Universal Brotherhood Day Celebrations - Samapan

The Universal Brotherhood Day celebration came to a grand finale today, September 19, 2015, with the prize distributions and a unique event called "Vanichithrapuja". The concluding function began with a short prayer, lighting of the ceremonial brass lamp by two 'child' Vivekanandas, Ma. Lakshmi Didi, and Swami Nandatmajananda. Ma. Lakshmi Didi, transformed the moment to September 11, 1893, and the description of the event at Chicago, took each and everyone present on a journey back in time to visualize the magnificent event when the world stood dazzled to hear the saffron robbed, monk from India, give a soul-stirring speech about tolerance and universal acceptance. Swami Nandatmajananda, of Ramakrishna Math, present editor of Prabhuda Keralam, held the audience spellbound to the drawing of a beautiful portrait of Swami Vivekananda to the tunes of a song in the praise of the Swami by Sutapa Didi. Later Swami Nandatmajananda in his address to the gathering recounted an event in the life of Charles Darwin.

Darwin was not very keen in visiting the church on Sunday's. So when his family spend their time at church he would visit a nearby colony of underprivileged people and take 10 children out to the nearby city and buy them whatever they liked. The joy he experienced in seeing the children enjoying the day was far greater than the required visit to church. On weekend an Afro-American mother came to him with her child and requested that Darwin take that child to the city. Darwin stated that we had already selected the 10 children and he cannot include an extra. However after repeated request from the Mother and her appeal that her child had never visited the city and that they are too poor to even have a proper meal a day, Darwin agreed. The child was thrilled, and had a good time in the city, was able to have some food and move around with the other children. Late in the evening Darwin got the children back and left them with their parents. While Darwin was leaving the 11th child, called, came running to him and asked "Are you Jesus".  The joy that Darwin could give the child, brought Darwin closer to the Almighty than the dedicated worshippers.

Blessed are those who spend time with the needy, to share their sorrow and pain and in the process get peace, happiness for the self and  bring in joy and harmony to others.

Swamiji gave away prizes for the individuals and teams for the different events like Painting, Elocution(Mal and Eng), Narration(Mal and Eng),  and Quiz.

The ceremony came to a close with the chanting of the Shanti Mantra.

 

Quiz on India Freedom Movement

Like previous years this year too quiz programme was conducted for the Higher Secondary school children as part of Universal Brotherhood day celebrations. The subject chosen was Indian Freedom Movement.  Some twenty schools were contacted for this purpose, out of which eight teams, consisting five members in each team  from in and around Kodungallur participated.

The programme started with a prayer and brief introduction by Mananiya Lakshmi Didi with her unique way of conveying message, explained to the children the real meaning of 'freedom', Shri Vinod Ponoth was the quiz master. 

The winners of the competition 

1. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Irinjalakuda

2. Phonix Public School, Kodungallur

3. H.D.P.Y  School, Andipillikavu

consolation was given to Heera English Medium School, Chandrapini.

Universal Brotherhood Day Celebration continues

The programme started with blessings of Man. Lakshmi Didi to all the participants.  On 16^th September, Narration Competition of the incidents from the life of Swami Vivekananda, both in English and Malayalam for the school students of classes VI and VII, was organized from 9: 30 am to 12 noon. Eight Schools participated. Overall, there were 40 participants. We had Brig. Radhakrishnan, Smt Shanta Nair, Mrs. Radhakrishnan, santana Lakshmi, Smt. Subhadra and Smt. Jyothi Unniraman well wishers of kendra were the judges for the todays competition,

On the same day in the afternoon, from 2pm to 3.30 p.m. an Elocution Competition (getting by heart and delivering the speech of Swamiji) both in English and Malayalam, was organized for the high school students. Ten schools took part with a total of 30 students

The results of the competitions are as follows:

16^th SEPTEMBER- NARRATION COMPETITION-MALAYALAM

(CLASSES VI & VII)

FIRST PRIZE:  BHARAT VIDYA MANDIR VALAPAD –Malavika M. K. (Cl VII)

