HTS Balvihar 2021 Calendar

1/26/2021

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Namaste!

Happy 72nd Ganatantra Divas - Republic day to all Indian American Balvihar Families! To celebrate this wonderful day, we are excited to share HTS Balvihar 2021 Calendar!

Please download the HTS Balvihar 2021 Calendar and keep it in your child's room, Students may mark the Balvihar days, homework days and other important information as per convenience.

Our hardworking Senior student Suhani Makwana along with the help of Ojas Karandikar and Neil Rana created this for the entire HTS community.

If this were a year like any, then you would have enjoyed few birthday lunches from Balvihar families! Cheese Dosa, brownies and even mango juice boxes! You would have played some games, laughed at your friend's silly antics and showed us your new Indian outfits!

To celebrate this special day, we would have also participated in a quiz! Even though we are missing out, it does not mean we should stop learning.

Did you know : For a swearing in ceremony in India, A Prime minster, President or any representative of the people take oath by putting their hand on the constitution and not on a religious book. This shows true secularism and commitment to their public service.

The Bharatiya Republic Day Parade showcases tableau from each state and they are simply fascinating, you can search this year's parade online and watch it with your family to learn more about your motherland.

As the weather turns very chilly, we remind you to take your Milk and Turmeric, do regular Salt gargle, practice Quiet Meditation and Homework before our next class of Feb 7th and 21st! Stay safe, Stay smart and Stay Healthy. Namaste!

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January 10 2020 Let's Do Yoga!

1/9/2021

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Namaste,

Even though the winter chill is quite strong, the reality is our Earth has started its tilt towards the north which means that from this point onwards, the days will not be as short and we are aiming towards more positive influence from the Sun to us. Uttarayan means journey towards the North.

Every Uttarayana, Makar Sankranti, Lohri week of January 14th, we welcome the beneficial rays of Sun by performing Suryanamaskar. We will continue this with our 5th consecutive year by matching our minds to our bodies! Wear comfortable clothes, Shine bright as we do Yoga! Just like last year, we invite our Balvihar students from Religion 4 Aneesh and Religion 2 Kaustubh Kashalkar to lead the way!

Satsangh
Bharat Khanda - The Indian subcontinent is known for having given more than its share of warriors but what is not very well known is that we had numerous women warriors as well. Every part of Bharata had its own Queen, Princess or a regular warrior who rose to the challenges of time. They still do. This Sunday, our Religion 2 student Sanvi Jha will share with us her presentation on Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi.

We need regular doses of motivation in life to find our push to move forward. We hope that doing Suryanamaskar, learning about Queen Lakshmibai and attending your Balvihar classes will do that for you!

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HTS Balvihar 2021

1/9/2021

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Namaste,

What does the word Sankalp mean to you? In Sanskrit and all major Bharatiya Languages, Sankalpa means a promise to yourself and universe. Before every Pooja, Vrat we do a resolve that we will prepare, sit and perform the ritual with our best abilities. So what is your 2021 Sankalpa?

We hope it includes continuing to stay safe, follow all the precautions, eat healthy food, exercise and be mindful. These will recharge your life and make all your other resolutions meet success!

Our first Balvihar class of 2021 is tomorrow, Please join us at 9:30 am. We will ask all children to chant mantras with us so that we can practice them alongside R5 student. First we all chant and then we read the translation. As always, we sing Aarti together. Please use the same link to join at noon as we understand the importance of Satyanarayana Katha.

SatSangh :

This New Year, our resolve is to impart information about our Important pooja, Vrat and other traditions. We start with Satyanarayana Katha. Few years ago, this was the theme of our Annual day, Each Religion Class performed one chapter from the Satyanarayana Katha and at the end our entire Balvihar Class performed the Aarti. We want to pray for the blessings of Bhagwan Shri Vishnu to guide us in this year. This Katha will be narrated as a story so that students of all ages can understand!
Just as we do Lakshmi Pooja to celebrate Diwali at Balvihar, we will learn to include our families to understand this very important tradition in being a Hindu, doing Pooja.
This way before our Balvihar year ends by Summer time, we will have learnt of different rituals done and understood their significance.

