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[gokulam children's home]

Gokulam children participate in the Ratha Yatra!
October 2007 Newsletter
The Ratha Yatra Festival - 26th Sept '07     The Ratha Yatra Festival in Sri Lanka has always given an opportunity for the children of Gokulam to show off their skills and talents in the cultural arts. The children are taught the classical dance - Bharata Natyam and Carnatic Music by qualified teachers.   The Ratha Yatra was initially celebrated in Puri, Orissa in India. It is the oldest chariot festival known in the history and it has been celebrated for over 2500 years. Srila Prabhupada introduced this festival to the west in the early 70's and it is now celebrated all over the world.   The Ratha Yatra Festival in Sri Lanka was organized by the Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple - ISKCON Sri Lanka on the 26th September of 2007 for the ninth consecutive time.   The Children of Gokulam participated in this festival. Chandrika and Paranika were dressed up as Lord Krishna and Radha and were on a decorated horse cart that was in the lead.   In the evening, there was a special program arranged for the Gokulam children where hundreds of well-wishers attended the program and enjoyed the performances by the children. The children performed programs in music and dance. There were group dances and individual performances also.  At the end, Nandarani Devi - the Principal concluded the program with a speech.   The Festival has left the children in high spirits and has also increased their enthusiasm and confidence to continue with their activities in renewed ardor.		GIve a Child a GIft of Hope! Sponsor a child!       Watch Videos! See Pictures!
Seylan Merchant Leasing Ltd organized an art & essay competition this June 2007 in which about two thousand children from all over Colombo participated. Ten Children from Gokulam also participated in the competition. Eight children participated in the Essay competition and One boy - Isaiarasan participated in the art competition. On the 22nd September 2007, Logapriya was awarded the second place in an essay competition and Isaiarasan's art was displayed in the exhibition.   Logapriya Somasundaram Logapriya is a 16 year old girl who has been in the Home for over 5 years. She has been affected by the ethnic war and has also lost her mother.   Logapriya was always interested in collecting and writing poems and she has a huge collection of them. Her favorite subject is Mathematics and Tamil.    Sponsor a day's meal   When children arrive at the Home, they are from poor background and many suffer from malnutrition. It takes a great deal of care to nurse these children back to good health. You also can take part in this great service to nurture these children by sponsoring at least one meal for the day. more
When she was selected to participate in the Tamil Essay writing competition, she had   spent a great amount of time reading in order to increase her vocabulary and writing skills.   In the competition, she had written on the topic "The Importance of Living a frugal life" for which she had won the 2nd place in the sixteen to eighteen year category. She was awarded with a Certificate of Excellence. Isaiarasan Tharmalingam is a 15 year old boy who has been in the orphanage for over four years. There were many children from Gokulam who had attended the competition to partake in in the Drawing competition conducted by the Seylan bank, but Isaiarasan was the only boy who was able to participate in the art competition due to the huge crowd that had attended. The prize giving was conducted in the Art Gallery of the Lionel Wendt Auditorium in Colombo. Although Isairasan did not receive a certificate of Excellence, he was very happy that his drawing had been selected to be displayed in the Art Gallery. pictures
Contact Us: To Donate: Bhaktivedanta Children's Home - Gokulam Tel: +94 11 2433325, Fax: +94 11 2471099, Email: isk...@slt.lk, Website: www.gokulam.org Bank account name: ISKCON Swift code: CCEYLKLX Routing no: 7056 012 Account no: 1050669901