Isaiarasan was very happy that his drawing had been selected to be displayed for the public. He stated that after the exhibition, he is very happy and confident about his talents. He is now engaging in is hobby more often and plans to become a great artist in the future.
Logapriya is a 16 year old girl who has been in the Home for over 5 years. She has been affected by the ethnic war and has also lost her mother.
Logapriya was always interested in collecting and writing poems and she has a huge collection of them. Her favorite subject is Mathematics and Tamil.
Seylan Merchant Leasing Ltd organized an art and essay competition this June 2007 in which about two thousand children from all over Colombo participated.
When Logapriya was selected to participate in the Tamil Essay writing competition, she spent a great amount of time reading in order to increase her vocabulary and writing skills.
In the competition, she had written on the topic "The Importance of Living a frugal life" for which she won the 2nd place in the sixteen to eighteen year category. She was awarded with a Certificate of Excellence.
The prize giving was conducted in the Art Gallery of the Lionel Wendt Auditorium in Colombo.
The Ratha Yatra Festival in Sri Lanka has always given an opportunity for the children of Gokulam to show off their skills and talents in the cultural arts. The children are taught the classical dance - Bharata Natyam and Carnatic Music by qualified teachers.
The Ratha Yatra was initially celebrated in Puri, Orissa in India. It is the oldest chariot festival known in the history and it has been celebrated for over 2500 years. Srila Prabhupada introduced this festival to the west in the early 70's and it is now celebrated all over the world.
The Ratha Yatra Festival in Sri Lanka was organized by the Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple - ISKCON Sri Lanka on the 26th September of 2007 for the ninth consecutive time.
The Children of Gokulam participated in this festival. Chandrika and Paranika were dressed up as Lord Krishna and Radha and were on a decorated horse cart that was in the lead.
In the evening, there was a special program arranged for the Gokulam children where hundreds of well-wishers attended the program and enjoyed the performances by the children. The children performed programs in music and dance. There were group dances and individual performances also. At the end, Nandarani Devi - the Principal concluded the program with a speech.
The Festival has left the children in high spirits and has also increased their enthusiasm and confidence to continue with their activities in renewed ardor.http://www.iskcon.lk