SECOND PRIZE   : - PHOENIX PUBLIC SCHOOL- Nimisha P.S. (Cl VI)

THIRD PRIZE      :  GURUSHREE PUBLIC SCHOOL – Diya Anand (Cl VIII)

CONSOLATION PRIZE: 

1. GURUSHREE PUBLIC SCHOOL - Akarsha Menon (Cl VI)

2. AMRITA VIDYALAYAM- Anaga.C. (CL VI)

3. BHARAT VIDYA MANDIR VALAPAD- Anjali A.s.(CL VII)
4.AMRITA VIDYALAYAM - Aparna Manoj (CL VI)

NARRATION COMPETITION-ENGLISH

(CLASSES VI &VII)

FIRST PRIZE :  AMRITA VIDYALAYAM – Gouri S. (Cl VII)

SECOND PRIZE   : - AMRITA VIDYALAYAM – Gouri V.U. (Cl VI)

THIRD PRIZE      :  AMRITA VIDYALAYAM – Acheut Baiju (Cl VII)

CONSOLATION PRIZE: 

1. BHARAT VIDYA MANDIR, VALAPAD -  Amarkrishnan S. (Cl VII)

2. AMRITA VIDYALAYAM- Jenna George. (CL VI)

3. S.N.VIDYA BHAVAN- Ashlin K.Ashoke (Cl VII)

16^th SEPTEMBER- ELOCUTION COMPETITION-MALAYALAM

(CLASSES VIII TO X)

FIRST PRIZE :  AMRITA VIDYALAYAM – Sriya C.P. (Cl VIII)

SECOND PRIZE   : - S.N.VIDYA BHAVAN – Rohit V.S. (Cl X)

THIRD PRIZE      :  S.N.VIDYA BHAVAN – Lakshmi Nandana (Cl IX)

 ELOCUTION COMPETITION-ENGLISH

 (CLASSES VIII TO X)

 FIRST PRIZE :  AMRITA VIDYALAYAM – Amritha varshini E.R. (Cl IX)

SECOND PRIZE   : - S.N.VIDYA BHAVAN – Sana C.S. (Cl VIII)

THIRD PRIZE      :  BHARAT VIDYA MANDIR, VALAPAD – Aiswarya K.B. (Cl X)

CONSOLATION PRIZE: 1 BHARAT VIDYA MANDIR, VALAPAD –Lakshmi M.R. (Cl IX)

2. AMRITA VIDYALAYAM- Sreelakshmi T.P. (Cl IX)

UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD DAY CELEBRATION

U B. day celebrations started with a bang. The painting competition was was organised  in the campus today morning  from 9:30am to 12 noon. Ten schools in and around Kodungallur participated. In all there were 82 children. There were 46 students of Junior group of classes V,VI VII. Topic for the group was 'Ideal Village'. The Senior group included students of classes VIII,IX an d X, with 36 students. The topic for this group was ' Smart city or 'Model City'.

One should see children paintings! Their creative imaginations makes them forget themselves and just pin drop silence resides in the place. Who says children are uncontrollable?

Mananeeya Lakshmi Didi lighted the lamp and wished them well before they began. The winners of the competition as follows

PAINTING COMPETITION-SENIORS

FIRST PRIZE   :  

1.BHARAT VIDYA MANDIR VALAPAD – Gohul Menon (Cl VIII)

2. BHARATIYA VIDYA BHAVAN VIDYA MANDIR, IJK- Abela Ruben (Cl IX)

SECOND PRIZ   : 

BHARAT VIDYA MANDIR, VALAPAD- Siddharth T.S. (Cl X)

THIRD PRIZE      : 

1. BHARAT VIDYA MANDIR, VALAPAD- Lakshmi N.Sajith (Cl VIII)

2. BHARAT VIDYA MANDIR, VALAPAD- Jagath M.S.(CL IX)

CONSOLATION PRIZE: 

1.AMRITA VIDYALAYAM-Sandra N.S.(Cl X)

