Maha Lakshmi Vidya Bhavan Maha Lakshmi Vidya Bhavan

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RAAMNAUMI 2005 CELEBRATED IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS Hundreds of leading politicians came together in central London as the House of Commons celebrated the Hindu festival of Ramnavami for the first time. At an event backed by the Hindu Council UK several members of the cabinet, shadow cabinet and the Liberal Democrats party joined a host of dignitaries for the ceremony which celebrates the appearance of Lord Rama. The event was being celebrated for the first time ever at the Houses of Parliament thanks to the efforts of the Minister for Transport, Tony McNulty MP, and Parliamentary Advisor on Community Issues and Hindu Council UK advisor, Mr. Abhay Lakhani. Mr. McNulty, Labour MP for Harrow East, first called for the festival to be recognized at an event to celebrate Krishna's birth the previous year and has been backed throughout by Mr. Lakhani. This was a wonderful opportunity for the British Hindus to have the festival of Ramanavami celebrated at the House of Commons where people of all faiths and communities participated. It showed the Hindu community’s resolve to integrate with the rest of the society. Mr Lakhani said: "We are pleased to be celebrating Ramanavami, marking the birth of Sri Rama, at the Palace of Westminster”. 46 1982-2007 SILVER JUBILEE This was indeed a proud day for members of the Maha Lakshmi Vidya Bhavan based in Forest Hill, South London as the honour of conducting the spiritual aspect of the programme was given to them. The programme was opened with invocational mantras and prayers to Lord Rama by Shri Bankim Gossai, Spiritual Leader of the Maha Lakshmi Vidya Bhavan. Puja to Lord Rama was conducted by Pandit Ramesh Charan, assisted by Shri Chandramohan Tacouri of the MLVB. Appropriate parts of the Raamcharitmanas were chanted by Shri Gossaiji accompanied by Shri Sunil Gossai on the tabla. The Members Dining Room was transformed into a Mandir and the sounds of Rama’s glory reverberated throughout. Dances depicting Rama’s life were conducted by members of the Bharatya Vidya Bhavan. Pandit Ramesh Charan & Shri Chandramohan Tacouri conducting Raamnaumi Puja To conclude the celebrations the whole congregation sang the Aarti and universal prayer “Jai Jagdeesh Hare”. Ramanavami is observed by over one billion Hindus in the world and is rooted in the oldest spiritual tradition. It attracts people of all spiritual cultures and is one of the most popular celebrations in Hinduism. All the Hindu temples in the UK celebrate this festival with drama, dance, music, multi-media shows and exhibitions. Shri Sunil Gossai, Shri Bankim Gossai & Pandit Ramesh Charan Opening the Raamnaumi Celebrations with Prayers
Maha Lakshmi Vidya Bhavan A Centre for Learning By Ved Mitra Mohla MBE, Head of MLVB Hindi School It is entirely appropriate that the name of the institution we serve incorporates the words “Vidya Bhavan” – which means the abode of learning I am not referring to a school here. Maha Lakshmi Vidya Bhavan (MLVB) is first and foremost a Temple, a Hindu Mandir but with a tremendous difference. From the inception, twenty five years ago, the founders did not want it to be just a Mandir, but a place where people could attend not only to worship, but also to improve their lives through learning. As most of the MLVB’s devotees are of Indian origin, it is only natural for them to cherish a deep desire to associate themselves with India and matters related to India. Not only Indian food and clothes interests them but they are also attracted towards Indian languages and music; all things Indian have a special place in their hearts. As Hindi is the National language of India, and the language of most of our forefathers, its teaching was carried out in one form or another by MLVB. In the early years classes started in Beckenham by Shri Beni Singh Ji, a stalwart of Hindi, here in the UK and Guyana. But Hindi teaching really took off in earnest in 1997 when structured, modern teaching methods were adopted, where text books written by me were used. Since then Tara Ramduni Ji has been helping me with great enthusiasm in conducting regular classes which are held every Sunday from 12.00 noon to 2.00 pm. As a result most of the regular students were able to develop their language skills. Students like Sharad Sharma, Davina Gossai, Meera Shaunak and Monika Chitakara obtained high grades in their GCSE Hindi from Cambridge University. Some students ventured into taking Hindi for their A Level studies. Shivani Shaunak was not going to stop at GCSE Hindi; she enrolled herself at SAOS degree course with Sanskrit as a core subject. We can only admire her courage and wish her success in her ambitious future plans. In 1999 our Hindi School became an Examination Centre for Cambridge University Local Examinations Syndicate. Students were able to sit not only for Hindi but languages like Gujarati, Bangala and Malay were also available on the syllabus. It is a matter of great pride that our Examination Centre attracted students from all parts of London and beyond. Many of the students had been discouraged from taking examinations at their normal schools (assuming their failure will have adverse effect on their position in the League Tables). They came to MLVB and most of them passed examinations in a variety of subjects. In 2003, however, Cambridge University reviewed its policy about Examination Centres and decided to close down all small Examination Centres as they were not cost effective. As a result MLVB could not continue to offer its service that it provided as an Examination Centre. In 2001 great propagator of Sanskrit, Chamu Krishna Shastry came to England as a part of his world tour in which he held talks and workshops promoting Sanskrit. For London he chose MLVB as a venue for his workshop on the subject ‘How to speak Sanskrit in 10 days’. On participating in the workshop, many of our devotees were inspired to learn Sanskrit on regular basis. Soon after Nina Falwell Ji started teaching Sanskrit at MLVB, a task which Peter Bouchini Ji has been assisting her for the last four years. Our Sanskrit students cannot comprehend the deep philosophy of Geeta as yet but they do recite the Slokas beautifully. Several students were successful in GCSE Sanskrit and some continued with A Level. ➡➡ 1982-2007 SILVER JUBILEE 47
Page 1 and 2: Covers 4/10/07 13:55 Page 2 Maha La
Page 3 and 4: Editorial Shri Ramesh Charan “Pra
Page 5 and 6: 4 1982-2007 SILVER JUBILEE I pray t
Page 7 and 8: Message from Swami Nirliptananda Sp
Page 9 and 10: 10 1982-2007 SILVER JUBILEE Message
Page 11 and 12: Message from Her Excellency Glenda
Page 13 and 14: Namaste! 16 1982-2007 SILVER JUBILE
Page 15 and 16: Achievements throughout the 25 year
Page 17 and 18: “All devotees greeted each other
Page 19 and 20: everyone helped to create the right
Page 21 and 22: An appreciation… From the Board o
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Page 25 and 26: Why I like coming to MLVB Mandir…
Page 27 and 28: more than 160 years since Hindus le
Page 29 and 30: I have to say that the Mandir has a
Page 31 and 32: The best experience I feel that I h
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Page 35 and 36: HEAVEN’S GROCERY STORE By Avinash
Page 37 and 38: We were also blessed to be entertai
Page 39: Bankim Chand Gossai, UK Guyanese Ho
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Page 45 and 46: off to take his parents on a pilgri
Page 47 and 48: knowledge and also helps to preserv
Page 49 and 50: everyday millions of pilgrims conve

Maha Lakshmi Vidya Bhavan Maha Lakshmi Vidya Bhavan

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