On Tuesday 17 November 2009, The Swaminarayan School participated in an interfaith day called ‘Faithful Nurture’ at the London Inter Faith Centre as part of National Inter Faith Week (15-21 November).
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The UK’s first National Inter Faith Week was held this year from 15 to 21 November. Its stated aims were:
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The Week was facilitated by The Inter Faith Network for the UK (IFN-UK) and the government’s Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) in consultation with the Equality and Human Rights Commission, among other agencies. It was mainly community-led with local faith communities and non-faith groups seeking to reach out to each other and build strong bonds of understanding and cooperation. A host of events including seminars, forums, workshops, and sports and entertainment programmes had been organised to bring together diverse groups of people both locally and nationally.
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BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Neasden, London, has been awarded first prize in the category of Business/Public Premises in the ‘Brent in Bloom’ competition for 2009. The Mandir’s gardens also received a Certificate of Excellence from the ‘London in Bloom’ campaign for 2009.
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BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Neasden has been selected as the landmark for the London Borough of Brent to be featured in a celebratory set of ‘London Landmark’ pin badges for the 2012 Olympic Games.
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Prime Minister Gordon Brown celebrated the Hindu festival of Diwali by lighting the ceremonial lamp at 10 Downing Street amid chanting of Vedic prayers for world peace, thus becoming the first British Prime Minister to personally host the occasion.
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The Royal Botanical Gardens (popularly called Kew Gardens) at Kew, in London, invited BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha to mark the celebratory re-opening of the refurbished Marianne North Gallery on Sunday 11 October 2009. Drawing inspiration from her paintings, BAPS volunteers created traditional Indian designs (rangolis) and conducted henna painting workshops to contribute to the occasion.
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Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant for Greater London, Sir David Brewer and the Deputy Lieutenant, Mei Sim Lai visited the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Neasden, London on Saturday 3 October to present the prestigious Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service to the BAPS Children’s Forum.
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The Swaminarayan Preparatory School has been recognised as a ‘Thinking School’ and deemed a ‘Centre of Excellence’ by the University of Exeter’s Cognitive Education Centre. It is currently one of only 23 such schools from over 26,000 primary and secondary schools in the UK to have been accredited with this award. This follows the exceptional GCSE results from older pupils of the School, which was founded by His Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj in 1992.
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As part of its ongoing multifarious community outreach programmes, BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, UK (BAPS), hosted a health fair on Sunday 20 September 2009 at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, London, to help educate the elderly in keeping fit and healthy.
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In 1982, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution declaring an International Day of Peace. In 2001, the General Assembly adopted 21 September as the permanent date for this annual event.
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BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in London featured once again as a part of the annual Open House London architecture festival held this year during the weekend of 19-20 September 2009.
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The fourteenth anniversary of BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, London – Europe’s first traditional Hindu Mandir – was celebrated with great devotion and festivities on Sunday 16 August 2009. Traditionally known as the patotsava, this year’s ceremony was held in the presence of Swayamprakash Swami (Doctor Swami), a senior BAPS sadhu visiting from India.
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The birth of Bhagwan Shri Krishna was celebrated with great devotion at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, London, on Friday 14 August 2009. The day, traditionally known as Janmashtami, began with a grand Annakut offered to the murtis in the Mandir, where guests and devotees arrived throughout the day for darshan.
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The Swaminarayan School has consistently produced outstanding results at GCSE level and this year’s results have again been of an exceptionally high standard. Just like last year, a full 100% of all students who sat the exams achieved five A* to C grades and 97.5% of grades across the range of subjects were within this band; nationally, 67.1% of all pupils met this level of attainment. Additionally, 54% of all results were in the A* and A band (compared to 21.6% nationally), with this increasing to 85.9% for the A*, A and B band.
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In January 2008, BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, UK, began certified GCSE Hinduism classes for 33 children. The course, comprising of two units – Unit M on ‘Hinduism’ and Unit F on ‘Religion and life based on a study of Hinduism’ – with five sections in each unit, is accredited by Edexcel, the UK’s largest awarding body offering academic and vocational qualifications to learning centres in the UK and internationally.
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From Ashadh Vad 2 to Shravan Vad 2 of the Indian Calendar (Wednesday 8 July 2009 – Friday 7 August 2009), the Hindolã Festival is celebrated. Various decorated swings are created in which the image of God is gently swung with love by the devotees.
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