Thiruvananthapuram gears up for Vidyarambham day

October 11, 2013 12:49 pm | Updated 12:49 pm IST - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:

The silver horse on which the idol of Kumaraswamy was brought to the city fromKumarakovil in Kanyakumari district for Navarathri celebrations, has been attracting devotees at the Chenthitta Devi temple in Thiruvananthapuram. Photo: S. Gopakumar

The silver horse on which the idol of Kumaraswamy was brought to the city fromKumarakovil in Kanyakumari district for Navarathri celebrations, has been attracting devotees at the Chenthitta Devi temple in Thiruvananthapuram. Photo: S. Gopakumar

Temples, churches, and cultural organisations are gearing up to initiate thousands of children into the world of letters on Vidyarambham day, which falls on October 14. Children are introduced to music, dance, and other folk arts too on the same day.

Vidyarambham is a short ceremony during which children are made to sit on the lap of an elderly person, who writes the invocation to Lord Ganapati on the child’s tongue with a golden ring and make him/her write the same with the right index finger on a bed of sand or rice.

At churches

Of late, churches too have been hosting the event. The process is almost the same but the words used are different.

Arrangements are in full swing at Padmanabha Swamy Temple, Attukal Bhagavathy Temple, Pazhavangadi Ganapathy Temple, Sreekanteswaram Temple, Shanghumugham Devi Temple, Chenthitta Devi Temple, and Sri Durga Devi Temple and churches such as Madre de Dues Church, popularly known as Vettukadu Church, St. George Orthodox Church at Spencer Junction and the Pattom Bishop House for the ceremony.

The Kerala State Jawahar Balabhavan near Kanakakunnu, Thunchan Smaraka Samithi at Iranimuttam and Kumaranasan National Institute of Culture, Thonnakkal, too are making preparations for the event.

The ceremony will start at Thunchan Smaraka Samithi at 7 a.m., at Kerala State Jawahar Balabhavan at 9 a.m., and at Kumaranasan National Institute of Culture at 7 a.m.

Poet Rugmini Balakrishnan, Bishop Samuel Mar Ireneus, Swamy Gururathanam Janathapasvy, N.A. Karim, V.R. Prabhodachandran Nair, D. Babu Paul, Mavelikkara Achuthan, M.R. Thampan, Malayinkeezh Gopalakrishnan, Attukal T.K. Damodaran Namboodiri, Katoor Narayana Pillai, Karikamandapam Vijayakumar, P. Susheela Devi, Sriram, Rajashree Warrier, and R.S. Lakshmi will be among those who initiate children into the world of letters.

Learning arts

Organisations such as Sree Chithira Thirunal Smaraka Sangeetha Natya Kala Sahakarana Padana Kendram at East Fort will initiate children to dance, music, and drama. Guru Gopinath Natanagramam at Vattiyurkavu will start batches in music and dance. Madhva Tulu Brahmana Samajam at Sreevaraham will conduct a programme at Anjaneyar Temple to initiate children into classical dance.

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