A Cultural Treat

In a great display of the spirit of international mindedness, the IB PYP students of Grade-I made an educational visit to Puri Jagganath Temple in Banjara Hills and Anandha Buddha Vihar in Mahendra Hills as a part of their Unit of Inquiry about ‘Festivals & Celebrations Around the World Reflect Culture’. The students were very excited to see the Puri Jaggannath temple, which is a replica of the original Puri jaggannath Temple at Odisha, in terms of design and architecture. The most attracting aspect of this temple is its "Shikhara" measuring around 70 feet in height. The red color of the temple is due to the usage of sand stone (around 600 tonnes were brought from Orissa which is being used to build this whole architecture) and around 60 stone carvers were blessed to carve this temple. There are shrines dedicated to Lakshmi, along with Shiva, Ganesh, Hanuman and Navagrahas. The sanctum sanctorum houses Lord Jaggannath along with his siblings, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Shubadra. The pictorial printings and carvings depicted the story of Lord Krishna and the students interpreted the story independently.

Our enthusiastic thinkers got the opportunity to have a short 40 minute session with Monk of Anandha Buddha Vihar, and were told about some of the beliefs of the religion and got to experience a prayer ceremony by a monk who taught the children meditation techniques for better concentration and memory power. The monk answered the various questions asked by our students . They were overwhelmed with the artistic work, excellent sculpture, colours, greenery, peace and serenity inside the Buddha Vihar. The visit created awareness among students about the similarities and differences between various places of worship, their culture and beliefs which inspired them to inquire even more.