San Ramon Desi Roundup — August 25, 2026
San Ramon's South Asian community is marking two significant milestones this season. The city's annual Holi celebration at City Center Bishop Ranch reaches its 15th year, having grown into one of the most attended public Hindu festival events in the East Bay. At the same time, the newly established Sri Karpaga Ganapathi Temple has completed a formal Maha Kumbhabhishekam consecration — a sacred dedication ceremony conducted according to Tamil Agamic tradition — with priests traveling from Tamil Nadu and religious leaders arriving from Hawaii for the occasion. Together, these developments reflect how San Ramon has become a genuine center of Hindu cultural and religious life in Contra Costa County.
🎉 Holi Festival Returns to Bishop Ranch for Its 15th Year
Bishop Ranch in San Ramon will host its 15th annual Holi celebration on Sunday, April 12, from 2 to 4 p.m. at 2700 Camino Ramon, at the corner of Camino Ramon and Bishop Drive. The event celebrates the Hindu Festival of Colors, which marks the beginning of spring and the triumph of good over evil — a holiday observed by Hindus around the world through the exuberant throwing of vibrant colored dyes, communal feasting, and dancing. The Bishop Ranch program builds on that tradition with a full lineup of live music performances, dhol drummers, dance showcases, henna artists, selfie stations, and food trucks operating throughout the afternoon. Admission is priced at $10 per person, with children aged 10 and under admitted free of charge. Advance tickets are available through the Bishop Ranch ticketing platform. The 15th edition places the Bishop Ranch event among the longest-running public Holi celebrations in the East Bay, drawing families from San Ramon and surrounding communities including Dublin, Danville, and Pleasanton. City Center Bishop Ranch, the open-air retail and lifestyle destination at 2700 Camino Ramon, provides the plaza space that makes color-throwing festivities on this scale possible, and the family-friendly format keeps the celebration accessible to attendees of all backgrounds who wish to participate in the tradition. [1]
🪔 Sri Karpaga Ganapathi Temple Consecrated in San Ramon
San Ramon welcomed a new dedicated Hindu worship space in November 2025, when the Sri Karpaga Ganapathi Temple underwent its Maha Kumbhabhishekam — the formal consecration ceremony marking a temple's official dedication — on November 10. The milestone event drew distinguished religious figures from Kauai Aadhenam in Hawaii: Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami and Sannyasin Yoginathaswami made the cross-country journey to the Bay Area specifically to attend the dedication. A four-day program of preliminary pujas and prayers preceded the main consecration ceremony. The temple was founded by Sivasri Suresh Viswanathan Sivacharyar, who established it to serve the Tamil Hindu community in the San Ramon area. Presiding as chief priest was Sivasri Swaminaha Sivacharyar, who traveled from Mayiladuthurai in Tamil Nadu, India, to lead the sacred rites; he was assisted by Sivasri Karthikeya Sivacharyar and Sivasri Balu Gurukkal throughout the proceedings. The Sri Karpaga Ganapathi Temple is a small Ganesha temple dedicated to the wish-fulfilling form of the deity. Its consecration provides the Tamil Hindu community of San Ramon with a dedicated neighborhood prayer space, adding to the growing network of South Asian religious institutions in the East Bay. San Ramon has seen consistent growth in its South Indian professional population in recent years, and the temple's founding reflects that community's investment in permanent local worship infrastructure. [3]
Sources: [1] Patch · [3] Hinduism Today