CHENNAI: On the National Girl Child Day on Wednesday, the ninth Hindu Spiritual and Service Fair - 2018 held at the Guru Nanak College, Velachery, turned its focus on women.
“It is also the 150th birth anniversary of Sister Nivedita, disciple of Swami Vivekananda; so we thought it apt to dedicate the day to honouring women,” said an organiser of the fair.
At the fair, organised by the Hindu Spiritual and Service Foundation (HSSF) and Initiative for Moral and Cultural Training Foundation (IMCTF), two rituals in reverence to women- the Kanya and Suvaasini Vandanam - were performed.
The ‘Kanya Vandanam’ was performed by about 3300 students from around 20 schools, where young girls were honoured by the boys. Similarly, around 50 women were at the centre of the ‘Suvasini Vandanam’ ritual, to celebrate motherhood.
According to organisers, various competitions were also conducted for college students on the same topic where there were free-to-explore different avenues to focus on the theme of ‘women’s honour’.
Around 400 stalls were set up to showcase activities of Hindu spiritual organisations.
The shrill sound of a ‘3000-year-old’ traditional wind instrument pierces the halls at the fair. As people gather to listen to the familiar, yet different sound, C Sivakuamar of ‘Kosainagaraan’ puts on a show for them- demonstrating the uniqueness of each of his instruments on display.
“These are instruments that are no longer in use in the State. We have identified 108 such instruments and our research shows that around 69 of them can be acquired and revived with enough effort,” said Sivakumar.
For now, he said, he and his team have managed to salvage 27 of these instruments, most of which were on display at the fair.
While the name of his troupe ‘Kosainagaraan’ exudes an impression that is named after a distant, historical land, Sivakumar said that ‘Kosainagar’ is nothing but the ancient name for Koyambedu. “Since I was born and brought up there, I decided to name the troupe ‘Kosainagaraan,” said Shivakumar.