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"The Hindu"
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MADURAI, November
10, 2014
Gita
reciting contest a big hit among students...
STAFF
REPORTER
Hundreds of children
gathered at Setupati Higher Secondary School here on Sunday to participate in
the final rounds of Gita chanting competition organised by Chinmaya Mission.
R. Gopalasamy,
secretary, Chinmaya Mission-Madurai, said over 12,500 students took part in the
school-level training and competitions held earlier.
“Preliminary
competitions were held at schools for students studying LKG to Class IX under
different categories,” he said.
Uma Kannan,
Correspondent, Thiagarajar College, inaugurated the competitions.
Swami Sivayogananda,
Acharya of Chinmaya Mission-Madurai, said students were asked to recite the
14th chapter of Gita which spoke about human values. “This is the sixteenth
year of the competition and the number of participants have increased from the
10,000 students who took part last year. Since it transcends all boundaries,
learning Gita helps students prepare for daily challenges and instils
motivation, values and skills,” he said.
“Students and teachers
look forward to the competition every year, at a time when too much focus is
given on academics,” he added.
Many participants said
they had been taking part in the competition for the last few years.
“The students
discipline themselves for a few months and learn verses. They are taught the
meaning which is helpful in understanding the essence of the text,” said R.
Revathy whose daughter participated in the competition.
T. Perumal, another
parent who had come with his daughter, said preparing for the recitation
contest helped in sharpening the memory of children.
Echoing his views,
Swami Sivayogananda said the recitation also helped in improving Sanskrit
pronunciation, which in turn helped assimilate other languages.
