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History
KHNA - Brief History
The Glorious Beginning - 2001:
DALLAS, TEXAS, May 25, 2001: A convention of 700 Keralite Hindus was held at the Thrimurti Nagar in Dallas, Texas, to facilitate a spiritual reawakening among the Malayalee Hindu community in North America. It was the first of its kind in North America, and was addressed by religious leaders from India and the United States. The Kerala Hindu Society of Dallas, Texas hosted the convention along with council members from all over North America. The convention was inaugurated by the spiritual inspiration behind KHNA, Jagadguru Swami Sathyananda Saraswathi, head of the Ramadasa Ashram in Chengottukonam in Kerala, and Sree Ramadasa Mission in the US. The event included a youth forum discussion, religious discourses, a classical concert, and group prayers. Sri K.G. Manmadhan Nair was the organizing committee chairman. The organizing committee included Sri T.N.Nair, Sri Gangadharan Ala and Sri Gopala Pillai.
The Texas Tango continues (in the nick of time)! - 2003
HOUSTON, TEXAS, Nov 28-30, 2001: The second biennial convention of Kerala Hindus of North America was held at Houston. The convention was attended by spiritual leaders such as Jagadguru Swami Sathyananda Saraswathi along with social and political leaders such as Sri Vellappally Natesan. The speeches by dignitaries like Sri N. Gopalakrishnan made the convention unforgettable. The convention organized several parallel sessions, and paid specific attention to building the Youth wing of KHNA, with separate tracks and halls set up for them. The convention included enjoyable cultural and arts programs, religious discourses and group prayers that kept the audience fully engaged over the three days. Sri Sasidharan Nair was the organizing committee chairman and KHNA president. Perhaps the most notable achievement of the organizers was the fact that the convention was put together with barely a few months of notice, after it was initially expected to be held in another city!
See the 236 fabulous snaps from the convention kept by Ms. Jill Raman, the dynamic Youth Forum chair of the convention - Houston Pictures
KHNA's "Brotherly Love" Headquarters! 2003-2005:
CHICAGO, IL: The once-fledgling organization is no longer a baby. The continental hindu malayalee community is now well aware of KHNA, and the Hindu organization of Chicago, "Geethamandalam," under the able leadeship of new KHNA President Sri Anil Kumar Pillai takes up the responsibility to take KHNA to the next level. KHNA starts its quarterly magazine, Anjali, as well as the frequent email newsletter, eAnjali. The magazine subscription base and the KHNA mailing list grew several fold during this period to over 1500 members, and KHNA also made inroads into the US west coast, with involvement by Southern California members. Seva activities also started, with fundraising for Tsunami disatser relief resulting in several relief houses being built by Seva Bharati with KHNA funds. The Chicago convention saw a substantial increase in registration, with nearly 350 families and over 1000 people attending. The classical music concert by Dr. Sreevalsan Menon and the dance ballet on Swami Ayyappa by the Dharani School from Kochi were the cultural program highlights.
See the 2004 Activities and the 2005 Activities pages for details of several KHNA meetings and activities held during this period
The Big Apple in KHNA Limelight! (2005-2007):
NEW YORK, NY: That it took several years before KHNA could have the city with the largest Hindu Malayalee population in the continent as its headquarters, speaks of the diversities in the same city. That KHNA under the leadership of President Sri Venkat Sharma energized a vast group of volunteers to take up significant work in the city is also a testament to the organization's ability to bring about unity for the sake of the ideals that all the Hindu Malayalees hold dear. The most significant organizational change in this period was that a Trustee Board, which had been envisaged in the constitution under review and revisions earlier, came into existence. Sri Udayabhanu Panicker was elected as the Trustee chair after the previous convention. In cooperation with the President and the director board, the Trustee board initiated some longer-term projects, the most significant being the scholarship fundraiser program. Scholarships of $250 each were given to 49 needy and deserving youth in Kerala. The KHNA convention held July 1-4, 2007 at Pranava Nagar, Hilton Rye Brooke, was universally acknowledged as the convention of the highest quality that the attendees had witnessed in any organization such as KHNA. The highlights of the convention were the unforgettable classical concert by Sri Ramesh Narayan and the awe-inspiring Ganamela by the queen of playback singers, Chitra.
See the NY convention pictures page to see what you missed! .. For the activities based in New York, please see the 2006 Activities and the 2007 Activities pages.
Surf, Sand and Sanathana Dharma - Westward, Ho! (2007-2009):
LOS ANGELES, CA: KHNA reached the west coast for the first time in a convention that is widely acclaimed as the finest one
ever, in July 2011. The hosts were the volunteers from the Organization of Hindu Malayalees (OHM) under the leadership of
President Dr. Ramadas Pillai (Los Angeles, CA) and trustee chairman, T. N. Nair (Dallas, TX). The satsang with the chief
guest Guruji Sri Sri Ravishankar was unforgettable for everyone. The LA organizers established standards for several popular
aspects of a convention such as the elaborate set of children's and youth competitions as well as well-planned seminars. One
notable change was the reduced stress on the "main stage" programs, and the professional organization of parallel sessions in
multiple stages and convention rooms for the participants to spend their time productively. With the favulous food menu
and the enjoyable sight-seeing tours to Grand Canyon and Las Vegas, this was a perfect mix of spirituality with california-style
enjoyment for everyone! Most would agree however, that the most creditable achievement of the L.A. organizers was that KHNA did not go financially
in the red, despite the convention's being held at the peak of the US recession, with many in the community unable to come to
the convention due to lost jobs and financial stresses.
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To the Capital City without Politics? You're Kidding! (2009-2011):
WASHINGTON, DC: Yes, KHNA smoothly proceeded to the next city with nary a hint of politics that many
other such organizations suffer from. The baton was passed from the west coast to the
Washington DC group, led by the President Sri M G Menon (DC), Trustee Chairman, Sri. Raju Nanoo (NY)
and an army of eager volunteers from the
DC Metropolitan area, Virgina, Mary Land and the surrounding areas, including the city of Philadelphia.
The convention saw over 1000 people staying at the hotel, and the nuymber of registrants were the most-ever
for KHNA conventions. The most successful aspect of the two years of leadership from Washington DC was
that many cities with problematic divisions in the Hindu community saw everyone uniting together
under the KHNA banner. The DC convention had the best-ever cultural program line-up in KHNA history
along with a great array of spiritual leaders, speakers and luminaries. The family atmosphere of the
KHNA conventions with the highest-ever participation in the children's and youth competitions also points
to how well the capital city volunteers helped establish KHNA objectives firmly in the minds of the
continental Hindu community.
Over to "Kochu Keralam" in S. Florida Next! (2011-2013):
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL: If anybody is missing the plantain and
coconut trees of Kerala, you will be transported back to home land next in 2013 in South Florida, known as a
"kochu Keralam" due to the tropical climate, as said by the newly elected President, Sri. Anandan Niravel.
The next convention will be near Fort Lauderdale, and we cannot wait to
bask in the Florida sunshine seeing "Thengumpookkula" all around and eating "vazhappazhams"!!
Compiled by Prof. R. Jayakrishnan, KHNA Vice-president (2005-2007) and Trustee (2007-2011)