Samskrita Bharati and TTD - Initiatives for propagating Samskrit

At Bal Mandir, an orphanage run by Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (in Andhra Pradesh, Bharat), no child is an orphan; every child has the initials `SV' added to its name. For example, `S.V.Ramudu'. Incidentally, SV stands for Lord Sri Venkateswara of Tirupati. Shri. Mukteswara Rao, Joint Collector of Hyderabad, shared this heartening information with senior Samskrita Bharati functionaries at Hyderabad (formerly known as Bhagyanagaram) on March 17, 2007. He was present at the inaugural of the two day `Akhil Bharatiya Upavesanam' (annual all Bharat meet) of Samskrita Bharati. He reminisced how how 400 chidren of Harijan community once recited Samskrit shlokas soulfully at the altar of Tirupati Venkateswara. He described the work of Samskrita Bharati in taking Samskritam – "that is a unifying force" – to all sections of society as an "extremely great service". As part of of its growth in all the 32 provinces of Bharat, Samskrita Bharati recorded a phenomenal 350 % increase in the number of Shibhirams (10 day spoken Samskritam course). These 12,500 Shibhirams were conducted during the Shri. Guruji Golwalkar Centenary Year (February 2006 - February 2007), as per the provincial reports. Remarkable was the visit of Shri. Prakash Ambedkar, grandson of Dr. B.R.Ambedkar, to one of those Shibhirams in Akola, Vidharbha province (Maharashtra, Bharat). Prakashji was "greatly impressed by the work of Samskrita Bharati", the Vidarbha karyakartha said. Nearly 700 of these Shibhirams were held in Harijan localities, according to Samskrita Bharati.