Hariom Parents,
With Gurdev and Swmiji's blessing we commenced Bala Vihar for the year 2021-2022. Welcoming the students with starting prayers and a small icebreaker memory game, We did a quick round of introductions starting with introducing ourselves and then getting to know the youths.
We then discussed the curriculum for this year and the reference book we plan to use. Our curriculum this year is Ramayana by C. Rajagopalachari and Vibhishana Gita (Keys to Success). We will be teaching one of our greatest epics, Ramayana while analyzing the main characters in detail. 'Keys to success' will teach children how to achieve success in life in a Dharmic, disciplined way.
Link to the PDF version of the Ramayana book
Link to the Ramayana book by C Rajagopalachari - This can be purchased from Amazon
We recommend buying this book and this would help the youths learn and participate in the topics we discuss.
We spent the next 30 mins introducing Ramayana – What is it and why should we study the same , is it a mythology or a Ithihasa (Historic study?) etc. Also discussed its importance in Indian literature. We discussed Dashavatara and where Sri Rama appears there. We then introduced the 7 Khanda's of Ramayana. We also briefly discussed the author - Valmiki Ji and his life history in brief.
We will start with Balakhanda and further Stating next class.
We finished the class with closing prayers. We then joined the common Zoom session with Swamiji and all other classes for Aarathi and pledge .
We look forward to a great year with your children. Please don't hesitate to email us with any questions.
Thanks and Hariom
Shankar and Purnima.