Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)

Mangalore, Oct 18: Since ages, it is believed that initiating the small children to learning on the auspicious  day of Vijaya Dashami augurs well for the future education of the children. On Sunday October 17, thousands of tiny tots were introduced to learning at various places like Kollur, Mangaladevi, Sharavu temple, Lord Venkataramana temple in the city, Kalkura Foundation and various other venues where Sharada Mahotsav is being organized.

At Kollur temple, programmes of ‘Vidyarambha (education initiation)’ and ‘Navanna Prashana (feeding of newly harvested rice) were conducted. Over 5,000 children, accompanied by their parents from different states had congregated at the temple. Over 20 priests handled the procedure, in which the children are made to write alphabets in rice and the letter, ‘Om’ in Sanskrit is written on the tongues of the children with a gold ring. The children are also fed rice cooked by boiling the new corn.

In the city, the initiation to learning was conducted under the aegis of Kalkura Foundation, and the procedure was guided by Pejwar Sri Vishweshateertha Swamiji. Junior Swamiji of Pejawar Mutt, Sri Vishwaprasannateertha Swamiji, Karnataka Bank managing director and chief executive officer, Jayaram Bhat, Vishwa Hindu Parishat leader, M B Puranik, Dr M Prabhakar Joshi and several other dignitaries were present.