2. AMRITA VIDYALAYAM- Vishnudev K.A.(CL X)

PAINTING COMPETITION-JUNIORS

FIRST PRIZE                                    : 

BHARAT VIDYA MANDIR, VALAPAD- Avinash C.S (CL VII)

SECOND PRIZE                   : 

1. .AMRITA VIDYALAYAM- Indrajit P.S. (Cl V)

2. GURUSHREE PUBLIC SCHOOL- Simon Aibel(CL VII)

THIRD PRIZE                           : 

1. AURA EDIFY-  Farhas Hussain(CL VI)                                                          

2. G.G.H.S.S. Kodungallur- Swetha K.S, (CL VI)

CONSOLATION PRIZE    
 :

1.PHOENIX PUBLIC SCHOOL- Akash T.U. (CL VI)

2. GURUSHREE PUBLIC SCHOOL- Anagha S. (CL VI)

3. BHARATIYA VIDYA BHAVAN VIDYA MANDIR, IJK- Chandrasekhar. K. (CL V)

Samskar varga at P.Vemballur

Sanskar-Varg is not a religious class to learn Prayers & Mantras. This class is for child’s overall  development in the early years & learning prayers/having faith is part of it. Children are taught Sanskrit prayers & there is an important  reason behind it. Sanskrit being the most ancient, systematic & logical language. Chanting Sanskrit mantras not only help child overcome stiffness of tongue but its rhythm, breathing pattern  works like a magic on different body parts. Sanskrit mantras are believed to produce vibrations & these powerful vibrations can influence our mind & body.  Along with Sanskrit Prayers, are taught them Values/Life Skills through interactive sessions, games and activities, Information about Indian customs, festivals, World famous great personalities, stories etc etc. In short Sanskar Varg is an exciting educational & informative class.  Every thought and every action leaves a subtle impression in the mind of a child as a permanent record, these are called Samskaras. It also means a cultural heritage and upbringing. That’s what Sanskar Varg does in child’s early learning. 

“You know that the beginning is the most important part of any work,especially in the case of a young and tender thing; for that is the time at which the character is being and the desired impression is more readily taken…” Plato’s Republic

This Samskar Varga is being conducted at P.Vemballur in Mridula Chechi's house for the last three four months. In all 26 children attended. Smt Padma adigal told them stories from the Bhagavata, where Sri Krishna shows His Gopikas that 'serving man is to serve God' should be part of our life. The children were taught Surya namaskar, yoga and  games were also taken. Children enjoyed! and bid goodbye to meet again in next week     

children busy in competing with each other in kridya yoga

strengthening and orderliness to the body 

who will win this game?

Giving the respect to the teacher which is their nature!!

Sri Krishna Jayanthi Celebration

Sri Krishna Jayanthi is the day when Anandadham turns into a Vrindavan. This time it fell on September 5th just after the great Kerala festival of Onam. Sri Krishna Jayanthi is the day when all our Sishuvihar mothers get transformed into Yashoda's. From morning they start dressing their children, as Sri Krishna or Radha, thereby raising themselves into Yashoda consciousness and come to enjoy a tiny drop of the true bliss of having Sri Krishna as their little child.

 

Forty children participated. Apart from Sandeepani Sishuvihar school children, there were an equal or more number of children from the neighbourhood. After the display on stage as the little Krishna’s, Gopikas and Radhas, there were solo bhajans on Sri Krishna by the children. All the mothers with their  children then went round the ‘Sri Krishna’s statue in our Vrindavan Park chanting ‘Hare Krishna. This was followed by ‘Uriyadi’ or ‘Breaking the Pot’, enjoyed by all participants. All the participating Krishnas, Radhas and the singers received their token gifts.

Chinmaya Jyothi

The ‪#‎Chinmaya‬ Jyoti along its yatra came to Kodungallur. 'Yagnatarium' a portable planetarium accompanying the #Chinmaya Sandesh Vahini screened couple of shows at Ananda Dham. The insight, 'God is One, in many forms, and many paths to reach the One'. The animated audio-video experience was welcomed by all present.

