We began another delightful Sunday morning of Shishu Vihar, with our cute kids' faces popping up on our screens. Once we had most of our friends join our session, we began our class with 3 OMs.
Shlokas:
1. "Om Saha Navavatu" (page 8 in My Prayers book)
2. "Vakrathunda Mahakaya" (page 27 in My Prayers book)
3. "Saraswathi Namasthubhyam" (page 12 in My Prayers book)
4. "Karagre Vasate" (page 11 in My Prayers book)
5. "Samudhra Vasane" (page 11 in My Prayers book)
6. "Shubam Karoti" (page 12 in My Prayers book)
7. "Krishnayan Vasudevaya" (page 105 in My Prayers book)
8. "Karacharana Krtam" (page 12 in My Prayers book) - new
Activities:
Please have the kids make it a habit to chant the above shlokas every morning, after their bath/shower. This will help them learn, memorize as well as develop a lifelong habit of morning prayer and daily prayer.
We rolled right in to some Yoga stretches. We began with the Tree pose with some swaying, then went into a Tiger pose and had everyone roar like a Tiger or a Lion (we had to prompt them to be louder!). Then we sat on the floor and turned into little butterflies, fluttering in the breeze. We then went into the Flower Pose. We added the snake pose by popular demand!
Bhajan time - we introduced the class to a new Lord Shiva bhajan
Dhimiki Dhimiki Dhim Dhimiki Dhimiki Dhim
Nachey Bhola Nath
Dhimiki Dhimiki Dhim Dhimiki Dhimiki Dhim
Nachey Bhola Nath
Nachey Bhola Nath
Mridanga Boley Shiva Shiva Shiva Om
Mridanga Boley Shiva Shiva Shiva Om
Damaru Boley Hara Hara Hara Om
Damaru Boley Hara Hara Hara Om
Veena Boley Namah Shivah Namah Shivah
Veena Boley Namah Shivah Namah Shivah
Nachey Bhola Nath
Nachey Bhola Nath
Dhimiki Dhimiki Dhim Dhimiki Dhimiki Dhim
Nachey Bhola Nath
Dhimiki Dhimiki Dhim Dhimiki Dhimiki Dhim
Nachey Bhola Nath
Nachey Bhola Nath
We played the Concentration Game. After the chanting of 3 Om's kids tried to keep their eyes closed. They counted the number of stones being dropped into a box during the quiet time. Later they give the count of the stones dropped. The game quiets the mind and improves concentration. We muted everyone so that the kids wouldn't have any potential distractions from each other. A few of our students got the count correct! Most of them were really close. Impressive how most of the kids are able to keep their eyes closed and concentrate.
After some meditation and calming down, we repeated numbers 1-10 in Sanskrit. We had the kids put up their fingers as we counted together.
Geetha Chanting, we practiced shlokas 1, 2, 3 and 4 from chapter 2 of the Geetha. We repeated them once. We introduced the 5th shloka. It was such a wonderful feeling to see and hear several kids chanting shlokas 1, 2 and 3:)yay!!
Story Time.
Craft Time, we had a kids have a few different colors of playdoh ready to use. The kids enthusiastically made a Shiva Lingam out of playdoh. Then we had the kids cut out bilva leaves out of green construction paper as an offering to their Shiva Lingams. Thank you again to all the adults and siblings for helping our little one with the craft. Below are a few of our kids with their Shiva Lingams and Bilva leaves. 
Stories behind the celebration of Maha Shivaraathiri
1. The kids were asked if they remember who the consort of Lord Shiva is. A few of them immediately said Goddess Parvathi. A puppet of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi getting married was shown on the screen. We discussed that some celebrate Shivaraathiri in honor of their wedding.
2. Some celebrate Shivaraathiri in honor of the night Lord Shiva performed the "Tandava", the cosmic dance of creation, preservation and destruction. A puppet of this scene was shown on the screen.
