Author: Archana

With the blessings of Ubhaya Jagadgurus Pujyasri Sri Sankara Vijayendra Saraswathi Shankaracharya Swamigal and Sri Satya Chandrashekharendra Saraswathi Shankaracharya Swamigal

The pavai songs are part of an ancient tradition amongst unmarried young Hindu girls, where they light lamps in the early mornings of Margazhi, and sing songs in praise of Shiva. Manickavasagar composed the twenty songs called Thiruvembavai followed by ten songs called Thirupalliezhuchi. Similarly, Andal thaayaar composed thirty paasurams on Sri Krishna called Thiruppavai. Let us show our love for bhagawan by reciting and singing Thiruvempavai and Thiruppavai.

How to participate : (1) Pick any 4 Thiruppavais or Thiruvempavai pasurams from the assigned syllabus(click here)

Click here to access the audio files for Thiruvempavai and Thiruppavai. NOTE: you can recite/sing in any tune, these sample audios are just suggestions.

(2) Decide whether you will recite or sing them

(3) Follow these instructions to record and submit your video

(4) Submit your video using the Margazhi Utsavam Round 1 Submission Form below between Oct 15th and Oct 22nd

Eligible Categories: PreK, Elementary, Middle School, High School & College, for ages 21 and under

Dressing up in traditional attire is mandatory for the submission to be eligible – paavadai/daavani/veshti, hair tied in single braid/ponytail and, tilakam for boys and girls

Competition Rounds: Round 1/Prelims and Round 2/Finals

Round 1: Participants may choose any four paasurams or paavais from the above syllabus for video submission

Round 2/Finals: Judges will quiz qualifying finalists on any of the assigned paasurams and pavais listed in the syllabus above.

Video Submission Guidelines

Thiruppavai and Thiruvempavai Texts in Tamizh and English

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Timelines

Round 1 Video Submissions	Oct 15th to Oct 22nd
Round 1 Results Communicated	Nov 2nd to Nov 6th
Round 2 – Qualified finalists from Round 1 will present to judges live virtually	Nov 14th(Time TBD)
Winners announced at a samashthi samarpanam virtual program in December	Date TBD

What Should Participants Focus On? Encourage kids to enjoy the learning and exploration of our puranas while they prepare. Judges will grade based on accuracy of Tamizh pronunciation, traditional attire, reciting/singing and proficiency.

Questions? Email hsmkanchiusa@gmail.com

Join us with your family for the concluding day of our 7-day Mahasivaratri Mahotsavam.

Saturday Feb 14th at 5 pm PST in the USA and on Feb 14th 3 pm GMT in the UK – for the conclusion of our 7-day Mahasivaratri Mahotsavam

An online youth sangita presentation in English about the life and bhakti of Sri Nandhanaar Nayanar. This samarpanam is being offered by HSM youth in the UK and USA.

We will be joined by two special guests from Bharatam: Thiru Dr A.P. Anbuselvam, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Govt of India and Thiru Kalyanaraman Gurumoorthy, Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham.

Can be viewed live on Kamakoti TV on Youtube – https://www.youtube.com/@kanchimath/streams

Abhirami Andadhi – upanyasam by Thiru Dr Shyam Panchapekesan

Part 1 – UK: Sat Feb 7th 11:30am GMT/5:00pm IST

Part 2 – USA : Sat Feb 7th 5:30pm PST/7:30pm CST/8:30pm EST(Bharatam Sun Feb 8th, 7am ISt)

Weekly classes for children and youth exploring Devaram, Thirukkural, Nayanar, Padal Petra Sthalam, Thiruppavai and Thiruvempavai.

Devaram class(online) for youth and adults on Sundays at 5:30pm PST/7:30pm CST/8:30pm EST. Classes begin Sunday January 25, 2026. This class will be taught by Thirumati. Gayathri Rajagopalan.

All children and youth are invited to participate in HSM USA’s Mahasivaratri Mahotsavam. This is an annual online event which will be hosted daily from Sunday Feb 8th to Saturday Feb 14th from 5:00pm pst/7:0pm cst/8:00pm est for one hour.