Guruji's Paduka's were received with the poorna kumbha and thalapoli. Paduka Puja was also performed at Ananda Dham.

Spreading the message silently

3RD AND 4TH JULY: M.Ed. students of Dr. Palpu Memorial College came to visit Vivekananda Kendra as a part of their project work which they were required to complete on a local institution. They found Vivekananda Kendra an ideal place where different man-making  and nation – building activities are going on. Man. Lakshmi Didi  was interviewed  on all the aspects of Vivekananda Kendra's, its origin,  and its expansion of activities and its impact on the society  lastly, the present status of the organisation.  

All of them were guided to visit Vishwa Bhanu; the Mural Exhibition on Swami Vivekananda and were he given the glimpses of Swamijis life and message. All of them were impressed by the paintings and they got all the information they needed for their project work through discussions with the inmates and literature available in our library. 

Upliftment of Indian womanhood – need of the hour

Dr. M. Lakshmikumari

To transcend the multifarious problems and confusions that riddle the human mind resulting from the feeling of dualism, it is necessary that the mind be exposed to the advaitic Truth - awareness of ONENESS. Advaita is the crest jewel of human thought, which our great country has upheld from time immemorial. Unless and until we in India fully comprehend the significance of advaitic thought and its special relevance for the survival of our multicultural nation, we may also, like many a nation of the bygone eras, soon slip into oblivion.

Matrudevo bhava’ is a mahamantra which contains within it a highly relevant, potent and practical message for universal peace and survival of mankind. For that very reason it is imperative that the strength and sanctity of motherhood be fully understood and made to manifest.

Is ‘advaita’ something ‘dry’ and ‘out of this world’ of day-to-day living? How can advaita be brought to inundate the multidimensional human feelings, emotions and transactions? If advaita is relevant as the Supreme Ultimate Truth, having nothing to do with human life, dry indeed it would be. But if it is allowed to descend from being mere knowledge in the brain, to cascade through and light up various human feelings and emotions, then something wonderful happens. Just as a seed soaked in water sprouts up putting up new leaves, just as a dry arid land touched by rain immediately gets covered with a green mantle of grass, just as a drying tree sprouts up all over again when watered so does the human mind gets enriched and enlivened, when the One Truth in the ‘advaita’ gets transformed into the ‘many’ in the human mind. Firmly rooted in Oneness, the human mind blossoms in the beauty of the diversity. In the treasure chest of the human mind there are any number of devices – emotions and feelings through which this wonderful transformation can be achieved. Like a musical instrument with many strings, mind can create an infinite variety of notes, unmake them and re-make them to create a harmonious orchestra of life if it so wills or vice versa. It is the awareness of advaitic truths that leads to harmony and peace. If this basic note is lacking only discordant notes emerge and such a life becomes filled with contradictions.

Standing on this pinnacle of advaita, how can this awareness of oneness be made part of the three main life-streams, Jnana Bhakti and Karma, making life extraordinarily rich and fulfilling! To understand this miracle God seems to have provided us with the glorious ideal of motherhood. In how many ways our Bharateeya culture has captured and expanded this ideal of motherhood! The Divine mother and her manifold bhavas as Lakshmi, Saraswati, Durga, Parvathy and other forms - each in essence indicating the rich potentialities and possibilities of the human mind, Mother Ganges, Veda Mata, Gita Mata, mother earth, this wonderful mother land of ours and so on - each one reveals the immense spiritual potential power and sanctity that lie hidden in motherhood. One can raise oneself to cosmic proportion meditating on this mystery of motherhood and its unfolding in infinite ways in this universe. To help us enter into the portals of such a meditation we have in front of us one’s own dear mother in whose milk we had the first taste of Life Universal.

