performance. In a style of true surrender, the masks bore no holes for his eyes; he was led by inner guidance and inner vision throughout!

After the completion of the dance-performances Shri Siddhartha Krishna, son of Sanskrit-Scholar Acharya Surya Prakash and Yoga-Teacher Usha Mataji, got his own CD on Sage Patanjali released by the President of Bali Ashram, Shri Indrya Udayana.

With divine vibrations circulating all around, Swami Vishveshwarananda came to the stage to give the Vote of Thanks. Inspiring the whole audience Swamiji instantly won the hearts of all by his natural, joyous and lively way of speaking. He thanked both dancers for their splendid performances; commenting that such selfless devotion shown by their dancing was the true mark of Yoga or union with God. He also praised Usha Devi and Shri Siddhartha of Patanjala Yoga Kendra for their efforts and skill in organizing and hosting the event. Since Brahmachari Shri Indrya Udayana had requested for a photo of H.D. Swami Omkarananda for their Ashram in Bali, Swami Vishveshwarananda handed over to him a beautiful photo of Gurudev saying, that Swami Omkarananda will now accompany them to Bali and protect and bless all of them.

After the inspirational chanting of Arati by Sanskrit scholar Sri Siddhartha Krishna, all guests gathered to partake of Prasad before leaving the enchanting environment, blessed by Spirit and the Grace of God through the art of dance.