Preparations in full swing for six-day Hindu Spiritual and Service Fair 2016 which is to begin at College Ground, Chennai, on August 2
TS Venkatesan
Chennai: It was a bevy of red colour attired girls gathered to sing together in a ganathon, a thematic singing event held in Chennai on July 23. More than 11,000 girl students across the city sang together in a ganathon, a thematic singing event on July 23 and 24th. Swami Vivekananda Raths began a journey on July 24 to spread the core messages of the Hindu Spiritual and Service Fair. While the ganathon, which was dedicated to MS Subbulakshmi, a legendary carnatic vocalist, to celebrate her centennial birthday was conducted at the AM Jain College, the rath was sent out from Kabaleeswarar Temple.
The core messages were to conserve forest and protect wild life, preserve ecology, sustain environment, inculcate family and human values, foster women’s honour and instill patriotism.
The ‘Bharatiya Ganathon’ and the ‘Rath yatras’ were jointly conducted by Initiative for Moral and Cultural Training Foundation (IMCTF) and Hindu Spiritual and Service Foundation (HSSF). While the school and college students sang songs based on the themes in eight languages, the raths were sent out to spread the themes among school students in Chennai, Kancheepuram and Thiruvallur to foster unity and harmony.
Columnist Shri S Gurumurthy said, “It is the celebration of culture and we are revising the traditions”. He said it is purely a voluntary event. “Hindu ethos and culture is a way of life in India and it is not the narrowing religion,” he added. Aruna Sayeeram, a classical vocalist, who came as a guest of honour to the ganathon, said it was the moment of creation of unprecedented history.
“A month-long preparation was being made for the ganathon,” said Rajalakshmi, Managing Trustee of Initiative for Moral and Cultural Training Foundation. The songs, sung by the students, were recorded in CDs and the CDs were distributed to the schools and colleges across the city, a month ago, she added.
The events were conducted as a curtain-raiser programme to create awareness about the 8th Hindu Spiritual and Service Fair, 2016 which is scheduled for six days starting from August 2 at the college ground.The fair demonstrates the Hindu spiritualism and life style based on their principles.
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