Bala Samskara Kendra and Yuva Samskara Kendra are initiatives launched by Vidya Vihaar, the education wing of VHP (Vishva Hindu Parishad) Australia to keep Australian Hindu children and youth rooted in Hindu Dharma. HinduPost spoke to Dr Mano Krishna ji regarding this initiative and their journey in ensuring children are familiarized with Dharma even when brought up in a foreign land.

A children’s workshop was conducted in 2010 and classes were started in 2011. Bala Samskara Kendra was conceived and started to serve as a one-stop shop to teach both Hindu Dharma and the mother tongue of the kids. At present, there are centres in New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia.

The lessons start with prayers. Children are then taught to how to read, write, and speak Sanskrit and their mother tongue, Hindu values from our Granthas through stories and finally children participate in physical activities (yoga and games). The session is concluded with prayers.

The year commences with the celebration of the Makara Sankranti / Pongal festival.  Hayagreeva Pooja is conducted at the start of the academic year in January. All Hindu festivals are celebrated at Bala Samskara Kendra. The festive celebrations are held on the Sunday before the festival date so as to familiarize children with the scientific meaning of rituals, spiritual significance, importance, and the puranic/historical origin of the festival. Parents are also encouraged to ask questions to children in this regard and the kids explain what they learned at the Kendra about the festival. 

Vidya Vihaar conducts a one-day heritage camp for students annually. In these camps, they select a particular topic/subject and impart lessons about it throughout the day. Additionally, they hold family camps once a year. At the end of the year, they conduct Bala Utsav where students are trained in dance, drama, public speaking, and other art forms. Yuva Samskara Kendra students are given soft-skill training such as leadership qualities, public speaking, and time management among others. Local experts are invited to give talks to these students.

Students are admitted from age four and admissions are provided even in the middle of the year. The classes are conducted every Sunday. They have six levels but it is not a very rigid system. 

It is a not-for-profit organization run by volunteers. BSK also conducts an orientation program for parents at the beginning of the academic year. Besides, parents are also part of the festival celebrations at the centres. The aim of Vidya Vihaar is to ensure that at the end of twelve years of training, students come out as change leaders well-trained in Dharma.

Vidya Vihaar has well-trained teachers and volunteers. Teachers obtain Samskrit training through Samskrita Bharati. Hindu Dharma education is guided by a wide variety of sources, including (1) books designed by the Purna Vidya Foundation; (2) Courses conducted by the Hindu University of America; and (3) Courses and books /publications by Bharat Gyan.

Over time, BSK has developed study materials for each of the grades and also a teacher’s guide. This helps teachers in understanding not just the teaching material but also the method by which the knowledge should be passed on to the students.

The Kendra was initially started as a language centre so that children are able to read, write and speak their mother tongues, a concern shared by many parents belonging to the diaspora. Over time, the parents recognised that only the language centre limits the scope of the centre as Dharmic and cultural values cannot be imparted in such a centre.

They also realised that students were just learning language as an academic exercise without any cultural attachment. Furthermore, teenage depression and teenage suicides were found to be a common occurrence among those Hindus who moved to Australia from other countries and had lost complete touch with Bharat their mother country and Bharatiya culture.  All of this put together motivated Vidya Vihaar to establish Bala and Yuva Samskara Kendras as centres of holistic Dharmic development. 

The Kendra has helped create community bonding among the diaspora besides making children aware of their mother culture. Students are now better placed to understand their roots and culture although they live in that country and respect its culture. It has also helped them deal with peer pressure.

Vidya Vihaar has a complete training package to train volunteers so that they can start and run similar Samskara Kendras in other locations. During the Covid lockdown period, Vidya Vihaar conducted online training for volunteers in Mumbai. These volunteer training programs are run in different languages including Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada.

Those willing to enrol for Vidya Vihar’s volunteer training program can contact them through email on [email protected]