On the first Sunday of the auspicious Hindu month of Shravan, 26 July 2009, the children of the BAPS Bal Mandal in Melbourne, Australia, presented a culturalprogramentitled‘Bal Prabhu Ghanshyam’.

The stage was beautifully decorated around the murti of Shri Ghanshyam Maharaj, the childhood form of Bhagwan Swaminarayan. Balikas had decorated the hall with inspiring stories and pictures from the life of Ghanshyam Maharaj. They also made a decorative hindolobased on the program theme.

A wonderful exposition (parayan) on Ghanshyam Maharaj’s life from the Harililamrutam scripture was eloquently presented by a balak. The balaks performed dances to the tune of  various kirtans, such as, ‘Ghanshyam, Ghanshyam mari sathe ramva….’ A very funny and message-oriented musical skit was performed by the children to show how innocent fish were saved by Ghanshyam Maharaj. A special session of games, ‘Ramiye Ghanshyam ne Sang,’ was was played by the under six-year-olds. They played games like bucket ball, obstacles course and pop the balloon. Then a video presentation on BAPS Bal Mandal activities was shown.

The climax of the evening was the comedy musical drama called ‘Dradh Ashro,’ which had everyone in laughter with its funny voices and equally funny performances by the balaks. The cultural program program presentation concluded with a video of Pramukh Swami Maharaj’s blessings and arti.