Several hundreds of tiny tots were initiated into the world of letters and knowledge at Vidyarambham ceremonies held at various worship centres and cultural institutions in Thiruvananthapuram on the occasion of Vijayadashami on October 24.
The major venues, including Saraswathi Mandapam, Poojappura; Thunchan Smarakam, Iranimuttom; Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple; Attukal Bhagavathy Temple; and Karikkakom Sri Chamundi Temple, witnessed great crowds as people belonging to various faiths brought their children to become part of the auspicious occasion.
Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan guided 61 children hailing from various districts of Kerala at a ceremony organised at Raj Bhavan. Seated on their parents’ laps, the little ones were helped by the Governor in writing their first letters with the index fingers on a platter of rice grains in languages including Malayalam and Arabic, besides in the Devanagiri script in which the children wrote ‘Om Hari Sri Ganapathaye Namaha Avignamasthu’.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan too initiated five children – Ananya, Advisha, Hida, Irene and Ernesto – into the world of learning at his official residence Cliff House in the capital city.
Several luminaries, including former Chief Secretary K. Jayakumar, former director of the State Institute of Languages M.R. Thampan, poet T.G. Ramachandran Pillai and artist Karakkamandapam Vijayakumar initiated, children into the world of learning in various spheres, including art, at the Thunchan Smarakam.
The Saraswathi Mandapam, as during the previous years, teemed with people as early as 7.30 a.m. with nearly 2,000 children taking part in the ceremony there. They sat of the laps of ‘acharyas’ and the elders who wrote the invocation to Lord Ganapati on their tongues with a gold ring. Considering the anticipated rush, the organisers made arrangements for the ritual at the Mandapam as well as at an auditorium on the premises.
A special occasion: Tharoor
Shashi Tharoor, MP, who was among the ‘gurus’ there, taught the children to write ‘Om Hari Shri’ in three scripts – Sanskrit, Malayalam and English. He remarked that Vidyarambham is a special occasion. “As all of India celebrates Dussehra and Vijayadashami, it is a day when the initiation of learning happens in Kerala. It is the job of the elders to teach children how to write,” he said.
Several aspiring artistes were initiated into music, dance and other art forms, including Kathakali, at the Navrathri Mandapam and Margi at Kottattakom, Jawahar Balabhavan and other art schools.
Cutting across religious lines, many churches too organised similar ceremonies. Hundreds of children and their parents flocked to the Madre de Deus Church at Vettucaud where priests led the ceremony.
