Events - Past
Parishad organized following activities
The Parishad will focus on all possible activities related to creation, evaluation, preservation and propagation of qualitative children's literature in Sanskrit.
1. POETS' MEET
When : September 29, 2015
Where : Sri Ramakrishna Mission Residential Autonomous College, Kolkata
It was for the first time in India that a Poets' Meet was organized in which the poets
were asked to recite only children's poems composed by them. The programme was organized
at the Sri Ramakrishna Mission Residential Autonomous College, Narendra Pur, Kolkata, on
September 29 by Samskrita Balasahitya Parishad.
Padmashri Ramakanta Shukla, President Devavani Parishad, New Delhi, presided over the programme
and Professor Radhavallabha Tripathi, Former Vice Chancellor, Rashtriya Samskrit Sansthan, New Delhi,
was the Chief Guest. The entire programme was coordinated and compered by Dr. Sampadananda Mishra,
Founder Director, Samskrita Balasahitya Parishad.
Poets such as Dr. Banamali Biswal from Allahabad, Dr. Ashok Shatapathy from Lucknow, Sushri Paramba
Yogamaya from Balasore, Dr. Narayan Dash from Kolkata, Dr, Purnachandra Upadhyaya from Rajasthan,
Sunita Barman from Kolakata, Dr. Ajay Mishra from New Delhi, Dr. Narayanji Jha from Kanchipuram,
Pradnya Dharbe from Thane presented their poems. Padmashri Ramakanta Shukla and Professor Radhavallabh
Tripathi also recited their compositions meant for children. Dr. Sampadananda Mishra presented a few of
his compositions to exemplify what Samaskrita Balasahitya Parishad mean by qualitative children's literature.
The whole programme was extremely enjoyable and unique in its approach and audience. The Parishad also has
taken a decision to honour the best poem at every occasion organized to develop children's literature, and
this year the poems of Paramba Yogamaya from Balasore was selected by the committee to be honoured.
2. Release of Children's Storybook 'Saptavarna Chitrapatanga'
When :September 29, 2015
Where :Sri Ramakrishna Mission Residential Autonomous College, Kolkata
An illustrated storybook for children, titled 'Saptavarna Chitrapatanga', by Dr. Sampadananda
Mishra, was released on this occasion. This book has one story created by a group of school
children from Puducherry. Saptavarna Chitrapatanga is the Sanskrit version of the story originally
in English. The beautiful illustrations are created by Lesley from United States. The quality of the
content, presentation and printing was highly appreciated by all those who were present during the
programme.
3. Second Annual Meeting of the Samskrita Balasahitya Parishad
When :October 1, 2015
Where :Kolkata
The Second Annual Meeting of the Samskrita Balasahitya Parishad was held on October 1, 2015,
at Kolkata. In this meeting, Dr. Sampadananda Mishra, the founder Director of the Parishad
gave an elaborate account of the Parishad’s vision, mission, activities and the plan for the
future. The proceedings of the previous meeting held at Puducherry in October 2014 were reviewed.
It was decided that all members will actively contribute towards the activities of the Parishad
in all possible manner that they can. The Parishad will also release worldwide two Sanskrit books:
Saptavarna Chitrapatanga—an illustrated storybook for the children of age group 9 and above and
Shanaih Shanaih -a book of rhymes and songs meant for children of various age groups. Both the books
are being compiled by Dr. Sampadananda Mishra. The Parishad also is collecting poems, stories, plays
and other creative writings for the children which will be edited and published in the due course.
New members were also added to the existing members of the Parishad.
4. Balakavita Pathotsava - Poets' Meet
When :December 10, 2015
Where :Akshardham Mandir, New Delhi
The second Poets' Meet for Children—BALAKAVITA PATHOTSAVA—was organized on December 10, 2015,
by Samskrita Balasahitya Parishad. This special programme to propagate children's literature was
arranged as a part of a two-day seminar on 'Sanskrit in Social Media', in which the poets were asked
to recite only children's poems composed by them.
Padma Shri Ramakanta Shukla, General Secretary, Devavani Parishad, New Delhi, presided over the
programme and Dr. Jeet Ram Bhatt, Director, Delhi Sanskrit Academy was the Chief Guest. The programme
was facilitated by Dr. Sampadananda Mishra, Founder Director of the Samskrita Balasahitya Parishad.
The special attraction of this poet's meet was recital of self-compositions by a few children. The
whole programme was extremely enjoyable. Dr. Buddhadev Sharma's poem 'Taata Nayatu Maam Nainiitaalam'
of was selected as the best poem by the Parishad. Special prizes were given to the children poets.
5. Samskrita Balasahitya Parishad—First Meeting of the Core Group Members
When :October 5-6, 2014
Where :Puducherry
Samskrita Balasahitya Parishad was established by Dr. Sampadananda Mishra on August 15, 2014 with
the aim of working towards creating, evaluating and propagating children's literature. This Parishad
includes many Sanskrit lovers and scholars at national level as its core group members. On October
5-6, 2014, the first meeting of the core group members took place in Puducherry to discuss the
following issues:
- What should be nature and paribhasha of baalasaahitya (children's literature) in Sanskrit?
- What guidelines should we follow in evaluating children's literature, while also analysing and evaluating the literary element s as well as illustrations in the children's literature?
- How should the evaluation of existing children's literature be taken up?
- Record how children respond to the literature made available to them.
- Preparing a shabdakosha (dictionary) containing words specific to the world of children.
- Defining the various types of childrens literature.
- Translating children's literature from other Indian/foreign languages to Sanskrit and the principles of translation.
- Reproducing ancient children's literature and the principles of reproduction.
- A concrete action plan for the functioning of the Parishad.
- Compiling quality children's literature from various published and unpublished sources.
- Providing library services to the children and ways to create classroom libraries.
- Creating groups of children using the literature regularly for feedback and evaluation.
- Extending learning through Internet and using technology to spread awareness.
- Dr Narayan Dash from Kolkata
- Dr Sweta Prajapati from Baroda
- Dr M. Jayaraman from Chennai
- Dr Varalakshmi from Hyderabad
- Vidwan Udayan Hegde from Bangalore
- Acharya Dhananjay Shastri from Delhi
- Dr Sampadananda Mishra from Pondicherry.
6. 'SANSKRIT FOR CHILDREN' Workshop
When :Nov 9—10 & 12—20, 2013
Where :Kolkata, West Bengal, and Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
Samskrita Balasahitya Parishad in collaboration with Bharatiya Samskriti Parishad, Kolkata, organized a
workshop and seminar on Sanskrit for children, held on November 9th and 10th, 2013. Dr Sampadananda Mishra,
Founder Director of the Parishad facilitated the workshop for the children on November 9. The workshop was
attended by 25 children in the age group of 5 to 15, to learn basic Sanskrit with fun. The children enjoyed
learning body parts in Sanskrit, some sentences for day-to-day use, singing and playacting on songs in Sanskrit,
playing memory and other games in Sanskrit.
In the Seminar on the next day (10th November), there were 11 invited speakers who spoke on various topics
related to teaching Sanskrit to the children of various age groups.
After the formal inauguration of the Seminar by lighting lamps and invocation, the welcome address was given
by Sri Rajgopal of Bharatiya Samskriti Parishad. Dr Sampadananda Mishra provided the introduction to the seminar
in which he explained the need for teaching Sanskrit at the primary level and the Parishad's programmes on creating
innovative Sanskrit learning materials for children. Dr Mishra highlighted that Sanskrit has immense potential in
developing the inner faculties of learning, and therefore it is always beneficial if it can be taught to the children
from nursery level. He expressed his disappointment that in India barring one or two there are no mainstream schools
that provide Sanskrit at the nursery and primary level.
At the inaugural session, a panellist spoke on the importance of Sanskrit in achieving the objectives of True Education.
In his talk he stressed upon teaching of Sanskrit at all levels, especially in the former classes, keeping the aim of
holistic education in mind. It was followed by a fabulous PowerPoint presentation in which he highlighted the
necessity of Sanskrit in a child’s education. The presentation was highly informative and was well received by the
participants. Another panellist spoke elaborately on the difficulties and problems in teaching Sanskrit at the
primary level and provided many solutions for making Sanskrit teaching practical and effective. In the next session,
emphasis was laid on the usefulness of retelling the Puranic stories in a simple Sanskrit to facilitate Sanskrit
learning at the primary levels. The next expert spoke on the contemporary Sanskrit education for the children in
the present scenario. In his talk he mentioned about the contributions of organizations such as Sri Aurobindo
Ashram, Seth MR Jaipuria School, Samskrita Bharati, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Chinmay Mission and Sri Ramakrishna
Mission in bringing Sanskrit to the children. Next a paper was presented on making Sanskrit relevant to children
in the present times, and the important contribution of some of the westerners in teaching Sanskrit to the children
in the foreign lands. The last speaker of this session spoke on the Sanskrit education in the ancient times.
