[GHHF] Bala Samskar Kendras Celebrated Vijayadashami in Tami Nadu – Learned the importance and Significance of the festival

09 Oct 2022 1137 Views

Hajime Nakamura (1912 - 1999) a Japanese scholar.
The Indians are, at the same time, logical since they generally have a tendency to sublimate their thinking to the universal; they are at once logical and rationalistic. On the contrary, many religions of the West are irrational and illogical, and this is acknowledged by the Westerners themselves. For example, Albert Schweitzer, a pious and most devoted Christian, says, “Compared to the logical religions of Asia, the gospel of Jesus is illogical.”
Global Hindu Heritage Foundation is very happy to inform you that the Bala Samskar Kendras in Tamil Nadu are celebrating  Devi Navaratrulu with gusto, enthusiasm, and excitement. The teachers talked about the festival, why it is celebrated nine days, encouraged all the students to participate in the Pujas, encouraged them to Aarthi to the day of the Goddess and chanted a number devi stotras.  
Celebrated Vijayadashami
Bala Samskar Kendra students celebrated Vijayadashami. Dussehra, which is also called Dasara or Vijayadashami is celebrated as a mark of triumph of Rama, an avatar of Vishnu, over the 10-headed demon king Ravana, who abducted Rama’s wife, Sita. The festival’s name is derived from the Sanskrit words dasha (“ten”) and hara (“defeat”). Symbolizing the victory of good over evil, Dussehra is celebrated on the 10th day of the month of Ashwini (September–October), the seventh month of the Hindu calendar, with the appearance of the full moon, an event called the “bright fortnight” (shukla paksha). Dussehra coincides with the culmination of the nine-day Navratri festival and with the tenth day of the Durga Puja festival. For many, it marks the beginning of preparation for Diwali, which occurs 20 days after Dussehra.
In North India, it incorporates Ram Lila, a gala theatrical enactment of Rama’s life story. Effigies of Ravana along  with those of Meghnada and Kumbhakarana are stuffed with firecrackers and set ablaze at night in open fields. This traditional practice was even recognized as one of the “Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity” by UNESCO in 2008. It describes the festival as being celebrated through songs, narration, recital and dialogue based on the text Ramcharitramanas by Tulsidas.
In South India, this festival played significant role since Vijayanagar Empire. The city of Mysore has traditionally been a major center of Dasara-Vijayadashami celebrations. It is believed that during 17 the century the King of Mysore ordered celebration of Dussehra on a grand scale. This is the reason why Dussehra is celebrated with great fervour and energy till date in Mysore.  This festival is called Dasara in Karnataka and the 10days festival is celebrated as Shara navaratri where the Goddess in every temple is worshiped for 10days in 10 forms with different Alankar/forms to signify different Goddesses avatar. Many cultural programs and competitions are organized in many cities like Mysuru, Shivamoga, Bengaluru etc and temple's Goddesses are taken procession on 10th day evening to mark the win over evil things and Mark the war as complete.
The whole Creation is permeated by this Energy. The prosperity that we enjoy in our daily lives is a manifestation of Devi. Mother Divine serves us in so many forms. The forms of our mother, father, friends, husband, wife, son, daughter and also the Guru. The revolving planets and the moon are Devi performing aarti to us.  Devi Puja is an expression of expanded consciousness showing reverence to the whole Creation. The puja that we perform during the 9 days of Navratri is a way of honoring the Devi and showing our gratitude to the Mother Divine. While attending the puja we give up all our worldly activities for a while and enter into deep meditation.

According to Hindu legends, Mahishasura was a demon with a buffalo’s head who received a boon from Brahma, the God of Creation, that no man or God could kill him. What followed was a reign of terror where gods and humans alike were subjected to the horrors of Mahishasura’s rule. It was then that Devi took the form of Durga. Riding fiercely on a lion and armed with the divine weapons of all the other gods, she battled the demon for nine days and nights. These nine days are traditionally eulogized during the nine nights of Navratri, culminating in the goddess’ victory on the tenth day of Vijayadashami.
Dasara is very popular in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka. It is synonymous with ‘Bommala Koluvu,’ the arrangement of idols and dolls in the form of step-like horizontal arrays. It’s not just about the deities from the Hindu pantheon, but the ‘Bommala Koluvu’ thematically represents social events such as marriage, village shandy, public gathering etc.
The dolls are made of different kinds of woods, clay, cloth, brass and silver. Many of the householders make it a habit to collect them over the years and display their dolls and even invite their friends and neighbors to witness the decorations. 
WE NEED YOUR HELP
We appreciate it if you can help in hiring more people who can go to these villages to do Ghar Waapasi. We have employed 26 people so far. More people we hire, more villages can be covered to welcome them back and also create Chaitanya (Awareness) among the students and villagers. Also,  we are conducting 150 Bala Kendras in five States. Support one or more Kendras. 
1) Sponsor one Bala Samskar Kendra for $1000.00
2) Sponsor one Pracharak: In order to expand our base and hire one Pracharak, it would cost approximately $3000.00 - $3500.00 per year. We have five anonymous donors who sponsored 9 Pracharaks
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For more information, call Prakasarao V Velagapudi ; Email: ghhfusaorg@gmail.com

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