Visit to AKSHARAM after World Sanskrit Conference

[Vvmurthy at aol.com]

After the World Sanskrit Conference in Bangalore, a visit to AKSHARAM
the , center for various Sanskrit activities has been arranged. Sri Krishna
Shastry, All India coordinator for
'Sanskrita Bharati' would explain about the movement to revive Sanskrit. 

If you have plans to stay there and learn Sanskrit, details are given below.
Here is a write up about Aksharam. If you would like to visit AKSHARAM
or need more information,
please send an email to sanskrit at hindunet.org
or Call Shivram at (408) 446-5485

AKSHARAM - The hub of Sanskrit activities
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Aksharam", 8th Cross, II Phase, Girinagar, Bangalore 560 085 INDIA
Ph: (+91)-80-6613052  Fax: (+91)-80-6617276

"Aksharam", the international center of 'Sanskrita Bharathi' is located at
Bangalore, the garden city of India. It is a huge three-storied building
hosting several projects of Sanskrita Bharathi. It is also a training
and boarding center for "Sanskritavratis" (volunteers who have taken
Sanskrit service as their life mission). 'Sanskrita Bharati' is a movement
to bring back Sanskrit to daily life and make it available to all.

Activities at Aksharam
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Sanskrit through Correspondence
   An unique way to teach Sanskrit through correspondence, divided into
   four parts. The course starts from basics and by the end of fourth part,
   you will have a good command over the language to study any text on your
   own. Each stage is of six months duration.

2. Publication and Sales Unit of Sanskrita Bharathi
   More than 30 books and 7 audio cassettes most relevant to the
   conversational aspects of Sanskrit, and to improve language skills
   has been published from here. 

   Also, a project is currently underway to produce video programs to teach
   basic language and conversation.

3. Sambhaashana Sandeshah - A Sanskrit monthly magazine
   A magazine in simple Sanskrit with sections on news, current affairs,
   short stories, crosswords, word power, stories for children etc.
   
4. Sanskrita Balakendra
   The center for training the children on the essential aspects of Sanskrit
   and our cultural heritage. It's a pleasure to see small children converse
   in Sanskrit in the campus.

Few Regular Programs
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
These programs are basically conducted for local residents.

- Ten-day Speak Sanskrit Courses
- Post-Ten-Day Advanced Training Courses
- Training/Workshop for teachers in Sanskrit
- Summer camps for High-school students
- Yoga Camps

The Campus
~~~~~~~~~~
Enter AKSHARAM, and you will be pleasantly surprised to hear everyone
in the campus speaking Sanskrit. Office transaction takes place in Sanskrit.
It is a delightful sight to watch the kids engaged in verbal duel in
Sanskrit, while playing. Entire atmosphere breathes Sanskrit.

Following are some of the facilities at Campus --

   - A well-equipped library containing more than thousand Sanskrit
     reference books, including palmleaf volumes
   - Computers with Sanskrit DTP capability and E-mail access
   - Separate dormatories for male and female volunteers
   - Residential quarters for Sanskrit families (everyone in the
     family is serving for Sanskrit cause)
   - In-house kitchen and dining hall
   - Guest rooms

Since the campus is run by donations and service is the main goal,
only basic facilities are provided for the inmates. The volunteers
working here do not receive any salary, except for a meager amount
to manage the basic needs.

The volunteers take part in different projects at Aksharam. Apart from these,
they will be touring various parts of the country to propagate Sanskrit.

At any time, there will be around 15 female volunteers and 15 male volunteers
along with three Sanskrit families. The total number will be more than 75
during training camps.

Early morning prayers, common meals, sharing campus maintenance work,
complete dedication in the work assigned, continuous guidence and
counselling by elders -- the life of a volunteer is highly disciplined.