Several Dignitaries & celebrities joined the Celebration of India’s Culture and Heritage
Toronto, CA, February 3rd, 2021: With the support of the Consulate General of India, Toronto, Panorama India virtually celebrated India’s 72nd Republic Day on Sunday, January 31st, 2021 in a grand style featuring over 9.5 hours of cultural and celebratory programming. Several Dignitaries & Celebrities sent in greetings to mark the occasion. The entire unique community-driven programming was live-streamed on 28+ Channels in the GTA including Television, Social Media and various other mediums. All the various segments of the event, including the popular and first time ever digitally programmed Panorama Idol 2021 with Bollywood Singer Kavita Krishnamurti, garnered a lot of views & appreciation from all over Canada.
The weeklong celebration commenced on Tuesday, January 26th, 2021 with a special Festival Kick-Off and Tribute Concert. Following this on Saturday, January 30th, 2021 Panorama India premiered the 12th annual Panorama Idol competition with Celebrity Judge, Kavita Krishnamurti Subramanium, presented by SBI Canada Bank. The week ended with the grand celebration on Sunday, January 31st, 2021 with a full day of programming and cultural celebration ending on a high note with a live closing ceremony on Namaste Live where all the winners were announced for the art competition as well as for the 12th Annual Panorama Idol for both adult and junior categories.
“The community response has been overwhelming and I commend Panorama India for conducting such a grand digital celebration keeping everyone’s safety in mind” shared Hon. Apoorva Srivastava Ji, Consul General of India in Toronto.
“I want to personally thank our larger community, the artists, the many community organizations, the media partners and the 27+ digital live stream TV channels and partners who aired the 3 days of celebration. All of you made this celebration a success. This was truly a labour of love for the Panorama India board as it was a community celebration of India’s 72nd Republic Day. We work hard to ensure most, if not all, states and languages are represented during the celebration. We are proud of the Panorama India tagline – Mera India, Humara India” said Sumeeta Kohli, Chairperson.
The 12th Annual Panorama Idol 2021 Competition was aired both on Saturday, January 30th and Sunday, January 31st. With the top three Adult Contestants and the top three Junior Contestants competing for the coveted winner spot, the competition was very tight. Public voting opened on Saturday, January 30th 12 PM and closed on Sunday, January 31st at 3 PM.
Panorama India is pleased to share that 5201 people voted for their choice. Winners were announced on Panorama India’s “Namaste Live” segment on Sunday evening as a part of the official closing ceremony. Panorama India would like to congratulate Pruthvi Pramod, 1st place Winner for the Adult category. The 2nd place went to Vidhi Sharma and 3rd place was bagged by Shruti Vinod. For the Junior contestants there was a surprise tie for the winning spot! Rachna Venkatesh and Vyas Satish, were announced as the Winners – 1st Place for the Junior category. With a neck to neck competition, the 2nd place was bagged by Susrika Dey.
“We are so proud of all the contestants who participated in the Panorama Idol competition and we hope they continue to keep singing” said Anusha Iyer, Director, Programming.
A brand new segment “Senior’s Spotlight” was introduced during the Republic Day celebration. Seniors from all over GTA performed in this segment in multiple languages. In addition to this, ex- service men shared special greetings in this segment.
“We are grateful to all the seniors who put together original programming for this special day”, said Vaidehi Bhagat, Executive Director of Community Relations and Sponsorship.
The Folk Dances of India segment which featured traditional folk dances from across India consisted of submissions from artists from all the community groups throughout GTA.
Panorama India conceptualized a few new additions this year to allow for true virtual engagement.
Panorama India held its first live digital Art Competition sponsored by Tullika Creations. There were 150 children in the age group of “Kindergarten to Grade 9” who registered and participated in a live secure digital room and competed with each other based on various themes like Superheroes of India, Indian National Bird , Indian National Flower and Indian National Flag. All the winners were then announced at the live Closing Ceremony.
To add to the grandeur of the event, the highlight headliner segment “Two Legends One Night” featured an exclusive chat with the power couple from the world of music and art, Kavita Krishnamurti Subramaniam and Dr. L Subramaniam, in conversation with Sumeeta Kohli, Chair, Panorama India. Both the luminaries are musical legends and have enthralled the audiences globally with their musical brilliance.
About Kavita Krishnamurti Subramaniam Kavita Krishnamurti Subramaniam, a recipient of the coveted Padma Shri among several other accolades, is not just a revered playback singer across the globe, but she has also sung with orchestras as a soloist, collaborated with Western artists, and has diversified her singing styles by giving her voice to over 20,000 songs in different languages. She is a true representative of national integration.
About Dr. L Subramaniam Dr. L Subramaniam, who is also known as the “God of Indian Violin”, is the only musician who has performed Carnatic and Western Classical Music, composed for major Orchestras, scored for films and ballets, and collaborated with the greatest musicians of diverse genres globally.
In continuation with the theme of engagement, Panorama India launched its first ever ‘Virtual Vendor Fair” powered by Web Expo – an online marketplace where each vendor had their own Live interactive booth. Attendees chatted live with the vendors and each vendor also conducted a live webinar session throughout the day. This allowed vendors and sponsors to speak directly with the community. Vendors launched special promotions and programs in celebration of Republic Day.
“We are proud to have created an opportunity for engagement of our vendors and our community in such an interactive way” said Tanvir Kaur, Director of Digital Media.
We want to thank our sponsors and partners for supporting us to be able to deliver such a large-scale event.
“Panorama India is proud to host all these events for free and this was only possible with the support of sponsors such as SBI Bank Canada – our Diamond Sponsor, HSBC Bank and ICICI Bank – our Gold Sponsors, Kotamarti Group and Web Expo – our Silver sponsors. In addition, a special thanks to all of our bronze sponsors – Realtor Mr Venkat Perugu, AC Real Estates – Mr. Abhinandan Chandrappa , White Gold Sweets Restaurant, Brahma Kumaris, Farmer’s Meat Shop and Mister Chai, Inspirely Steam Education, Coder Cookies, The Art of Content, Sara’s Scroll, Different Strokes and Sharda Infosys.” said Janak Bhawnani, Vice Chair Finance & Sponsorship and Sanjay Agarwal, Vice Chair Sponsorship and Vendor Management.
Panorama India Board
Sumeeta Kohli – Chairperson, Janak Bhawnani – Vice Chair Finance & Sponsorship, Sanjay Agarwal – Vice Chair Sponsorship & Vendor Management, Vaidehi Bhagat – Executive Director Community Relations & Sponsorship, Anusha Iyer – Director, Programming, Tanvir Kaur – Director, Digital Media
Panorama India is a not-for-profit umbrella organization, and it strives to flourish the ties between India and Canada by nurturing India’s culture and heritage, providing a platform for all Indian cultural associations, groups, and individuals to showcase their arts and culture. Panorama India fosters a better understanding between India and Canada and is proud to build bi-lateral relations with India and Canada through culture.
Visit www.panoramaindia.org for more details.
For media queries, please contact, admin@panoramaindia.org
Report by: Jaison Mathew
