Sharpening the skill:A student participating in the Geeta chanting competition in Madurai on Sunday.— Photo: R. Ashok
The final round of the Gita Chanting Competition, being organised annually for 14 years by the Chinmaya Mission, Madurai, was held at the Setupati Higher Secondary School here on Sunday.
A total of 9,346 children from 22 schools entered the event with 344 shortlisted for the finals.
The contest was open to all students between Standards L.K.G. to IX. They were split into five categories.
While the finals were going on for the kids, the event organisers also had their parents engaged through a separate quiz contest.
In order to motivate the educational institutions to encourage more children to take part in the event, school managements, teachers volunteers and parents were awarded prizes during the occasion.
All the contestants who recited the portions were given certificate and mementoes. The winners walked away with prizes such as watches and Chinmaya Publication books worth between Rs. 1,500 and Rs. 750. Sankara Seetharaman, managing director of Viswas Promoters, gave away the prizes.
The judges looked at the memory, pronunciation, performance level and presentation skills of the student while adjudicating. According to the organisers, the contest was being held to ensure the messages in the ‘Bhagawad Gita’ reached the children at an young age and they imbibe the values.
In group B (Standards I and II), the first prize went to L. Sivakami of Lakshmi School at Veerapanchan; in Group C (Standards III and IV), the first prize went to L. Varsha of TVS Matriculation Higher Secondary School; Group D (Standards V and VI), the first prize went to N. M Ponvikashana of Chinmaya Vidhyala in Rajapalayam; for Group E (Standards VII to IX), the first prize went to S. Rajalakshmi of Mahatma Montessori Matriculation Higher Matriculation School.
