The top 8 winners of the Inter-school Ramayana examination, conducted by Baala Bharati (the initiative of the Peetham to inculcate dharmic values in children) across schools in Bengaluru as a part of the first edition of the Vajrotsava Bharati Rolling Shield Inter-school Competition, visited Sringeri on January 3 and 4. These students topped the 7500 strong student exams conducted in Bengaluru over a series of four rounds. The visit of the winning students, who were also accompanied by their respective parents, was sponsored by Baala Bharati as a part of their prize package.
The students who arrived on the morning of January 3 were given guided tours of all temples of the Peetham over their two-day stay. Around noon on January 3, the winners along with their respective families had darshan of Jagadguru Sri Sannidhanam at Guru Nivasa and also offered Samashti Bhiksha. In the evening of Jan 3, the group visited the hallowed 130-year old Sri Sadvidya Sanjeevini Samskrita Mahapathashala of the Peetham. Vidwan Sri B. Krishna Raja Bhat, senior faculty at the Pathashala, along with senior students of the Pathashala Sri Subrahmanya Shastri and Sri Sudeep Sharma, engaged in an interactive 2-hour discussion with the students on aspects specific to Indian culture, dharma and the Ramayana, also drawing upon references from various Sanskrit works inspired by Srimad Ramayana such as Champu Ramayana. Later, the group had darshan of the 32-feet tall murti of Jagadguru Sri Adi Shankaracharya at Shankara Giri and also visited the Srimad Ramayana art exhibition at the premises. Post the nightly Chandramoulishwara Puja at Guru Nivasa by Jagadguru Shankaracharya Sri Sri Bharati Tirtha Mahasannidhanam, the students and their families had Sri Mahasannidhanam's darshan.
On the morning of Jan 4, after darshan at the Sri Rishyashringaswamy Temple at Kigga, the students visited the Shanti Niketan Vriddha-ashram (home for the aged) run by the Peetham at Narasimhapura, and interacted with its elderly residents. A brief musical rendition by a few students was followed by a free-flowing exchange of learnings from the Ramayana. The elders posed questions on the Ramayana which the students responded to with eager enthusiasm.
The two-day visit culminated in a special darshan of Jagadguru Shankaracharya Sri Sri Vidhushekhara Bharati Sannidhanam in the evening. The student winners were blessed with a sacred opportunity to interact with the Jagadguru on aspects pertaining to the Valmiki Ramayana. In the divine presence of Sri Sannidhanam, the top 8 winners spoke about their favourite characters from the Ramayana and the morals they learned. The Jagadguru thereafter questioned the students on sages in the Ramayana; least favoured characters in the Ramayana and the lessons they hold; morals from the Ramayana applicable to the student community and the Ramayana's message for political leaders. The almost 1.5-hour long session concluded with the Jagadguru blessing the winners and their respective families with prasada. With a feeling of blessedness, the group departed from Sringeri on the night of Jan 4.
The top 3 winners of the examination will also undertake a Baala-Bharati sponsored trip to Ayodhya with their respective families, as a part of the prize package.