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Nava Varsha 2021

1/9/2021

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Namaste,

You, Our dear Balvihar Families are absolutely the best! If you have been following us on HTS Balvihar Facebook or Instagram you will know just in how many ways you are adding value to our community! Your grace, your contributions, your affection and above all your children!

We have all heard and read many philosophical versions of how the past year has been challenging and the reality is that we are still in the same boat. What makes us stronger is leaning on each other, what keeps us strong is knowing that good Karma gets us across problems and doing the right thing is always the best thing to do! You all have sent us encouraging messages, kind words and unfailing support!

As Religion class 4 & class 1 teachers, Myself and Purvi have leaned on our faith now more so than ever. In Teaching the students of Balvihar, we have relearned the Theology that has stood true to the test of time! In our service, we have received hope and joy! We thank you so much. On behalf of all teachers of HTS Balvihar, we wish you all a very Blessed Happy New Year!

Pratibha Roochir Purani
Purvi Bhojani

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HTS Balvihar Midterm 2020-21

1/9/2021

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Namaste,

Hope you had a lot of fun making snowman or snowoman, snowball fights with the almost 20 inches of snow we had! To make matters more exciting, We are expecting a White Christmas! But did you know that many hundreds of years ago Lord Krishna gave the sermon which is now known as Bhagavad Gita, this day is celebrated as Gita Jayanti, this year it falls on Dec 25th. It is also Vaikuntha Ekadashi which is a day of fasting for a lot of Hindus.
So with so many amazing things lining up for next week, you will get a chance to have a lot of fun!
Now, let us put our heads down and get the Midterms sorted. You have been a wonderful student for the past 4 months of Balvihar and before you start the next 4 months of Balvihar of 2021, It is time to recap what you have learned.

Please join us at 9:30 am for Morning Mantra, Aarti so that you can get in to your Language class ahead of time. Similarly, your Religion class will start on the dot, so make sure you are punctual.
Satsangh will be at noon and we will have a quick session before our winter break will officially begin!

Satsangh :

We have 3 things to share with Balvihar Families during Satsangh.
1. Parent teacher discussion. Our Midterms are also the time that we invite all families to share their suggestions, comments and participate in Parent Teacher meeting. Please use the same link as above to participate in the dialogue. We always look forward to your inputs and feedback.
2. The importance of celebrating and discussing Gita Jayanti on Dec 25.
3. Learning about Vaikuntha Ekadashi which is also on Dec 25.

We thank you for supporting us in making the first half of our Balvihar year a success. With the news of vaccine arriving in our community, we hope that we can have better plans for the upcoming year. Jai Shri Krishna.

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Be Blessed With Ladoo Gopal For Your Home!

1/9/2021

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Jai Shri Krishna

Namaste Balvihar Families,

We are approaching the end of this 2020 year and what an year it has been! We all have been through ups and downs the kind that we never thought we would have to face. But by Bhagwan's grace we have overcome it and we will continue to do so.
In order to provide protection and blessings to all families of our Hindu Temple Society community, 108 Ladoo Gopal have been part of Prana Prathi Sthapana. This means that the Baby Krishna that you take with you will have the same Shakti and force to keep your family protected.

Lord Krishna is a mentor to us all. From the start of Kaliyuga through the turmoil of this day and age, HIS words, advices and benevolence has been the way to guide us through the darkness. Keeping this in mind, you can partake in this and call Resp., Priest Shri. Anandji at 512 545 9657 and request for your own Krishna.

Pooja at Mandir before you take Krishna home is also available.
Details : Dec 12 Saturday 11: 12 am, 4:30 - 5:30 pm or 6-7pm. Please call now.

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Dec 6 2020 Balvihar Class

1/9/2021

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Namaste,

Hope you had a comfortable Thanksgiving weekend with your family! Slowly our homes are starting to see Christmas trees being lit up and the warmth of the the holidays sparkle in the hazy lights! Christmas follows Diwali and our culture is all about sharing and being grateful. We invite you to donate for our Diwali to Christmas Toy Drive which is in its 10th year!!

So with those happy thoughts, We are going to be conducting our last class before Midterms this Sunday. Please check your homework, revise your notes and brush up on your study material so that you do your best on your Midterms. Midterms are on 20th.
As always our Morning assembly starts at 9:30 am this Sunday and language class will start at 10:10 am. Your language class starts at 11:00 am and ends at 11:45, finally Satsangh at noon!

HTS Balvihar Diwali to Christmas Toy Drive 10th year!
Our Senior students of Religion 5 are getting together to drop off the toys that were on the wish list of Lehigh Valley Hospital. If you wish to contribute as you have in all the years past, you may pick an item from the list and have it sent directly to the hospital using your amazon account. Please fill this form and send it back to them to get your tax deductible form. You can make a tax-deductible gift by visiting lvhn.org/give and choosing Inpatient Child Life fund as your designation.
Please consider continuing your generosity in any amount or manner of your choice and do not forget to mention HTS Balvihar. Our support as Hindus, Jains & Sikhs towards the sick and healing patients at Lehigh Valley Hospital teaches our kids what is the true purpose of spirituality as well as presents a strong vision of us to the world. We want to raise our kids to be proud of who they are and these traditions help them remember that.

Satsangh :

Our Religion 3 student Guhan Sathish is very excited to present the topic Swastika with his fellow Balvihar friends! Please join, support and encourage him and let us learn more about this very ancient and powerful symbol from your heritage!

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HTS Balvihar Diwali Contest!

1/9/2021

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Namaste,

Thank you to all Balvihar Families, Teachers who sent in their submission and brightened our inbox! There was one winner family who will get the Diwali Hamper sponsored by Bibi Grocery in Trexlertown. But because we find it very hard to pick one winner, we took the rest of the names and picked a chit by lucky draw for a gift card from Amazon. And the winners are....

Suhani Thakkar for the Gift Hamper sponsored by Bibi Grocery in Trexlertown!

Vyas Family for the $10 Amazon card picked by Lucky draw!!

We hope you had fun celebrating Deepavali at your home, with your friends and family while following safety precautions. Our Prayers to Bhagwan to keep us all safe, healthy and blessed!

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Community Benefits

1/9/2021

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Namaste Balvihar Families,

Hope you are bringing the warmth of bright colors and lights in to your homes this week to fight the weather outside! We are so thrilled with all the pictures and videos that you are sending us at HTSBalvihar@gmail.com and looking forward to see many more!
We want to share with you two helpful information that will help your family! Hope you find it useful.

Ajai Ananthan is a local student from Parkland School District. Ajai is an autistic young adult who discovered his interest in art accidentally in the summer of 2017 when he was struggling with anxiety and emotional regulation.

His mom introduced him to painting as form of therapy and he very quickly fell in love with it! With help and guidance from his Mom, Ajai started creating canvas art using acrylic paint and a variety of multi-media such as buttons, beads, beans, glitter and more.

At HTS Balvihar, we support Ajai by inviting him to have a booth during our events like Dussehra celebrations. We want to continue our love for his arts. Please purchase his creations by clicking on the tab below.

Dharshan Tharumia, is a local senior at Parkland High School from our community. He has just started a non profit organization called STEMMingYouth Inc. It focusses on the growing need for youth exposure to science research, diminish barriers in STEMM fields, and maintain extracurricular opportunities for students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The focus is on students in Grades 5-7 a fully cost-free, after-school, online research program. Participants will work on a science research project to present to peers from schools across the Lehigh Valley for recognition and other prizes and will be mentored by selective high school students who are advanced in science and have won several awards in science competitions. Please click on the tab below to learn more. The registration deadline is November 20, 2020. If there are any questions, please contact Dharshan Tharumia at dharshan@stemmingyouth.org or (484) 635-4487.

At Balvihar, we have always focused on inviting community members who can offer guidance in matters of Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, Music, Arts, Meditation, Social service so that our children can have a broader exposure to life using the mentors who are ready to offer their mentoring.

We are uploading the arts and crafts that our Balvihar kids made in the last class on HTSBalvihar FB page, on HTSBalvihar Instagram handle. We will announce the Diwali Balvihar Contest winner family in a few days! Follow us and cheer the beautiful faces! Happy Diwali, Deepotsav, Deepavali!

Special Arts and Cards

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Deepavali Celebrations!

1/9/2021

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Namaste,

Deepavali is 7 days away! We are all busy with our lives yet we will be cleaning our homes, create a beautiful space for our Diwali celebrations and plan to recreate snacks and sweets that our parents and grandparents made for us! We are passing down seeds of our heritage and watch it blossom! Rangoli, Diya,Toran and creative ways sparkle our homes and our front yard. We are bringing joy, color and mood enhancing symbols of happiness into the evenings that get dark too soon!

Every day in these auspicious phase of the month is celebrated for a special reason. Nov 11th is Gau Dwadashi, 12th is Dhan Teras, 13th is Kali Chaudas and 14th is Diwali. Many Bharatiya people celebrate the 1st day after Diwali as their New year and the 2nd day after as Bhai Dooj, Kansa Vadh Nov 24th, Tulsi Pooja Nov 26th. Once we start lighting a lamp in Pooja area it goes on until Kartika Poornima that is the full moon day Nov 29th! We do these simple acts voluntarily so that we carry forward traditions that are steeped in reason, science and logic. Let us dress up in our ethnic wear, jewelry and a radiant smile to illuminate our minds and souls!

We have announced the HTS Balvihar Diwali Contest. We ask each Balvihar Family to send us pictures and videos of your Diwali corner with your family! You may also share a 30-50 second video explaining your corner! We will announce the winner family on Diwali Sunday Nov 14th at noon on our HTS Balvihar FB and HTS Balvihar Instagram page. We are super excited to see all your entries! All Balvihar families are eligible to win this contest! Please email your pictures, videos to Htsbalvihar@gmail.com

This Sunday our Bhaasha and Dharma classes will focus on our most important festival. We encourage all students to dress up in ethnic wear that is comfortable for you.
At 9:30 am , we will start our Morning Mantra, Aarti, Janmdin Geet and then join our language classes from 10:10 am till 10:40 am. You will then join your religion classes from 10:45 am till 11:25 am. Please make a note of these changed timings. Classes are 30 minutes long. Using the same link as Morning Mantra, we will meet for Satsangh at 11:30am so that all our children may perform our Balvihar Lakshmi Pooja.

These are the items you will need to put in front of the children before they are linked on Satsangh.

A small picture or idol of Lord Ganesha and Ma Lakshmi.
2 pinch of Haldi (Turmeric) and Kumkum. (vermillion)
Few grains of Mantra Akshate. (rice)
Few petals of flowers or leaves.
A fruit or dry fruits or sugar.
Paper towel.
Spoon.
small cup with 4 spoons of water.
A coin. (quarter, dime, penny)
A clean plate. (paper, steel, copper or silver)

We will talk about why Pooja is an important part of our culture and how and why it is done. We will sing Aarti afterwards and keep these pooja items in our kitchen so that our entire family can get the blessings. It is important for the entire family to sit together. We want to show our children that even though they are the ones doing Pooja, it is important for all of us to be together for this.

Our aim is to be done by noon so that we may all carry this enthusiasm to start decorating our front door, our Pooja room, and our entire homes with the color and festivity of Diwali. We request you to plan a fun lunch with your family, this will continue the tradition of our Balvihar children enjoying a fun meal after Diwali Pooja. Join us as we bring in positivity, health, hope and happiness in your homes and share it with our community! May this auspicious week be all that you are hoping for. We appreciate you and your amazing support! Do not forget to show your love to our Teachers, youth teachers who are all planning special classes for this important week! Jai Ma Lakshmi, Jai Shri Raama! Happy Deepavali!

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