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HSS Balagokulam Shakhas in Seattle celebrated VijayaDashami together in a grand function that was attended by over 250 swayamsevaks, guests, and our Bhutanese Hindu brothers. On Oct 11th, 2009, Vijayadashami Utsav, one of the important annual Sangha events, was celebrated at Crossroads Community Center in Bellevue, where karyakartas and participants from all 5 greater Seattle locations took part in a combined 4 hour program which was the culmination of weeks of conference calls, discussions and practice sessions. The Mukhya Shikshak and MCs ably conducted a program rich in variety, filled with music, songs, dance, shlokas, skits, niyudh, pyramid formations, yoga and shakti pradarshans of enthusiastic participants from all ganas-shishu, bala, mahila tarun, and purush. All the attendees of the function, including the guest speaker Shri Purushottamji (Sanghachalak from Vancouver, BC) and the guest speaker (Shri Kailas Tare from swadhyay parivar) were impressed by the variety and skill level of the performances.

The bala and shishu of Shri Krishna Shakha started the event with Ganesha, Rama and Saraswati shlokas. The bala and shishu participants from Subramanya Bharati Shakha created the atmosphere of Devi puja by flawlessly reciting the Shakti shlokas “ya Devi sarvabhuteshu” and the young members of our newest Olympia shakha put up a wonderful dance to the tune of “Aigiri nandini” paying tributes to Devi, worshiped in many parts of India during Vijaydashami. They also presented an excellent rendition of ‘Shri Ramachandra Kripalu bhajamana”, reminding us of Ram’s victory over Ravan-another reason for celebration of this important Hindu festival. The bala and shishu particiants of Swami Vivekananda Shakha put up a skit on the birth of Ganesha with good acting skills and realistic costumes interspersed with interesting sound effects.

Activities involving good physical posture, sharp reflexes and quick hand eye coordination are always emphasized at Sangha VijayaDashami Utsav, and this year too, we saw quite a few of them .The bala and purush of SV Shakha formed two beautiful pyramids, those of SB Shakha put up a well- coordinated padavinyas. Bala from all shakhas demonstrated niyudh, while the energetic Arjun shakha yuva swayamsevaks exhibited some spirited “Danda” moves. Mahila from SB Shakha performed a graceful yogchap dance, which again emphasizes good reflexes and coordination. Yoga pradarshan this year included Tadasan and Veerbhadrasan carried out by the mahila and purush of SV Shakha, Parshwakonasan, Vakrasan, Chakrasan, Natarajasan demonstrated by SB Shakha purush and the Suryanamaskar performed by all.

The purush and mahila of SK Shakha brought out their creative side with a skit on the destruction of Mahishasur by Durga while those of SV Shakha put forward their singing skills with a medley of songs on Desh bhakti praising Bharat Mata. The program was enhanced by the melodiously sung “lead and follow” Sanskrit song “Shoora vayam”…. and the recitation of Ashtalakshmi stotram.

In keeping with Sangha tradition Shastra Puja was performed by elders to tools of knowledge, music, and self-defense in modern life such as laptop etc. Purushottamji gave an informative boudhik on Vijaydashami and the importance of Ram in today’s world, also touching upon peaceful co-existence in a heterogeneous society of people with varied religious beliefs. The guest speaker Tarejii was all praise for Sangha and its activities. The program concluded with a well-said Amrutvachan and Prarthana and the Mukhya Shikshak giving the final commands.

All this activity definitely whetted everyone’s appetite and the delicious food prepared by volunteers from Sanatan Dharma Hindu temple in Maple Valley and those of SV and Olympia shakas was enjoyed and appreciated by all.

The highlights of this event as suggested by karyakartas were-
1. Starting on time smooth execution of programs and fast clean up.
2. Good performance of sound system-idea of purchasing one for sangha use discussed.
3. Good quality and quantity of food-kudos to temple volunteers, SV and Olympia Shakha volunteers for standing outdoors on a cold windy day and rolling over 1000 puris. Kudos to all who helped in packing, transporting, and later cleanup and dish washing.
4. No shulka for attending keeping in view the economic times.
5. Attendance of Bhutanese bandhus
6. Variety and order of various programs added to enjoyment and learning.

The successful organization of this event was another feather in the cap of Seattle Nagar event organizers.

Register for Ganesh Pooja Now! For the past few years we have had record attendance at this event. Please register early to guarantee your spot. See pictures below from past years.

By Arun Palaniappan

On the first Sunday after the Full Moon on the month of August, which translated to August 8^th, we held the Hindu festival Raksha Bandan in Balagokulam. Raksha Bandan was supposed to be on August 5^th, but since that was a Wednesday, a workday, we celebrated it on Sunday. We had our usual activities at the usual time up until the boudhik. We talked about Raksha Bandan and its qualities for 20 minutes, and then called the Balas over. After a few minutes of instructions, we got the rakhis and actually started tying them. We tied them to the people sitting next to us. At 12:00, Balagokulam ended and everyone left, but not for long.
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August 8th, 2009
-By Adhithya Rajakumar

For a long time, Subramaniya Bharathi shaaka (Bellevue, WA) was making plans for a Kishor get-together. After much thought, the decision was made: a hike in Cougar Mountain. The proposal was met with much rejoice from the Kishor, who had loved the outcome of their previous get-together—a hike at Rattlesnake Ledge.
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