A Bhagavad Gita – Subhashitam chanting competition was organised recently by the Sydney Sanskrit School.
Organised a day before Janmashtami (Hindu festival celebrating the birth of Bhagwan Krishna), Sydney Sanskrit school students welcomed Sri Krishna with verses from His own Divine Song, the Bhagavad Gita.
Shlokas 1-15 from Chapter 3 as well as a few subhashitams were chosen for this year’s competition. A total of 148 children registered to participate and they were divided into groups based on their age.
The programme received Janmashtami blessings from Sri Srinivasan Varanasi from the Australian Chapter of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetha Seva Samiti. The event began with prayers by the teachers and lighting of the lamp followed by a welcome to several eminent guests including Founder President, Association of Haryanvis in Australia, Sewa Singh, Director, Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre Sydney, Niyati Mehta, President, Hindu Council of Australia, Sai Paravastu and Vijay Singhal from Hindu Council of Australia.
The participants were divided into separate groups and the competition was held in 0- 4 stages. Stage 0 and 1 had the youngest ones paricipating with Sudha Prasad and Mangala Kumsi as the judges.
Stage 2 had the maximum number of participants with Bhanu Chotera, Gayatri Madali and Nikhila Kiran as judges. Stages 3 and 4 included children aged 11 and over and had to chant as well as explain the Gita shlokas. The judges for these stages were Amita Bhatt, Lakshmi Alavandi and Shobhanjali. As always, the children performed beautifully, making the judges’ job all the more gruelling.
Congregating back for the valedictory function, the crowd witnessed a melodious Ganesha Vandana and sang along a bhajan as the Krishna pooja was being performed.
