Category Archives: General

Altrincham Interfaith Group Cultural Entertainment Evening July 25th 2019

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This year the Cultural Entertainment Evening was held at All Saint’s Anglican Church, Hale Barns and the Hall was filled with an enthusiastic audience. The event began with a welcome delivered by Ann Angel from the committee of AIG after which she introduced the first act, Gerry Murphy from St Vincent’s Church, Altrincham, who played a medley of songs on the bagpipes. The audience spontaneously joined in with Amazing Grace, and other popular songs. This was followed by Fiona Simpson from Altrincham Methodist Church who sang in a wonderfully rich voice while accompanying herself on the guitar. She encouraged everyone to sing the chorus to her songs “You are the Wind beneath my Wings” and “My Lighthouse” – complete with actions!

We then had Hindu performers from the Vedic Organisation for Indian Culture and Education (VOICE) who sang a short Indian prayer (Avya and Suhaavi Sehgal, and Aarush and Piyush Kumar) accompanied by the violin ( Navya ). It was followed by four dancers (Shreya Pathak, Suhaavi Sehgal, Riya Sharma and Eshaani Patil) with stunningly beautiful dresses in vivid colours who performed Kathak – Raas, a classical Indian dance telling part of the story of Krishna. We then saw another wonderful Kathak dance piece called Tarana performed with elegance and grace by Krishna Panchmatia that was quite breath taking.
After a short break for refreshments, Adnan Malik, a student of the Azeemi Sufi order, read his poem “The Acorn and the Dirt” which was about the reactions of an acorn on falling to the earth, and this was followed by The Menorah Choir led by Ruti Worrall, who sang a variety of songs including a highly original version of Old MacDonald had a farm which included kangaroos, parrots and a choir! Some prayers were sang including one for peace around the world. It was then time for some Communal Singing, led by the choir, and everyone joined in with enthusiasm, especially the rendition of “Rhythm of Life.”
Ruth Neal, Chair of Altrincham Interfaith Group then thanked everyone and presented Ann Angel, the main organiser, with a beautiful orchid. All in all, it was a splendid evening and all the performers were of a very high standard. Finally, we are most grateful to All Saint’s Church and Reverend Claire Jaquiss for allowing us to use the hall and catering facilities.

Talk by Manjula Arora 3rd April 2019 entitled ‘Blossoming of the Jasmine Flower’

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Manjula’s talk entitled ‘Blossoming of the Jasmine Flower’ explained the Bhagwad Gita concepts and their relevance to humanity. It was a very well attended event hosted by St Vincent’s Church in the Westleigh building in Altrincham. Time was allowed for questions and our hosts served light refreshments to complete the evening.

A short report follows written by Kaushik Chakraborty:

Altrincham Interfaith Group hosts talks from representatives of different faiths to help understand each other better and foster working together in the community.

With this aim, Dr Manjula Arora from the Hindu faith talked about her personal journey in search of God following the Hindu tradition. This was a well attended talk with around sixty people present on the evening of Wednesday the 3rd April in Westleigh, attached to St Vincent’s Church in Altrincham.

She talked about the ‘beauty of human existence on earth as it was meant to be’ introducing the salient points of Hinduism in the form of doing good ‘Karma’, thus creating a ‘bank’ of good deeds which could then free us from cycle of rebirths and attain Moksha (salvation).

She talked about the discipline needed to follow a virtuous path and help blossoming of the soul, titled by her as ‘blossoming of the jasmine flower’, contrasting material consciousness with spiritual consciousness which she said “was like a spark of pure light that sits in your heart” and imbues you with love, peace and joy. She urged us to eliminate boundaries – not to judge people by how they look or what they wear but to recognise the spirit in everyone; this would produce a shift in consciousness and be a more beautiful way to live.

In the questions and answers session, she discussed the existence of a Creator, and also the idea of reincarnation. She dispelled the common notion of polytheism in Hinduism, explaining there is only one God while other deities are corollaries, much like the saints in Christianity, who manage different aspects of life.

Manjula was presented with a lovely orchid as thanks for her talk, and then tea and coffee with biscuits was served by the ladies of St Vincent’s Church to whom we are most grateful. We also thank the Church for the venue which is much appreciated.

Kaushik Chakraborty, Hindu representative, Altrincham Interfaith Group

Thanking Manjula for her talk and presenting a small gift in appreciation

Annual Shared Meal 16th Feb 2019 at Altrincham Grammar School for Boys

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Altrincham Interfaith Group Annual Shared Meal, February 16th 2019

As has become the tradition now, we all met at Stamford Hall in Altrincham Grammar School for Boys on a mild evening to participate in our Annual Shared Meal. Almost 150 people attended and after a welcome drink everyone was seated and welcomed by Azhar Rasul, Chairman of Altrincham Interfaith Group. He then introduced the Worshipful the Mayor of Trafford, Councillor Tom Ross, and presented him with a cheque for his chosen charities -Trafford Mencap and the St. Ann’s Community Refugee Project.  The Mayor spoke about the excellent interfaith record in Trafford, which was the first borough in the country to welcome asylum seekers, and of the importance of sitting together and talking to each other. After prayers from Christian, Muslim, Jewish and Hindu communities, platters of delicious Kosher food including olives, pickled cucumbers, hummus, fish balls, falafel with various breads, were placed on every table for all to enjoy. Then people were invited to the serving area to be given a chicken curry with dhaal  and accompaniments, after which our guest speaker, Hani Singh, a policeman from the Sikh community and executive member of Faith Network 4 Manchester, gave his address. He was frank and honest about his re-discovery of Sikhism having investigated many other religions.  He explained the significance of his colourful attire and peppered his talk with amusing anecdotes. His address was very warmly received and then it was time for the desserts from the Christian community – a great variety of different dishes. Finally, Azhar thanked all those who had helped to make the evening such a success.


Visit to Whitworth Art Gallery 6th Sept 2018 : Textiles from the Islamic World.

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Visit to Whitworth Art Gallery . A guided tour of the exhibition ‘Four Corners of One Cloth’ Textiles from the Islamic World. 

A group of members of Altrincham Interfaith Group and friends met up at Whitworth Art Gallery on the evening of September 6th for a tour of the exhibition  “Four Corners of One Cloth: Textiles from the Islamic World” given by Uthra Rajgopal, Assistant Curator of Textiles and Wallpaper.  This exhibition showcased different cultures from the Islamic world, and we started with a fragment of the Kiswa, the cloth that covers the Ka’bah, the most holy site in Islam, which is replaced each year during Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca). Positioned in the direction of Mecca, it was in the centre of the gallery, and around it were various displays of cloths from places such as Syria, Iraq, Turkey and Yemen, as well as Uganda and Egypt. Of particular interest was a courtly dress from Iran that was covered with figures, and there was a lively discussion about representation of humans in Islamic art. Another unusual piece showed a fire hose on a piece of material -  this was considered a great asset to a town or village, hence its depiction.  We also saw how William Morris and his contempories were influenced by Islamic Art in their designs. It was a most enjoyable and informative tour and we thank Uthra for her time and expertise.

Carolyn Jones (Hon. Sec. Altrincham Interfaith Group).