Children and youth may sign up to offer stotrams, bhajans, nrityam, sangitam, nayanar puranam, thiruvilayadal puranam or padal petra sthala puranam. The puranams may be presented in Tamizh(preferred) or in English.

Please check your audio arrangements before your samarpanam, especially for nrityam and sangitam. All sangita samarpanams for the last slot each day must be accompanied by at least violin or mridangam.

Vijayadashami nal vaazuthukkal! With the blessings of Jagadguru Pujyasri Sri Sankara Vijayendra Saraswathi – Thiruvembavai class for adults will be taught by Thiru Radhakrishnan Madhu on Saturdays 5:30pm PST/7:30pm CST/8:30pm EST. This will be a 15-16 week session to help bhaktas prepare for the upcoming margazhi season parayanam.

Professor Thiru. Radhakrishnan Madhu Ph.D, M.A., B.Ed. has served as Tamil Pandit in Urumudhanalakshmi Vidyalaya in Trichy. He has completed his Ph.D research paper on Kamba Ramayanam. He is a renowned speaker on various topics in Tamil Nadu and has mentored many renowned speakers such as Thiru Cho. Satyaseelan, Thiru A. Arivozhi, Thiru Sukhi Sivam, Thiru Abdul Kadhar, Thiru Ilangai Jayaraj & others. He has authored many books, writes essays and is a columnist of many renowned publications. He has been awarded “Arulneri Navalar” by Dharma Adheenam and by many Tamil organizations on his work on the Kamba Ramayanam.

With the blessings of Jagadguru Pujyasri Sri Sankara Vijayendra Saraswathi Swamigal

Hindu Samaya Mandram (Kanchi) USA
Thiruvilakku-Kanya Pujai
September-October 2025

Everyone is welcome! If you would like to host a pujai for your local community contact hsmkanchiusa@gmail.com

With the blessings of Jagadguru Pujyasri Sri Sankara Vijayendra Saraswathi Shankaracharya Swamigal

The pavai songs are part of an ancient tradition amongst unmarried young Hindu girls, where they light lamps in the early mornings of Margazhi, and sing songs in praise of Shiva. Manickavasagar composed the twenty songs called Thiruvembavai followed by ten songs called Thirupalliezhuchi. Similarly, Andal thaayaar composed thirty paasurams on Sri Krishna called Thiruppavai. Let us show our love for bhagawan by reciting and singing Thiruvembavai and Thiruppavai.

How to participate : (1) Pick any 4 Thiruppavais or Thiruvembavai pasurams from the assigned syllabus(click here)

Click here to access the audio files for Thiruvembavai and Thiruppavai. NOTE: you can recite/sing in any tune, these sample audios are just suggestions.

(2) Decide whether you will recite or sing them

(3) Follow these instructions to record and submit your video

(4) Submit your video using the Margazhi Utsavam Round 1 Submission Form below between Oct 15th and Oct 24th.

Eligible Categories: PreK, Elementary, Middle School, High School & College, for ages 21 and under

Dressing up in traditional attire is mandatory for the submission to be eligible – paavadai/daavani/veshti, hair tied in single braid/ponytail and, tilakam for boys and girls

Competition Rounds: Round 1/Prelims and Round 2/Finals

Round 1: Participants may choose any four paasurams or paavais from the above syllabus for video submission

Round 2/Finals: Judges will quiz qualifying finalists on any of the assigned paasurams and pavais listed in the syllabus above.

Video Submission Guidelines

Thiruppavai and Thiruvembavai Texts in Tamizh and English

---

Timelines

Round 1 Video Submissions	Oct 15th to Oct 24th
Round 1 Results Communicated	Nov 1st to Nov 3rd
Round 2 – Qualified finalists from Round 1 will present to judges live virtually	Nov 15th
Winners announced at a samashthi samarpanam virtual program in December	Date TBD

What Should Participants Focus On? Encourage kids to enjoy the learning and exploration of our puranas while they prepare. Judges will grade based on accuracy of Tamizh pronunciation, traditional attire, reciting/singing and proficiency. Bonus points will be awarded for choice of paasurams and paavais other than #1 and #3.

Questions? Email hsmkanchiusa@gmail.com