Date: 09/24/2021

Bhagavad Gita Jayanti on Sunday, December 12, 2021

As part of the celebration, Kids and youth can participate in the recitation of slokas from select themes.

Guidelines for participation in the recitation

• Open to groups, each with three (minimum) or more students. The group members can be of any age up to 12th grade
• Each group will be allocated a maximum of seven minutes to recite from memory, verses from one of the 36 themes below from the Bhagavad Gita. The recitation should begin with one participant from the group giving a brief description on the message contained in the verses of the theme followed by the recitation of the verses.
• Participation as a group is encouraged to have synchronous chanting for the selected verses.
• Following each group’s recital, Sri Lal Gopal Das (ISKCON) will give a brief commentary in about three minutes on the verses that were recited.
• Groups wishing to participate should register at the following link by November 1, 2020.

• • Number of participants, names, grades and contact information
  • The selected theme. 
  • Text of verses is included. For script in other languages, please use online resources or contact us.

Registration Link: https://forms.gle/GnX7MhxSv6bPJe2z5

• If a theme picked by a group has already been selected by another group, they will be asked to select a different theme.
• Programs details will be communicated later.

For any questions regarding this event, please contact Hari Kavuri (Chair, Cultural Committee) at hkavuri@gmail.com

Hinduism and the Role of Hindu Temples and Centers in its Practice

A program of talks by High/Middle school students  

Organized by the Cultural Committee of

The Hindu Temple of St. Louis  

October 3rd, 2021 Sunday 4 PM  

Theme  

Over several centuries, the Hindu Diaspora has kept its religious traditions alive and vibrant across the  world. Ritualistic worship and community activities at Hindu temples and centers have played a major  role in this regard. In addition, the practice of meditative and philosophical aspects of Hinduism has  also flourished by the practice of Vedanta, brought to the west by Swami Vivekananda and many who  followed him.  

Details  

• High/middle school students are invited to submit titles of talks individually or in teams of no more  than three students.  
• Each talk will be for no more than ten minutes.  
• The talks can be on any aspect of Hinduism within the following framework given as examples.  These are just suggestions and are not exclusive/exhaustive.  
  • What is Hinduism and does it have an origin? What is Sanatana Dharma?  
  • Important Hindu scriptures, epics and religious texts and their influence  
  • The orthodox philosophies (Nyaya, Patanjali’s yoga, Vedanta, etc.) and their influence  o The revival of Sanatana Dharma and the influence of Adi Sankaracharya, Ramanujacarya,  Madhwacharya and others  
  • Practice of Hinduism – Rituals, festivals and their influence  
  • The revival of Hinduism in modern times by saints like Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and his  disciples.  
  • Swami Vivekananda’s role in the revival in India and the spread of the practice of Vedanta  in the west.  
  • o Influence of more recent teachers like Swami Chinmayananda, Swami Dayanada Saraswati  and others.  
  • The Hindu diaspora and the role of Temples and Community activities  

Timeline  

• Submit talk title, team participants & brief description to hkavuri@gmail.com by September 12,  2021  
• Decision on acceptance of topic will be conveyed by September 19.  
• On October 3rd, the selected topic can be presented as a talk or as a presentation using power point  slides with references  

Contact  

For more information, please contact Hari Kavuri Email: hkavuri@gmail.com, 8656079641