HELENSBURGH, AUSTRALIA, July 11, 2006: Helensburgh is one of the famous abodes of Lord Venkateswara in the southern hemisphere and is located in a picturesque hill about 31 miles South of Sydney, Australia, according to a short report sent by S. Karthikeyan. It was started in 1978 by a small group of devotees with a vision to build a Hindu temple according to Vedic principles. The selected site met all the required attributes: virgin land, surrounded by forests, located on an island, a water source close by and adjacent to an ocean. The temple is now a major pilgrimage center in Australia bustling with devotees. A significant and popular addition to the temple in recent times is SVT Vidyalaya, a program which conducts spiritual classes on the first Sunday of every month. Aimed at imparting overall knowledge of various aspects of Hindu philosophy, the classes include: chanting of slokas, bhajans, classical music lessons, and explanation of spiritual texts. The program also teaches children and youth to perform pujas at home according to proper rituals. More information on the temple, called the Tirupathi of the southern hemisphere, can be found at the URL above.
Australia has attracted thousands of Hindu immigrants from all over the world. Sydney has a vibrant dharmic community with a rich cultural and classical heritage. It is not surprising to find many yoga schools, several centers for Ayurvedic healing, numerous meditation centers, and holistic science listed in the yellow pages. Naturally this has evinced a keen demand in learning Sanskrit. The first school to teach Sanskrit to school children between the ages 6 to 18 will commence classes on July 23, 2006, at Marsden Road Public School in Liverpool, Sydney. Run by the School of Vedic Sciences Inc., the school aims to promote Sanskrit as the medium of learning for understanding texts like Ayurveda, Yoga Sutras, etc. and aims to conduct classes for all groups with the focus on spoken Sanskrit.