In his talk he highlighted the importance of educating a girl child as it was prevalent in ancient India.
A panellist from West Bengal State University spoke on Sanskrit usage in multiple value education sayings and quotes
in India. The last speaker of the seminar spoke on various poetic devices used by the modern poets in creating
children's literature in Sanskrit.
In the concluding session, Dr Sampadananda Mishra thanked the participants on behalf of the Parishad for their
efforts to attend and contribute to the growth of Sanskrit with their thoughts and ideas. He also thanked the
members of Bharatiya Samskriti Parishad for hosting the workshop and the seminar. As a concluding remark,
Dr Mishra pointed out the need for a greater collaboration of dedicated Sanskrit educationists and experts for
bringing Sanskrit to every child of India. He also pointed out that it is this language that can connect the
Indian children with the glorious past of their country.
The exhibition materials prepared by Dr. Mishra on 'Sanskrit & Science' and 'Why Children Should Learn Sanskrit'
were exhibited at the venue on both the days. This was viewed by all those who came to participate and visit
Bharatiya Samskriti Parishad.
In a related though independent workshop, Dr Sampadananda Mishra was in Lucknow from November 12 to 20 to help
the Sanskrit teachers of Seth MR Jaipuria School in teaching Sanskrit to the children from nursery to class eight.
This is the one of the very few mainstream schools in India that has Sanskrit as a compulsory language for all
children up to class eight.
The exhibition materials prepared by Dr. Mishra on 'Sanskrit & Science' and 'Why Children Should Learn Sanskrit'
were exhibited in the School too as a part of their exhibition-day celebration. Hundreds of visitors, including
the students and their parents, came to the various exhibitions put up by the students of the school. The set of
exhibition materials prepared by Dr. Mishra was one of the main attractions on that day.
7. Release of a Set of Eight Sanskrit Books Titled 'Devabhasha'
When :Nov 11, 2014
Where :Seth M.R. Jaipuria School, Lucknow
Dr Sampadananda Mishra, Founder Director, Samskrita Balasahitya Parishad, was invited as the guest of
honor to address a symposium titled 'Value Education through Sanskrit', organized by Seth M.R. Jaipuria
School, Lucknow. Jaipuria is the ONLY mainstream English medium school in India where Sanskrit education
is being imparted right from LKG to Class VIII, ensuring the holistic development of a child.
On this occasion, a set of eight books, titled 'Devabhasha', prepared by Dr Mishra was released. This
set is a part of the curriculum at Jaipuria School from Class I to VIII. These books have been edited by
Dr Sampadananda Mishra (an Indian President-awarded Sanskrit trainer, teacher and scholar), and he regularly
trains the Sanskrit teachers of this school to teach Sanskrit in a manner which is easy, natural and innovative.
Dr Mishra, in his address on the symposium spoke on the relevance of introducing Sanskrit at primary level and
explained the practical value of learning Sanskrit. Through Sanskrit learning, students of Jaipuria School have
imbibed love for their culture, coupled with a reverence for their country—thanks to the magical touch of the
pristine language, Sanskrit. Their reasoning power, diction, memory and holistic growth—especially in
mathematics—have seen a positive upward trend. An unprecedented depth has also been noticed in their poetic
compositions. The student council, parents and teachers also shared their journey of Sanskrit Education in
Jaipuria School through the formative years of their wards and its beautiful influence on their lives at the
occasion.
An exhibition on the Sanskrit terms used for articles used in daily life was also organized at the occasion.
The objective of teaching Sanskrit across the primer, primary and middle school is neither to turn the
students into 'Shloka'- or 'Mantra-reciting 'parrots' nor to turn them into Sanskrit scholars or pandits,
but to help them garner a lucidity and fluency in what is undoubtedly the most perfect language of all ages
and the genesis of many languages across the world.