Sri-prahlada uvaca
kaumara acaret prajno
dharman bhagavatan iha
durlabha manuna janma
tad apy adhruvam arthadam
This is a verse from the seventh canto, sixth chapter of the ancient scripture - Srimad Bhagavatam, compiled by Veda Vyasa. The meaning of this sloka is: "One who is sufficiently intelligent should use the human form of body from the very beginning of life—in other words, from childhood—to practice the activities of devotional service, giving up all other engagements. The human body is rarely achieved, and although temporary like other bodies, it is meaningful because in human life one can perform devotional service. Even a slight amount of sincere devotional service can give one complete perfection."
It is worthwhile to invest one's time on the message of this Sanskrit text in this age of increasing juvenile delinquency, stressed lifestyle of kids and grown-ups alike, and many other unclassified perils of today's degraded society. What more, these words were spoken by the great child devotee Prahlada Maharaja who could not be killed by a glass of poison, poisonous snakes, a mammoth elephant, or even a fatal push from a cliff. He achieved such marvelous benedictions just because he was a staunch devotee of the Lord.
One of the primary purposes of ISKCON is to propagate spiritual and cultural knowledge to society at large and to educate all people in relevant techniques to check the imbalance of values in life and to achieve real unity and peace in the world. Towards achieving this objective ISKCON, Bangalore created the Cultural Education Services (CES) in 2001, specifically aimed at enhancing values and life skills in children through culture- related activities.
Indian Heritage Studies (IHS) is an initiative of the CES of ISKCON, Bangalore.
IHS is a programmes that aims at reinforcing the value of Indian heritage and culture, the wisdom of the Vedic literature and instilling a set of emotional, social, intellectual and spiritual values into students by sustained training, assessments, contests, rewards and recognition.
Through IHS, CES intends to expand the footprint of its activities through systematic and well-formatted training and contests to students in the age group of five and seventeen years (Class I to Class XII) in the areas of cultural and value education.
IHS also intends to further build and provide state and national level platforms for children to compete and display their talents.
IHS has an organized sequence of numerous trainings, assessments and contests that establish a well-structured and logical continuity in a child’s personal development. These events span over the entire year allowing children to continuously learn and apply their learning in real life.
IHS provides sustained intervention programmes in the form of Values Plus and Krsna Kids programmes. Values Plus is a values based education programmes conducted in schools during the weekdays. The weekend cultural training programmes, Krsna Kids, offers systematic training in various art forms whilst equipping children with essential life skills.
Enhanced, accelerated, intensive and performance-oriented training in the same areas are provided through Culture Camp and Dasara Camp. Culture Camp, conducted during the summer vacations, provides a refreshing break for the children as they train for a stage performance at the end of the 21 day camp. A similar programmes, Dasara Camp, spread over twelve days, is conducted during the October vacations.
Once a child acquires a reasonable level of proficiency and skill in any discipline, he/she can gauge his/her own competency level by competing with peers from various schools in inter-institutional competitions like Krishna Contests, Heritage Fest, Rasa Fest and Gita Fest. Krishna Contests is a state-level written examination based on the history of ancient India found in the Vedic literatures. The national level inter-school cultural competition, Heritage Fest, is conducted as part of the Janmashtami celebrations. Gita Fest is an exclusive inter-school competition based on the Bhagavad-gita. College students compete in the prestigious inter-collegiate cultural competition called Rasa Fest conducted during the month of September.
The winners of these contests get an opportunity to participate in a fabulous national-level cultural exchange programmes called Braja Nidhi which is organized at Vrindavana every year during the Dasara vacations. The blend of cultural programmes and travel to historical sites offers the child an exquisite glimpse into the historical, cultural and spiritual glory of India.
About IHS
IHS has an enviable track record of working with over ten lakh children in areas of cultural and values training over the past eight years in various centres across the country.
Mentors
IHS brings a rare mix of trainers who are responsible mentors and inspirational motivators and not merely teachers or facilitators.
This has come about due to the diligence and scrutiny with which each trainer is hand-picked, while making sure each has the required mix of sound cultural aptitude as well as the proficiencies required to become a trainer. They undergo intensive training programmes to ensure they are equipped with the required skills.
IHS also engages prominent artists in various heritage arts and mainstream industry experts whenever required. This enables children to obtain a practical view of how critical life skills can be when children embark upon their careers.
Our Strengths
Since 2001, IHS has grown at a rapid pace to include numerous events under its portfolio, while also expanding its footprint in terms of the number of children that have participated. Currently through its various products, IHS caters to at least 1,50,000 children (in Karnataka) annually and has successfully replicated its conceptual and operational models in a decentralized fashion in various parts of the country.
The current team has a mix of skilled personnel with strong competencies in training, logistics and event management. The management team at the helm of CES’s affairs has made sure that there are events all around the year and the execution team has the wherewithal to cater to the challenging demands of handling large numbers of children.
Facilities
IHS provides state-of-the-art infrastructure and a culturally surcharged environment to every child, that can cater to over five thousand children at the same time. IHS also has access to some of the best schools and their infrastructure to execute the programmes using a hub and spoke model.
IHS is committed to the objective of developing the overall quality of a child’s personality. IHS will equip children to live purposeful lives, with a sense of security, confidence and faith. This programme provides a learning continuum that will systematically turn them into successful citizens of the future. With the imparting of family values, social skills and cultural perspectives, IHS will very well be able to pave the path for a new society: free of violence, hatred, hypocrisy and all such undesirable qualities. This society will be as enriched—with the flavours of a glorious society—as the golden ages of the bygone era that we wish could descend upon us.
