Recently, 35 students from Sri Mayapur International School performed a pandal program for the pleasure of Sri Sri Krishna Balarama at the Chandan yatra festival at Sri Sri Krishna Balarama Mandir, ISKCON Bhubaneswar. They were accompanied on their travels by parents and teachers.

The performance began with some of the Primary school students reciting the mangala carana. The Orissan audience commented on how nicely the children pronounced the Sanskrit slokas and were amazed that such young children could memorise so many prayers.

This was followed by individual students and groups singing bhajans , playing harmonium and mridanga. Different students also performed devotional dances. This included Parvati ,aged 13 , from Russia who performed a kathak dance. The audience were especially impressed with the mridanga presentation by Nagina, Vrinda, Gaurangi and Padmaja from the middle school.

The grand finale was a drama performance of Saksi Gopal by primary school students. This attracted a large crowd and drew loud applause. Many people expressed their happiness with the devotion and talent of the students and the temple president , Dhruva Maharaja prabhu, invited them to come every year. The students were happy to see Subhag Swami and Bhaktarupa prabhu in the audience.

The following day the students had a short parikrama in Bhuabneswar with Madhavananda Das, then travelled to Jagannath puri dham where they went on parikrama for 2 days with Bhakti Purushottam Swami and Madhavananda prabhu. They visited many of the important vaisnava temples and sites in Jagannath Puri and also managed to find time to swim in the ocean!

Bhakti Purushottam Swami suggested that we make the whole outing longer next year. The most frequently heard comment from the students, parents and teachers was, “When can we do this again?”

For more information about Sri Mayapur International School, please visit www.mayapurschool.com