About

Maharashtra Mandal Bay Area (MMBA) is a non-profit organization serving the Northern California, Bay Area since 1980. Our mission is to promote cultural ties among people interested in Maharashtrian culture from various parts of the world.

Our activities include following and more:

Cultural Events
We organize annual Maharashtrian Festivals like Makar Sankrant, Ganeshotsav, Wari, Mangalagaur, Kojagiri and Diwali. These festivals give the community a chance to renew cultural ties and encourage children to learn about the Maharashtrian culture.

Social Events
We work hand in hand with organizations dedicated to running community service programs in India. Revenue generated from some programs is donated for this cause.

Art Events
We provide the platform to the local talents in Music, Dance, and Acting by organizing presentations in performing arts and competition. We also arrange programs of visiting artists from India

Theater Events
Maharashtra 's modern theater dates back well over 100 years. Keeping the theatrical tradition alive, we present an annual play in Marathi performed by talented local artists. Occasionally, visiting theatrical groups from India also perform.

Our official mailing address is:
Maharashtra Mandal Bay Area (MMBA)
1765 Landess Avenue #108,
Milpitas,CA 95035

Our email address is:
mmba@mmbayarea.org

Non Profit status & TAX ID:
Non Profit 501(c)3 organization; FEIN# 94-2986211

2023 Committee



We are grateful to have your support, blessings and your encouragement in all the activities throughout this challenging year marked by global pandemic.


  • We started the 2021 year with Sankrant celebrations with Aarya Ambekar – Live In Concert in association with BMM. This 2 hrs. program consisted of songs touching different genres of melodious music, ranging from Indian semi-classical, Bhakti Geet, Natyageet to Marathi rock songs, Lavani, old Hindi songs, and gazals.

  • Sankrant celebration followed next week with a great online Antakshari event that was unique and all attendees enjoyed it. We definitely missed the photo booth and the traditional gul poli Dinner.

  • On the occasion of Prof. Vasant Kanetkar's Birth Centenary, MMBA premiered 'Prema Tuja Rang Kasa' (Originally done by MMBA Team in 2004) and 'Choo Mantar' (Originally done by MMBA Team in 2005). Thanks to SatheKaka (Shri Prabhakar Sathe) for providing DVDs of these plays!

  • MMBA in association with Inner Labs arranged 2 days’ workshop/Demo classes on speed reading in two batches for age group 6-8.

  • MMBA in association with BMM got Pre-recorded Marathi drama 'Knock Knock celebrity' on an auspicious occasion of Gudi Padwa.

  • Chaitradhun 2021 was done online in a unique way as ‘A Nationwide Music Competition’. Chaitradhun 2021 was one of our grand successful events with participants from 15 US states and Canada and renowned music maestros from India as our Judging panel!

  • MMBA in association with Cadence Entertainment got a chance to experience the colors of Maharashtra's folk music in ‘Rang Maharashtrache’.

  • The COVID-19 global pandemic has affected many people in the US, India and all over the world. MMBA supported Project SAATH ‘2021 Covid relief fund for the musicians in Maharashtra’. Funds collected through this initiative reached 66 musicians across 16 different cities in Maharashtra. We are grateful to all who contributed.

  • We are thankful to the entire SAATH Team-Maharashtra Mandal Bay Area,Rotary Club of Pune West End,Pt. Ramdas Palsule (Senior Tabla Player),Pt. Milind Tulankar (Famous Jal Tarang Player),Shri. Milind Kulkarni (Famous Harmonium player),Smt. Sujata Ghanekar (Disciple of Pandita Padma Bhushan Parveen Sultana),Shri. Vivek Datar (Famous Harmonium player),Smt. Shambhavi Dandekar (Internationally acclaimed Kathak Dancer).

  • We are also grateful to PNG Jewelers for running the PESHWAI Nath campaign to help raise the funds.

  • We were also associated with BMM Covid-19 help line as well as Sewa International help line. We received calls from many people in distress and we coordinated with different people to resolve the issues as much as we could.

  • Marathi Shala graduation was done online with individual as well as group performance from many students.

  • MMBA Mangalagaur 2021 was a great event. It was done completely online with the same enthusiasm as a physical event.

