Hari Om! Parents,
Week 21 Class The children did this Likhita Japa 18 times at the beginning of today's class - " Sri Krishna Sharanam Mama ''. Please remind your child to do likhita japa regularly, it will help with focus and concentration.
Shlokas
Om chanting 3 times, Sahana vavatu, Vakratunda mahakaya, Saraswati namastubhyam, Guru Brahma, Sarva Mangala Mangalye (ref. My Prayers book pg 39).
We chanted the entire Mahalakshmi Ashtakam and 1-10 verses of Mahishasura Mardini Stotram (ref. My Prayers book pg. 47).
Geeta Chanting
Geeta Chanting Yagna registrations are closed. Grade 6 is in the Partha group, and is assigned verses 1-30 this year. Your child can start memorizing the verses now.
Here is Swamiji's Geeta chanting video link for your child to practice with the correct pronunciation. We will continue to review verses in class also.
India Sacred Land, Topic : Dances of India
We spoke about the dance forms of India today. It was Lord Brahma ji who created the "Naytaveda". Known as the fifth Veda, it was then propagated by Sage Narada and Sage Bharata as "Natyashastra". All the classical styles of Indian dance are based on this. There are two streams of Indian dance forms - classical and tribal/ folk. The original Indian classical dance forms were cultural and religious depictions of Hinduism, and were performed in front of a deity in temples. Classical dance is choreographed around the nine "rasas" or emotions. We spoke about how in the modern day, the dance performances have become commercialized.
On the other hand, tribal or folk dances are performed in social gatherings. They celebrate special occasions like a harvest or weddings. Several folk dances can be found in different regions of India. The folk or tribal forms of dance are all expressions of joy. Few children shared that they are learning Indian Classical dance. Some of the children have also watched a dance recital before.
Next we played "Guess!" game, where the children were shown video snippets of different types of dance. They had to guess the dance form or the Indian state it is from. It was quite a challenging game!
Please encourage your child to look up the costumes of the several types of Indian dance forms and share in the next class. They can even attend an Indian dance recital, so they can appreciate this special part of Indian culture and heritage.
Practice of the class play performance took up the rest of class time. Please reach out if you have any questions about or need help with your child's costume or prop.
We assembled in the Prayer Hall and our class led the aarti and the pledge recitation. The children did a great job!
- Rashmi Kuroodi and Venu Sadda
Supplies needed for every class:- Bala Vihar Handbook, My Prayers book, their special red notebook and pencils for likhita japa; everything in their Bala Vihar bag
*Reference books - Mahabharata by Rajagopalachari / Mahabharata by Kamala Subramaniam
