Saturday morning will mark another first for downtown Grand Rapids as a Granth Dindi will move down Monroe Street starting at 8am.

What's a Granth Dindi? I'm glad you asked.

We've had Gran Fondos, Grandwiches and Grand River Bank Runs before, but never a Granth Dindi. So what is it?

It's a parade of marching, drumming and singing to honor the religious and literary figures from the Indian state of Maharashtra. It's not only a first for GR, but it may be the first Granth Dindi held in all of the US.

Fred Stella of the West Michigan Hindu Temple told WOOD-TV 8 that the parade is part of a gathering of the Bruhan Maharashtra Mandal of North America conference going on at DeVos Place.

“We have 3,000 people, not only are most of them are Hindu, most of them of Indian origin, either first- or second-generation, but they all come from or their parents have come from a particular place in India: the state of Maharashtra … the state that has Mumbai. “That’s a very strong business hub, so much of the conference has to do with business.”

The group posted this FAQ on the Granth Dindi on their web page. They claim it will be the biggest such event ever outside of Maharasthra. 

Stella described the event this way:

“It is a procession where you have a lot of drummers, you have a lot of dancers, you have objects held on palanquins that are paraded down the street. It’s choreographed very, very well. I’ve never seen this before … because it’s mostly been done in India for the most part.”

The event will depart the DeVos Convention Center at 8am, make its way down Monroe, take a left on Fulton and end in front of Van Andel Arena. Over 3000 people are expected to participate.

Seeing how I've never seen a Granth Dindi, I dug up some video from India, and looks like it's pretty colorful to say the least.

 

 

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