179 BARTLEY ROAD | SINGAPORE 539784 PH: +65 6288 9077 | FAX: 6288 5798 singapore@rkmm.org

SINGA SPEAKS

A PERIODIC NEWSLETTER FROM THE RAMAKRISHNA MISSION, SINGAPORE

ROAR 7 | SINGAPORE | SATURDAY | 21 MAY 2016

T h e R a m a -krishna Mission, Singapore and t h e H i g h Commission of India, Singapore jointly invited a popular puppet group from the S t a t e o f R a j a s t h a n i n India to stage "A Puppet Show on Swami Viveka-nanda”. This show has been produced by the R a m a k r i s h n a M i s s i o n , N e w D e l h i i n collaboration with the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (IGNCA) also in New Delhi. The M i n i s t r y o f Culture of the Government of India took up the project of developing a puppet show based on the l i f e a n d t each ings o f Swami Viveka-

nanda with the help of Bhartiya L o k K a l a M a n d a l , a n internationally r e n o w n e d puppet theatre g r o u p o f Udaipur. This was conceived on the eve of the 1 5 0 t h b i r t h A n n i v e r s a r y celebrations of

the ‘Cyclonic Monk of India’ Swami Vivekananda and the shows were put in operation from the year 2013 reaching to masses all over India.

Wherever the s h o w w a s staged, it was received with t r e m e n d o u s e n t h u s i a s m applause and appreciation. It depicts a few i n s p i r i n g incidents from t h e L i f e & Teachings of Vivekananda.

A Popular Puppet Show at Sarada Hall

The State Bank of India, Singapore was the main sponsor for this programme in Singapore. During this occasion, the Guest of Honour was Sri Soma Shankara Prasad, Country Head of SBI Singapore. While welcoming the audience, Swami Vimokshananda narrated how deep was the relation with the leading Bank of India, the SBI. SBI has been always in the forefront to come to any type of financial assistance to various projects in India. Here also, for the Puppet Show SBI came forward with its helping hand.

179 BARTLEY ROAD | SINGAPORE 539784 PH: +65 6288 9077 | FAX: 6288 5798 singapore@rkmm.org

In Singapore, the first show was staged at Ramakrishna Mission Sarada Hall on 2nd May evening. The programme commenced with a chanting of Shanti mantras by Swami Pavitratmananda.

216 shows have so far been presented in various parts of India, including far-flung areas of the North East, in front of appreciative audiences. The shows were in great demand wherever they were staged in as much as it had to be repeated more than once in the same venue due to the large turnout of audiences. 17 shows were held in the USA, Canada, Malaysia and Singapore bringing the total number of shows to 233. The demand has been steadily increasing.

At the end of the Show, Swami Satyalokananda paid a Vote of Thanks. He exclaimed how wonderful the Show had been! He appreciated the tireless artistes who contributed enormously in labour to make the story of

Swami Vivekananda alive through the art of puppetry.

The 2nd show was done for the Global India International School (GIIS), Balestier for their children on 3rd May. Especially for the Sarada Kindergarten

children, further, two shows of short stories from Swamiji's life and messages were arranged on 4th May 2016. The team of artistes were led by Sri Ravi who was deeply appreciative of the hearty hospitality shown by the Ramakrishna Mission.

PERIODIC NEWSLETTER SATURDAY, 21 MAY 2016

179 BARTLEY ROAD | SINGAPORE 539784 PH: +65 6288 9077 | FAX: 6288 5798 singapore@rkmm.org

PERIODIC NEWSLETTER SATURDAY, 21 MAY 2016

Sri C V Gopinath, a Vedic Scholar from Bengaluru took the audience to a far away place of pilgrimage while seated in the Sarada Hall on 14 May 2016. This was a virtual tour of Manasa Sarovar in the heaven ly H ima layas . He earnestly began his inspiring introduction by explaining the term Kailash and went on to describe the route to the Himalayas from the India side of the border. It was a treat to be with Sri Gopinath’s stunning slideshow. The lovely pictures themselves spoke a thousand w o r d s ! I n a d d i t i o n , S r i Gopinath in his eloquent E n g l i s h , n a r r a t e d t h e

experience of the journey while in Sanskrit, intermittently he recited in his buoyant voice some of the ancient mantras from the Vedic lore. He made it a point to make us understand that the stupendous journey was not at all that easy and though the difficulties on the w a y s e e m e d t o b e insurmountable, yet by Lord Mahadeva’s grace the journey e n d e d w i t h s p i r i t u a l satisfaction. It is true that his

bold voice is still lingering in many of our ears, his pictures of the perilous route still moving in front of our mental eyes and his style of Vedic recitals are still make us humming! The programme began with a chanting of portions of Rudra-prasna by Swami Pav i t ra tmananda . Welcome by Swami Satyaloka-nanda. Smt Sharadamba Sury conducted the programme and also gave a vote of thanks.

Momentous Travel to Manasa Sarovar