  • Online Ganeshotsav had a great attendance and participation. The numerous performances and coordinated Atharvashirsha was the highlight. The program ended with the award-winning performance of MMBA Spartans. It was our pleasure and privilege to publish 'Shravan sari' done by very talented kids of 'Kilbil Radio' as part of Ganeshotsav 2021.

  • We also had ‘Ekdantaya’ - A unique concert by MMBA & 40+ awesome artists from all over USA & Canada.

  • '`Agryahun Sutka '' (Know the secret of the wonderful Agra escape of Shivaraya !!!) with Dr. Ajit Joshi was very well received by all participants.

  • MMBA ‘Wari Pandharichi’ Program team was invited to perform live in 2 shows in Marathi Vishwa’s Diwali program. Both the shows were highly appreciated by audiences and the host. It was the first MMBA production program to be invited by other Mandal’s in NA. Congratulations to the entire team!!

  • 2021 Diwali celebration was done in a unique way. It was more eventful as we were able to participate in ‘Sewa Diwali’ Food Donation Drive from Navaratri through Diwali. During this initiative, MMBA collected food items and donated to the local pantries. MMBA was given a ‘Certificate of Recognition’ from the Board of Supervisors in recognition of our support to the SewaDiwali Nation Food Collection Drive. Thanks to all members who donated generously for this noble cause and promoting the enlightening spirit of Diwali.

  • On the occasion of Diwali, we also had ‘Subhashit Vaibhav’ by popular orator ‘Dhanashree Lele’ - A Live online event. We will have more sessions on interesting topics in 2022.

  • In 2021 We launched ‘Manthan Vyakhyanmala’ to bring various interesting intellectual topics from Bay Area experts. We were grateful to have Prof. MADHAV M. DESHPANDE as our first esteemed speaker. We were also grateful to have LIMCA Book Award Winner-Sunila Pradhan as our esteemed speaker for session2. These sessions will continue once a month on any Saturday.

  • It was a great privilege for MMBA to bring Jhimma - Marathi Movie US Premiere to the Bay Area. We are grateful for the overwhelming response and interest from all. This event was also special with the gracious presence of famous and well-known actresses Suhas Joshi and Ashwini Bhave.

  • In addition, the Marathi Shala saw a record number of students pass the exam in May and an increased enrollment this year which will be completely online. Marathi Shala teachers also came up with a summer camp which was well received and many students benefited from this camp.

  • The Snehbandh team met almost every month and had various online activities throughout the year.

  • MMBA team coordinated with local doctors to provide non-emergency help to visiting parents (as part of Bhetigathi program initiative) who were stuck in the US due to covid-19 restrictions. We are grateful to all the doctors who are still providing the help.

  • MMBA Spartans did not have actual performances this year but they were able to provide short performance clips of past events to bring energy to many online programs.

  • MMBA has restarted the 2022 Gold Membership initiative. We had extended it in 2021 for all 2020 Gold Members. We have a great leadership team for 2022 and we hope to bring good in-person as well as online programs.

  • As the BMM convention 2021 got postponed to 2022 and the hosting Mandal was not in position to continue, we were asked to resubmit the proposal. We started working on that and conveyed our willingness to BMM to host the 2022 convention in the Bay Area. Now the responsibility is given to ‘Marathi Vishwa, NJ’. We will be preparing again to submit proposals for the 2024 convention and need your support.

In closing, we hope to bring good programs this year following all the rules and restrictions required for the safety of all members.
Many other programs we conducted or supported may not have made it into this list but we were able to win the hearts of the Bay area Marathi Community.

A Big thank you to the Volunteers that were present from the beginning of all our events and stayed till the end for cleanup and closing.
A big thank you to the Spartan team that inspires us year after year with their dedication and energy.
A Big thank you to the Shala Teachers and volunteers who show up every weekend to spread the Mayboli Marathi.
A Big thank you to the Snehbandh and Bhetigathi teams for their dedication and enthusiasm.
A Big thank you to the sponsors and the Donor who have their faith and trust in us.
To all of them we Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to get the opportunity to come together, work together and unite together as a community that is a family.
MMBA Committee

 
 
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