3. We then discussed the Samudra Manthan. A pot of poison emerged from the ocean. To prevent the world from destruction, Lord Shiva decided to drink the poison Himself. A puppet of this scene was shown on the screen. Instead of swallowing it, he held it in his throat, making His throat turn blue giving Him the name Neelakantha. Shivaraathiri for some is the celebration of Lord Shiva saving the world. Another version had Goddess Parvathi holding the poison in Lord Shiva's throat to prevent Him from swallowing it, thus saving Lord Shiva. A puppet of this was shown on the screen.
The Feud Between Brahma and Vishnu
The story began with three puppets shown on the screen. The kids identified them as Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva. One day, Lord Brahma was in the presence of Lord Vishnu laying on His snake in the middle of the ocean. Lord Brahma was offended that Lord Vishnu did not acknowledge His presence. What began as a simple courtesy incident blew up out of proportion and began fighting over who was the superior of the two. The puppets were used to animate the feud in the tune of the musical Annie - Starting with Lord Brahma,
"Anything you can do, I can do better.
I can do anything better than you."
Lord Vishnu: No you can't.
Lord Brahma: Yes, I can.
Lord Vishnu: No, you can't.
Lord Brahma: Yes, I can.
Lord Vishnu: No, you can't.
Lord Brahma: Yes, I can, Yes, I can!
Horrified at the intensity of the battle, the other Gods asked Lord Shiva to intervene. To make them realize the futility of their fight, Lord Shiva assumed the form of a huge column of fire in between Brahma and Vishnu. Awestruck by its magnitude, they decided to find one end each to establish supremacy over the other. Brahma assumed the form of a swan and went upwards and Vishnu as Varaha went into the earth. (We took a brief moment to discus that Lord Vishnu took the form of the Varaha avathar in the Shiva purana for this purpose, we have discussed that Lord Vishnu in His 3rd avatar lifted the earth out of the ocean after defeating Hiranyaksha). A puppet of Lord Shiva in the fire column between the varaha and swan was shown on the screen. But light has no limit and though they searched for thousands of miles, neither could find the end. On his journey upwards, Brahma came across a Ketaki flower wafting down slowly. A puppet of the flower was shown on the screen. When asked where she had come from, the Ketaki replied that she had been placed at the top of the fiery column as an offering. Unable to find the uppermost limit, Brahma decided to end his search and take the flower as a witness.
At this, the angry Shiva revealed his true form. He punished Brahma for telling a lie, and cursed him that no one would ever pray to him. The Ketaki flower too was banned from being used as an offering for any worship, as she had testified falsely. A puppet of an enraged Shiva was shown on the screen. Since it was on the 14th day in the dark half of the month of Phalguna that Shiva first manifested himself in the form of a Linga, the day is especially auspicious and is celebrated as Mahashivaratri. Worshipping Shiva on this day is believed to bestow one with happiness and prosperity.
Story goes that Lubdhaka - a poor tribal man and a devout worshipper of Lord Shiva once went into the deep forests to collect firewood. As the darkness engulfed the jungle, Lubdhaka lost his way and could not find his way home. A puppet of a dark jungle was shown on the screen. He became extremely terrified as deep growls of animals began to fill the jungle. Seeking protection till daybreak, Lubdhaka climbed the nearest bel tree and sought safety and shelter in its branches. A puppet of a man hiding in a tree was shown on the screen. Since Lubdhaka was perched on the branch of a tree he was afraid that if he dozed off, he might fall off the tree. To keep himself awake all night, Lubdhaka decided to pluck one leaf from the bheel (bilva) tree and drop it while chanting the name of Shiva. We all chanted "Om Nama Shivaya" together, three times.
By sunrise, the devout tribal realized that he had dropped thousands of leaves on to a Shiva Lingam, which he had not seen in the darkness. A puppet of a Shiva Lingam covered in bilva leaves was shown on the screen. Lubdhaka's all night worship pleased Lord Shiva and by his divine grace tigers and other wild animals went away. Thus, Lubdhaka not only survived but was also rewarded with divine bliss. According to Puranas, ever since that day, the story of the tribal Lubdhaka has been recited every year on the night of Mahashivaratri. This popular legend also forms the basis of the popular custom of offering bhel (bilva)/(Aegle marmelos) leaves to Lord Shiva on Shivaratri.
We concluded class with Om Purnamadham
Wishing you all a very happy Maha Shivaraathiri.