 

Motherhood represents the principle of inter-relatedness, inter-connectedness and inter-dependence that hold together everything in the universe. The first unit of this phenomenon is our family. The ever fresh fountain of love that gives meaning and preserves family, as a unit is none other than the uncrowned queen of the house, the Mother. That is why we address Divine mother as Sri Maharajni, the empress of the Universe. Just as proton, neutron and electrons are held together by indefinable and invisible magnetic forces in an atom so do the various units of a home held in place without creating any disharmony by the magnetic power of love that the mother embodies. The power of that magnet lies in its extraordinary capacity to evolve ‘Oneness’ through love, sacrifice and service. These form the true nourishments for the children more than anything else. In its absence children wither away and their personality gets distorted. Unhappy homes are the breeding grounds for creating imbalanced men and women who in turn disturb the peace and harmony in the society.

When we explore the very origin of maternal instinct and the mysterious spiritual power behind, it will naturally take us to that ultimate primary cause of the universe, the Divine Mother Herself. SHE is the source and cause of all creation - the primeval energy - the primary cause, the Ultimate Truth. So is She the original source of motherliness - cause and effect relationship that we notice everywhere in the universe. Therefore when ‘Matruchetana’ is awakened in any one of us man or woman, there is a spark of the original transmutation of the ONE Truth into many. If one cares to meditate on this original instinct of motherhood and expand that ‘bindu’ into an all embracing feeling of love - awareness of inter relatedness - one can raise oneself to Universal Motherhood, to the status of Sri Mata. One need not be a mother in the worldly sense to achieve this, as motherliness is a spiritual awakening and elevation. In her gets embodied all that is best in creation - beauty (Lakshmi), knowledge (Saraswati) and action (Durga). All Godly powers are at her service. Such a mother is not only an adornment to her family but also a blessing to the society and the nation. She belongs to all. Diversities get merged in that ONENESS of motherhood and so do all problems based on duality wither away in her divine presence.

Such an expansive feeling of motherhood is very much needed in our society to rectify the mistakes that we are perpetrating in the name of caste, creed, religion, race and so on. All fanaticism, violence, terrorism etc. have their roots in the misguided notions of dividedness. To replace them with love, kindness and tolerance, the easiest way is the way of the mother. Manmade barriers can be broken down, sanity restored and peace created when true motherliness is made to manifest (be it in a woman or a man).

Unfortunately, majority of today’s women have lost this capacity for spiritual expansion. Materialistic hankerings distort her personality; disturb her innate qualities as mother, making her selfish, greedy, vengeful and blind. When children are exposed to this unnatural motherliness they fail to develop sustaining qualities in themselves. When the mothers at home spread unhappiness and bitterness slowly the whole society reflects that and peace and happiness disappear. On the other hand when true motherliness blossoms in a mother there is an expansion of personality and all petty feelings disappear.

Is it really possible for an ordinary woman to achieve such heights of perfection? Answer is yes. Our Puranas are full of stories of such exemplary mothers. In recent history we have the wonderful example of Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, inspired by whom Swami Vivekananda emphasised again and again the need to revive this Indian ideal of Motherhood for restoring the glory of our nation and to bring all round peace and well being.

Ramayana Month Celebration

17th and 18th July: marked the 1st and 2nd day of Ramayana month coinciding with the 1st and 2nd days of the month of Karkatakam. This year there was an extensive programme of two days in which well-known Ramayana devotees - Shri Chakrapani Warrier and Smt Suma, read through the whole of Ramayana. Sessions started from 8.30 in the morning and went on up to 6.30 in the evening, with short tea-lunch breaks. A number of local well-wishers took part in the parayanam session. It was a noble experience for some who had never had an opportunity to read the Ramayana fully. At the concluding programme Sri Chakrapani Warrier and Smt Suma were honoured by Sri R.M. Pavitran a close well wisher of Kendra.

As usual Kumari Bindu and her group have started visiting different houses for Ramayana Satsanga. This programme will continute for the entire month. In each house, the team read portions of Ramayana and involve the family members to take part in the puja and rituals. 

