25.12.2024
Christmas Celebrations at the Roerich Estate in Naggar
On 25 December, the International Roerich Memorial Trust (IRMT) held its annual Christmas party for children. This heart-warming event has become a wonderful, cherished tradition, and it all began thanks to the International Centre of the Roerichs (ICR, Moscow) and its support. On this special day, children from Naggar and nearby villages come together at the beautiful Roerich Estate, near the enchanting Green Theatre of the IRMT, to celebrate the festive season. They sing, they dance, they recite poems for Santa, and, of course, they receive their very own precious gifts. And just as it has done for many years, this year was no exception.
The wonderful, festive Christmas party at the Roerich Estate is a beautiful example of Russian-Indian cooperation. Christmas at the Roerich Estate wouldn't have been the same without the amazing teamwork of the Russian and Indian employees of the Trust, and we're so grateful for all the help we received from the Roerichs International Centre. Everyone involved really threw themselves into making the event a success, and the smiles on the faces of the nearly four hundred Indian children from little Himachal villages really made it all worthwhile.
Despite the cold weather – winter has finally arrived in Naggar, which is such a treat! – a crowd of kids gathered around the stage at 11am. As the winter sun approached the stage, warming the chilled children and adults, the young guests kept arriving. They kicked off the festival with the uplifting hymn 'Saraswati Vandana', a beautiful celebration of Saraswati, known as the patron goddess of the arts. The festive spirit was in the air, and the cheery greeting of 'Merry Christmas!' added a special touch. At the heart of every spiritual tradition is the beautiful idea that good will always triumph over evil and that the light will always overcome the darkness. Christmas at the Roerich Estate is a wonderful occasion to remember the unity of cultural values and the triumph of Light, the different aspects of which are manifested in the traditions and cultures of different countries, in the images of deities, saints and cultural heroes. India, with its rich and diverse culture, is a perfect example of this. It's a place where a wide variety of traditions are honoured, including those that came from outside much later than the Golden Age of Indian culture, when the original Indian traditions and philosophy originated. It's really interesting that India knows and venerates Bodhisattva Issa, the same Lord Jesus Christ whose birth is celebrated on 25 January. Christmas in India is one of the official public holidays, and it's a beautiful symbol of tolerance and multiculturalism.
The Indian curator, Suresh Kumar, gave the children a warm welcome from the stage and wished them a joyful and warm Christmas. Then Olga Karaseva, Assistant to the Russian Curator of the IRMT, spoke to the guests on behalf of the Russian staff of the IRMT working for the Roerichs Trust on behalf of the ICR.
And then, the moment we'd all been waiting for finally arrived! After some friendly and joyful calls from the children, Santa, his helpers and a huge bag of presents came on stage, and the crowd went wild with applause and joyful laughter. The children had queued up for the performance, and one by one they began to come on stage. It was so lovely to see both the youngest and the older kids performing. There were also some wonderful group performances. It was clear that the young performers had been practising hard and were excited to share their hard-work. But some of the youngest even performed impromptu, which was really sweet and made the whole thing even more special. The audience clapped enthusiastically for all the performers. And of course, Santa and his helpers made sure all the children got sweet treats for their performances. After all the performances, there was a lovely moment where all the children and their parents received presents.
