Children learn cultural and spiritual heritage at annual event
The annual function of Chinmaya Mission's "Balvihar" wing was held at Meadow Creek High School on May 8, 2005. Balvihar, follows the guidelines set by the Mission founded by Swamy Chinmayananda in 1975. The program teaches the rich cultural heritage of India using the medium of stories, drama, arts, crafts and discussions. Balvihar classes have become models for teaching India's rich spiritual heritage and the fundamentals of Vedanta to the next generation.
Commemorating Swamy Chinmayananda's birthday, the event was a fun-filled day for children who were treated to epics, Hindi movies and even rap! The program was initiated with prayers and dance. Shlokas were recited by the youngest class of 4-year-olds'. The 6-year-olds' followed them with a highly entertaining and educational skit introducing the various states of India. They performed the item brilliantly by wearing the costumes, quoting the language and mentioning the geographic locations and capitals of the respective States. The kids engaged the audience effectively by asking parents the state that they originated from.
Another creative item titled, "It happens only in India", was a synchronized dance performance educating the audience various facts about India.
At this point the older kids, aged 7 to 14, took over. They took the audience on a journey through time, guided by their mysterious friend Jadoo to show the incidents that highlighted key morals and timeless lessons about Concentration, Respect, Ego, Teamwork and about concepts such as ?God is inside all'.
_- Parijat Chandra
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