One Day Spiritual Retreat

Vivekananda Kendra offered bhiksha to Revered Swami Adhyatmanandaji of Sambodh Foundation, Thiruvananthapuram. He came with 45 students for whom he was conducting a spiritual study course for 51 days at a place called Moozhikolam, 39 km from Kodungallur. After the initial introduction, Swamiji addressed the gathering which included our local well-wishers also, on the importance of sadhana of formless truth as also the need for worshipping God in various forms. He used two stanzas from Bhagavad Gita chapters 7 and 9 to clarify points.

Following Swamiji’s talk Mananeeya Lakshmi Didi spoke on Swami Vivekananda’s message to the individual, to the Nation and to humanity at large. She used three imageries to emphasize the points, that of light man, of a sculpture and lastly how he released the world religions from the cages in which they were kept and allowed them to fly to the infinite freedom of truth.

All the participants were taken to Vishwa Bhanu Exhibition, wherein they were introduced to Swamis life and his visit to Kodungallur. Later on they all participated in Bhajan session.

GURUPOORNIMA CELEBRATION

On the auspicious occasion of Gurupoornima, a day long programme was arranged at Aandadham. Ganapathi Homam and Sri Chakra Puja were conducted in the Dakshina auditorium of Anandadham in the early morning. At 10 a.m. there was a get together of all the yoga varga members around eighteen of them, some of whom are working as yoga teachers in different schools in and around of Kodungallur. Mananeeya Lakshmi Didi explained about the significance of ‘Guru Parampara down the ages namely, Narayana, Padmabhuva, Vasistha, Saktrimaharshi, Parashara, Vyasa and Sukha and how during Vyasa’s time all the divine knowledge which the previous seers had passed on to their respective disciples orally, were codified into texts called vedas and later on puranas. It was on this day that the great sage Vyasa was said to have been born, hence this day is celebrated as Vyasa’s jayanthi all over India as a mark of respect for the great saint who is addressed as ‘Vishala buddhe’ in the Bhagavat Geeta. Chanting of the Guru Sloka and pushparchana were part of this two hour programme.

In the evening Adv. T.R.Ramanathan of Paravur, an advocate by profession and well-known for his profound knowledge and great oratory, spoke on ‘Guha Gurun Subrahmanya Swami’(Kartikeyan) and kept the audience spellbound. Nearly a hundred people attended.the programme.

    

Research & Publications:

The Foundation would institute facilities for research and dissemination of Vedic knowledge, so that the essence of Vedanta could be studied in depth, debated upon and worked out as practical principles in day to day life.The one and only enquiry which can benefit the whole of humanity has already been carried out by our super scientists, the rishis, and the result is the evolution of a super fine technology capable of transferring the awareness of Oneness of Eternal Truth into life principles, that can take man onward on the path of evolution. Swamiji says “all science is a search for oneness of Truth” and India had been a pioneer invalidating this truth.The Foundation’s major area of research is therefore centred on fine tuning the efforts as to how fractured and embittered human minds can be made Whole by generating in them right thoughts, words, and actions including faith in the Cosmic Almighty. Presently the emphasis is therefore more on creating life models which would help man manifest the divinity within him

Publications:

1. Message of Vedas (English) Sri K. N. Krishnan Namboodiri
2. “Those who go through this book would get a simple answer to the question what is the contribution of Vedas to the world” - Sri SukumarAzikode, (one of the foremost authors of Kerala)
3. AgnimelePurohitam (Malayalam) Sri K. N. Krishnan Namboodiri
4. Commentary on first nine riks of Rigveda
5. AnushtanaPrakashika (Malayalam) DR. K. Vijayan, Gurupadam. A simple instructions for daily practice
6. Surya Namaskar (Malayalam)instruction booklet of Suryanamaskar
7. Sadhana Panchamritam (Malayalam) – spiritual diary for daily reading containing messages from Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda
8. Jnanadayini Sarada Devi ( Malayalam) Dr. V.S. Sharma
9. Way to attain bliss in old age ( Malayalam translation) Swami Ranganathananda by Anandeswar.

Besides a number of small booklets containing specific messages for improving family relationships, Matru Chetana, Pancamahayajnas and so on are also being published from time to time.