Portland celebrates India’s diverse cultures and independence

Anticipation builds each August in India as the country prepares to commemorate its Aug. 15, 1947 independence from Great Britain.

For Sahitya Poonacha, who recently moved to Oregon, those celebrations found her in Portland on Sunday.

“It’s great to be participating with the community,” she said. “I feel almost back at home.”

Poonacha joined thousands of others at the Celebration of India Festival hosted in Portland’s Pioneer Courthouse Square. The spirited gathering features food, dancing and performances.

While the festival offers a good opportunity for the region’s Indian community to connect with arts and cuisine, it also represents an important holiday in India.

“At home, there’s usually a flag hoisting, performances – very similar to this,” Poonacha said. “It’s very important for all the Indians in Portland who can find similar, like-minded people to celebrate all our culture means.”

The India Cultural Association has hosted the event for 29 years, and it encapsulates cultural elements from the country’s 28 states. Jaisen Mody, the association’s president, emphasized the importance of celebrating the holiday’s history, especially for younger generations.

“We want to offer Oregonians a glimpse of India,” he said. “There’s a lot of demand from our youngsters to learn the culture and perform.”

Mody said that young performers sometimes practice year-round to prepare for the festival. The event included around 540 performers. It has grown steadily over the years as interest in India’s culture has increased in Portland, Mody said.

Partly cloudy skies graced festival-goers, attracting a large crowd. Many wore colorful traditional clothing, and paper lanterns lined the sky above the booths and restaurants. Vendors selling clothing and jewelry joined community organizations at booths.

Long lines formed outside of stalls selling curry, pakora, and homemade snacks like puffed rice and chivda – a fried snack made with flattened rice and spices.

Around 3:30 p.m., Prashant Kakad, better known as DJ Prashant, electrified the crowd and had people out of their seats dancing in the square. Bollywood and Indian music filled the area throughout the day.

The festival started at 11 a.m. and ended at 8:30 p.m. Sunday.

Chhavi Agarwal has been attending and volunteering at the festival since 2008, and says it’s a crucial time of the year for the community. She said independence day in India is a massive celebration featuring parades, flag ceremonies and festivals like the one downtown.

“It feels so nice; you feel so proud to be free,” Agarwal said. “It’s so nice to connect with the culture and people, and to be proud that we have so much to celebrate.”

Agarwal is also a Henna artist, and appreciates getting to share that artform with others, she said. Henna is a paste said to have positive medicinal qualities, and Agarwal said that it has strong religious connections in Indian culture. It’s one of the many art forms celebrated at the festival.

Indian cultural celebrations at this scale are rare in Oregon, Agarwal said. She said the community often opts for smaller gatherings.

“I think it’s a very great thing that the whole community can come together,” she said.

Sandeep Chahal came to the festival with his friend Amit Daliwal. Both men moved from India about a decade ago, and they said it was refreshing to see their country’s diverse groups coming together.

For Chahal, India’s independence day represents the country’s return to its roots, he said.

“We are valuing our customs, our heritage and our culture,” Chahal said. “Our civilization is thousands of years old, and it’s important to cherish and nurture it.”

Daliwal echoed those sentiments, and said that the festival is a good time to show younger generations how the holiday is celebrated and why.

“It’s a very special day for us,” he said. “It’s good for our kids to know what our culture is and why we celebrate. We are so diverse, and we welcome everyone with open arms.”

– Austin De Dios; [email protected]; @austindedios; 503-319-9744

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