The
BalaBhavan
NEWS Letter
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BalaBhavan
BalaBhavan Hours: Every 2nd and 4th Saturday
of the month 5 – 6.15 pm
Volume
Namaste
Bala Bhavan is a bi-monthly
program for the children to teach them our Hindu culture through mythological
stories.. The salient activities of the program
are:
A. Story telling
1. Introduce children between ages 2.5-12 to
the treasure of stories based on Indian epics, mythology, wisdom, history and
heritage such as stories on Ganesha, Vishnu, Shiva.
2.
Source
from Ramayan, Bhagavatam, Panchatantra, Birbal, Tenali Rama etc.
3.
Story
telling includes interactive methods such as audio visual aids, games, puzzles
and quiz.
B. Reciting Slokas & Bhajans
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Contact info Phone: 858-486-0199 |
BalaBhavan
children learn Slokas and Bhajans as part of the program. They recite them as a group on major
occasions in the temple.
Bala
Bhavan is
divided into 3 groups.
Toddler : Ages – 2.5 – 4.
Introduce children to a small sloka, a story
and a craft.
Junior : Ages 4 – 7. Sloka, Bhajan
and stories.
Senior : Ages 7 – 12. Sloka, Bhajan
and stories.
Talent Show Highlights:
Talent show was organized on November 15th.
Sri CM Venkatachalam
was the Chief guest. The program started with a prayer
by Smt. Lalita Kodandapani followed by welcoming note by Sri Harikumar. Our Sweetie, Cutie Toddlers ignited the program
with well-versed slokas. Jiggling juniors picked up the momentum with
devotional items Guru Stotras, Sharada Stotram, Bhajans. A comedy song by Anjana
on mosquito was very hilarious. Brief introduction by Meera
and Maya about the history of
The momentum continued as the senior kids showed
their wide range of talent through reciting Aditya Hridayam, Verses by Adi sankara,
Navagraha Stotra, Lakshmi Asthaakam etc.
Kumari Aparna
enacted as Meera with a beautiful Bhajan and Master Vasishta gave Sri Vivekananda’s speech at the World’s
Parliament of religions way back in 1893 in
After that Sri Venkatachalam expressed how much he
enjoyed watching the students do such a wide range of things. Later the
students were given the trophies and a Ramayana storybook. Many of the parents
felt very happy to see their kids doing much better than their expectations. The
program was concluded by National Anthem.
It was a fabulous show!! It was a
great job by all children and their parents. Thanks to Rajasri Kota and Krishna Tadimeti
for having organized the whole talent day. Rajasri
managed the talent day line-up and purchased the Ramayana books and donated to
the program.
FYI : Ram Krishnamurthy managed to make two DVD copies of
the talent day video. VHS tapes will be ready by next class. If anyone can make
copies of the DVD or VHS tapes, please get them from H. Kumar next class and
make the copies.
Upcoming events/festivals:
Dec.7th
2003 - Geeta Jayanthi
Sankranti one of the highly revered festivals celebrated
mostly in Southern part of
Story of the Month
The Monkey Tale
By H Kumar
King
Mahendra Varma Pallavan ruled the Pallava
kingdom in a very efficient manner. People flourished and had a happy life. Few
hundred miles from the capital was a small village where lived a Bhaskara Shastri. He was a very
able singer and was teaching all children in the village. Many students came
from far away to learn music. Bhaskara Shastri was a very ardent devotee of Sri Hanuman. He composed
many new songs on Sri Hanuman and Lord Rama. Bhaskara Shastri would accept
only as much fee or gifts in kind to feed his family of three.
The
King upon hearing the fame of Bhaskara Shastri sent a few of his soldiers with a palanquin asking
them to invite him to the palace and sing in the durbar. The King sent a lot of
ornaments, gifts and expensive dress for Shastriji to
wear to the durbar. The soldiers arrived in the village with the palanquin to
deliver the King’s message. Bhaskara Shastri finished his daily prayers to Sri Hanuman and came
out to meet the soldiers. He was surprised to see the soldiers and the
palanquin. When he learnt that the King wanted him to come to the palace, he
refused. He wrote a message to the King, as follows
”Salutations, Oh King. I am very happy to hear your attempt to honor me in your
court. I perform only in the court of Lord Rama and
Sri Hanuman. Please excuse me on this count. Very soon we shall have an
occasion to meet.”
When
the King received the message, he was initially very furious. Subsequently he
calmed down and decided to wait for the occasion mentioned in the message. As
time passed, a large wildfire burnt down a large forest near the capital of the
kingdom. Monkeys that inhabited the forest as their home moved into the capital
city. Seeking food and frolic the monkeys started damaging the city, shops,
houses and palaces. The King was not spared from the fury of the monkeys.
Soldiers attempted to capture, kill or anything to contain the monkey rampage.
King
Mahendra Varma Pallavan remembered the message from Bhaskara
Shastri. He sent another team of soldiers to meet Bhaskara Shastri and sought his
help. Sastriji read the message from the King. He
asked the soldiers to take rest and come back in a few hours. He sat in front
of the image of Lord Rama and Sri Hanuman and sang
several songs. He prayed sincerely to the Lord to remove the obstacles for the
kingdom. Bhaskara Shastri
asked the soldiers to return to the capital. When the soldiers returned to the
capital city, they were surprised to see no monkeys. They met the King and told
them what happened at Bhaskara Shastri’
home. The King realized that he had insulted a true Bhaktha
like Bhaskara Shastri. The
King immediately took his ministers and proceeded to the village and offered
his prayers to Bhaskara Shastri.
Library: Please return books and videos on time and don’t
forget to sign out your details when borrowing a book. Please contact us if you
would like to donate or buy books for the library.
Bhajan book is available for purchase
during Balabhavan class for $5.
FAQs:
Q:How do I
volunteer?
A:
You can contact h_kumar@yahoo.com for
any help you can provide to BalaBhavan
Want
to improve this Newsletter?
Please forward your comments/suggestions to skalluri@san.rr.com and h_kumar@yahoo.com
Past Issues : October
2003
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BalaBhavan
Volunteers: Coordinators: Kumar, Rajasri Sloka/Bhajan teacher: Shobha, Pratibha, Savi, Latha, Rama, Lalitha, Prashanthi Ram,
Ashok, Kumar, Shaker, Mahesh, Prasad, Srinivas Toddler
Class Volunteers: Most
of the toddler parents. Srinivas Event Coordinators: Sanjay |
Links to related sites:
BalaBhavan 2003 Calendar - https://balabhavan.tripod.com/calendar2003.htm
Editors: Shanti
Kalluri – skalluri@san.rr.com , Padmini Mylavarapu –
padmini@san.rr.com and Aparna – aparnavemuri@yahoo.com.
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7930, Arjons Drive, Suite B, San
Diego, CA-92126 Phone: (858) 549-3940; Fax: (858) 549-3908 www.shiva-vishnu.org; information@shiva-vishnu.org |
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