To celebrate its platinum jubilee year, Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan (BVB) has organised a Vedic Week at ISCKON. The event was inaugurated by Governor of Karnataka, H R Bhardwaj on July 21. It will be on till Sunday
H N Suresh, director, BVB, said, “Vedas are one of the most important contributions from India to the world. The ‘guru-shiksha parampara’ is still an aspired concept in the West. Whereas we have already been learning from the Vedas, apart from inculcating good habits like respecting elders, good lifestyle and protecting the environment.”
Day-long seminars and a book stall are part of the activities here.
B V Krishna Bhatta, one of the speakers at a seminar, delivered a lecture on Vikruthi Patha in vedas. He dwelled on preserving the ‘right vedas’; devoid of additions or subtractions, and aspects of the vedas such as pronunciation, grammar and meter.
C M Neelakanthan Namboodiri, in-charge, Vedic Studies, Sri Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit Kalady, along with K M Vasudevan Namboodiri, T N Parameshwaran Namboodiri, Shailesh Deshpande and A S Subramaniam delivered lectures on the unique features of vedic traditions in Kerala. The pronunciation and style of chanting the vedas is different in Kerala when compared to other regions. This difference is possibly due to the influence of the native language, said Neelakanthan Namboodiri.
Ramanujan, chairman, Bhavan Group said that the world being one family is the guiding principle of the Trust. Towards that end, “to promote education among all sections of society and to cultivate an interest in Indian culture among the youth, this Vedic Week is a humble effort and a small beginning. But, please don’t confuse this with promoting right-wing nationalism,” he said.
According to the organisers, youngsters who had attended the Vedic Week so far were most taken in by modules such as Vedic Economics, Veda in Astronomy and Vedic Mathematics.
The turnout at the Vedic Week has in fact surprised the organisers, and has encouraged them to plan a follow-up course, a ‘Veda Study Circle’.