Capturing spirit of Indian culture

Vital Karra traveled for two days to reach his first Kumbh Mela festival in Allahabad, India, in 1989. Like millions of others who make the pilgrimage to the Hindu festival every 12 years, Karra traveled thousands of miles on train and foot to reach the six-week-long gathering.

Now a software consultant living in Bellevue, Karra didn't have to go far Monday to taste and feel the experience again. The Kumbha Mela Festival of India was right next door in Redmond.

(The spelling of "Kumbha" with an "a" reflects Western pronunciation, and is used interchangeably with the original spelling.)

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime event," said Karra, who came to the festival with his two sons. "The Marymoor Park event captures the spirit of India's biggest festival."

The three-day event paid homage to the centuries-old Indian spiritual festival attended by as many as 70 million Hindus.

Visitors were welcomed by devotees of the Hindu faith and surrounded by the fragrant smells of traditional foods and sounds of live Indian music.

Organizers estimate 10,000 attended the free event, which began Saturday. The festival was moved to Marymoor Park to make it more accessible to the Eastside's growing Indian population, said Naresh Bhatt, one of the festival's organizers and executive director of the Vedic Cultural Center of Sammamish.

Some 22,000 Indians live in Washington, and the majority of those live on the Eastside, he said.

The festival, formerly known as the Festival of India at Alki Beach, took on a new twist this year, offering more entertainment and interactive booths than in the past.

The event is meant to promote the new Vedic Cultural Center under construction since May. The $4.5 million project is slated for completion early next year and will include a library, a museum and classrooms for art, drama and music courses.

The 12,200-square-foot center is being built at 228th Ave. S.E. in Sammamish, across from the City Hall.

Like Karra, many of those who attended the festival were born in India and have settled in the Seattle area for work. Others flocked to the Eastside park for a day in the sun or to get a glimpse of Indian culture and religion.

Callie Graupensperger, a Seattle massage therapist, said the event was perfect for "learning more about" the culture of a growing segment of her client base.

New this year was Vrindavan Village, a reconstruction of the holy city where Hindus believe the god Krishna was born. Guides, many of whom grew up in India, provided tours of more than a dozen tents depicting scenes from Krishna's life.

"We wanted to have a different twist than previous years," Bhatt said. "We wanted it to become a more mainstream event because we want to be part of this community."

For many who attended the festival's last day Monday, this was an opportunity to blend education and fun.

Karra brought his sons, Srikar, 6, and Saivibhu, 2, for the second day in a row. He has taken the boys to visit India, but experiencing their culture where they live is important too, Karra said.

"I don't want them to forget it growing up in this country," he said.

Karen Johnson: 253-234-8605 or karenjohnson@seattletimes.com

Information in this story originally published on September 4, 2007was corrected on September 14, 2007. In the story Tuesday about the Kumbha Mela Festival of India, Naresh Bhatt was incorrectly referred to on second reference as "she."