Heritage Fest will be held at ISKCON temple up to August 6. The fest is open to all students from kindergarten to class 10. About 3,500 students from 510 schools participate in the flower decoration competition. Over 4,000 participate in the puranic dress competition.

Not just cartoons and bubble gum, schoolchildren can also put their best efforts into celebrating India's rich culture and heritage. As is happening right now at the Heritage Fest hosted by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).

The festival is being held at the temple in Rajajinagar up to August 6 and is open to all students from kindergarten to class 10. The event organisers say it is to provide an opportunity for children to display their creativity and talent and is also an attempt to familiarise them with the traditions of India through a series of programmes.

About 3,500 students from 510 schools have participated in the flower decoration competition during the Heritage Fest. Students brought varieties of colourful flowers and offered it to Lord Krishna by decorating the deity at the temple.

"This competition is very creative. Unlike my busy school days, it is fun decorating the deity of Krishna with flowers," said Nandini M.K of SJR Public School. "Very organised and systematic," said Malavika Aravind of National Public SchoolAksh M. Patil of Jindal Public School said: "My only intention to come here is to offer the flowers I have brought for Lord Krishna. I am not at all worried about the prize. Opportunities to exhibit our talents like these are very rarely found in schools. I like this fest and will participate every year."

More than 4,000 children earlier participated in the colourful puranic dress competition held at the temple. It was open from pre-KG to Class 2 students. Children dressed in colourful costumes as Rama, Krishna, Hanuman, Arjuna and other characters from Vedic literature.

Many of the children chanted slokas they had learned, and others danced. So far 16,755 students from over 600 schools have participated in various competitions. About 22,000 students have registered for the events.

Now you can listen to the ancient sanskrit chants of Bhagavad Gita, sung in classical melodies by noted devotional singer Sri Vidyabhushana. Listen to all 700 verses of the Gita with a beautiful accompaniment of flute, veena, sitar, mridanga, tabla and tala. (Scroll down to listen to it online.)

Set includes 10 audio CDs (7 CDs of sanskrit chants, 2 CDs containing english translations for the entire Bhagavad Gita, and 1 CD providing an introductory lecture on the Bhagavad Gita by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada).