Hari Om Parents,
Here is a brief summary of Balavihar class activities for Week 4, October 17, 2021.
1. We started our class with three OMs followed by the following opening prayers:
- Om Sahana Vavatu
- Vakratunda Mahakaaya
- Saraswathi Namastubhyam
- Guru Brahma Gurur Vishnu
2. We asked the kids about how they celebrated the Navaratri, and Dussehra. The students took turns sharing the significance of the festival, why it is celebrated, rituals they observe, traditions that they follow, and food that they ate. We then discussed briefly about the four Navaratris – Sharad Navaratri, Chaitra Navaratri, Magha Navaratri, and Ashada Navaratri.
3. We then learnt the fourth verse of Ganesha Pancharatnam and kids took turns singing and repeating the stotra couple of times to get the pronunciation and the tune right. We gave them tips on how to break the big words, and how to say the words of stotra correct.
Practice singing the Ganesh Pancharatnam at home
4. Adi Sankarachrayaji
We started the "Saints of India" topic this week. Aditi presented on Sri Adi Sankaracharyaji's life.
She shared his life stories and interesting anecdotes from his life.
- Born in Veliyanad near Kalady in Kerala
- Caught by a crocodile while taking bath, mother gives permission to become a sanyasi, crocodile frees him, and young Shankara leaves his home
- Advaita Vedanta philosophy
- Travelled extensively across the Indian sub-continent – established 4 mathas (monasteries)
- Wrote bhasyas (commentaries) on vedantic texts
- Composed several inspiring works -Bhaja Govindam, Atma Bodha, Tattva Bodha, Vivekachudamani, etc.
- Dies at a young age of 32
- We must learn to preserve our spiritual heritage
We shared the link to the Google sign-up sheet with the parents earlier via the WhatsApp group for the students to pick a Saint that they would like to research and talk about in our class.
Next week, 10/24: Sehaj has signed-up to present on Sri Ramakrishna Paramhamsa and Srinivas has signed-up to present on Swami Vivekanandaji's life and teachings.
5. We did a quick recap of the Mahabharata story till the birth of Dhritarashtra, Paandu, and Vidura.
6. Saraswati Puja
It was a short class this week, after 1 hour of our regular Balavihar session, the kids joined the special common Zoom session to perform Saraswati Puja online. The items required for the puja and the instructions were shared with the parents ahead of our class. Puja was led by the temple priest and the kids repeated the Ashtottara Sata Namavali, and followed along the instructions at their home.
Looking forward to meeting the children this week, 10/24.
Pranaams,
Subha Srinivas
Rekha Pai