Hari Om!
Hope everyone's Thanksgiving Day was relaxed and filled with good cheer. Here is the update on last week's class.
Stotram: We have finished learning the Mahalakshmi Ashtakam and are practicing it in class now. Please encourage the children to chant daily at home.
India, Sacred Land: We were lucky to have four enthusiastic JCHYKs teach the class this week. They started the class with a fun ice-breaker, and then spoke about three major festivals celebrated in India - Deepavali, Sankranti and the New Year.
Deepavali is a five-day Hindu festival, which occurs on the fifteenth day of Kartika month and is observed on Amavasya (new moon day)
It is usually celebrated on October or November
Deepavali means a "row of lights."
In some parts of India it is a three-day festival.
Mother Lakshmí is worshipped on Dhanteras, the thirteenth day. It is also believed to be the day of worship of Dhanvantri, the deity of medicine and good health.
The next day is Naraka-Chaturdashi when Narakasura, the demon, was killed by Lord Krishna (with support from his consort Satyabhama), and the fifteenth day is the day of Deepavali.
It is also celebrated as the day Lord Rama returned from Ayodhya and the people of Ayodhya welcome Him with lights (Victory of light over dark).
Sankranti means the entry of the sun from one zodiac sign to the other.
Makar Sañkranti is marked by men, women, and children wearing colorful clothing; visiting near and dear ones; and exchanging pieces of sugarcane, a mixture of fried til, molasses, pieces of dry coconut, peanuts, and fried gram.
On the 14th day of January (15th January on leap years), the Sun moves to the zodiac sign Capricorn, Makara. That day is known as Makara Sañkranti; it is the period of the Sun's northward journey (the uttarayana). In several parts of India, it is also the harvest festival. .
This is a very auspicious time, so it is believed that one who dies during uttarayana will escape the cycle of reincarnation.
It is celebrated in different parts of india: Uttar Pradesh (Kicheri), Punjab (Lohri - huge bonfires), Bengal (mela at Ganga Sagar), Maharashtra (exchange multi-colored tilguds - Haldi-Kumkum, a get together for married women), Gujarat (giving gifts to relatives and flying kites), South India (Pongal - worship to the Sun God), Tamil Nadu (Pongal - Thanksgiving - harvest season, kolam is draw to depict the Sun - AKA Surya Pongal), Kerala (Pongal - Makara Jyoti).
New Year celebrations:
Ugadi is the Telugu New Year. The word , Yuga - adi, means, the beginning of a new era in our life.
- It is celebrated in Andhra, Karnataka, and Maharastra. In Maharashtra, the festival is known as Gudipadava. It is the day when the Lord created the world. The Gujarati New Year is celebrated the day after Deepavali, and in Tamil Nadu and Kerala it is celebrated in mid-April.
Here is a personal note on how Ugadi is celebrated (from our JCHYKs) - You have to get up early in the morning (4 - 5), take a bath, do rangoli in the front porch, tie a toran made up of mango (leaves indicate that prosperity, health, and wealth will never leave their homes), and enjoy delicious meals cooked by your moms. There is a special dish, called "Ugadi paccadi" made up of sweet, bitter and sour ingredients (green mango, neem flowers and jaggery) which symbolizes our life as a mixture of happy, sour, or bitter experiences. May we learn to accept them as the prasada from the Lord.
The JCHYKs did a great job explaining the festivals (the above are their notes for the class!). They also talked about CYSP -Chinmaya Youth Summer Project - which is a great volunteer opportunity for the children in a couple of years. We all did likhita japa in the notebooks the CYSP team had worked on to create. There was a quick quiz to review lessons from prior classes. It was a good class, with the children having a very interactive session, learning from and being inspired by the JCHYKs.
Geeta Chanting: We learnt upto verse 10 in class - verses 9-10
Our next class is on Dec 4th. Have a wonderful holiday break!
Regards
Keerthi Kobla
Abhirami Shrinivas
