| Residential Camps Info |
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Samskrita Bharati Residential Camps आचार्यात् पादमादत्ते पादं शिष्यस्स्वमेधया । पादं स ब्रह्मचारिभ्यः पादं कालक्रमेण च || A quarter through the teacher, A quarter through one’s own intellect, A quarter through fellow students, And a quarter, gradually, over time; Such is the course of learning. Samskrita Bharati began organizing residential camps to provide an immersion environment in which students with different levels of familiarity come together to learn and practice Samskritam. Today, it has become an annual event on both the east and west coasts of the US. It continues to grow geographically and in scope. In 2010, the midwest will see its first Samskritam residential camp in Ganges, MI! For the past several years, annual residential camps for youth, shraddhaa and prajnaa, have become popular both in the east and west coasts! !!!! Upcoming Camps in 2010 !!!! July 11-17, 2010: Shraddhaa-2010, the fourth annual east coast residential youth camp will be held at Arsha Vidya Gurukulam, Saylorsburg, PA. August 28-29, 2010: Gangotri-2010, the first midwest residential family camp in Ganges, MI – Details coming soon! September 3-6, 2010: Jaahnavii-2010, the eighth annual east coast family residential camp during the Labor day weekend at Sussex, NJ September 24-26, 2010: Kaaverii, the west coast family residential camp to be held in California - Details coming soon!
Instruction in class follows Samskrita Bharati’s development-oriented technique in which listening and speaking drive learning, rather than memorizing or rote-learning. After all, a child does not memorize his first words! Rather, the child listens to the people speaking around him and speaks. Samskrita Bharati’s learning methodology mirrors such an approach. Previous Family Camps: 2000: Alakananda was the first residential camp held near Sacramento, CA in a picturesque, serene atmosphere. It was a 10-day camp in which 80 people including teachers from India and students from all over the US enthusiastically participated. 2002: Gangotri was the first residential camp in the East coast held at Epping, NH in which 55 attendees took part. It was a three day camp. True to its name, Gangotri gave birth to several Samskrita Bharati activities that continue to this day. 2003: Paavanii, a five day residential camp, conducted in East Otis, MA, drew on the strength of Gangotri and attracted 2004: Sindhu was the third camp of the east coast. Around 80 people attended the camp which was held in Dracut, MA. 2004: Mandakinii, held in the same year as Sindhu, was organized in Houston, TX to provide a place for those in the southern US region. 30 people participated in this camp. 2006: Bhaagiirathii, held at Vraj Bhoomi in Schuylkill Haven, PA continued to strengthen the east coast camps by drawing a larger representation from mid-atlantic states than before. Bhaagiirathii also marked a milestone in crossing the 100 mark with 108 attendees at the camp! 2006: Haimavatii was the west coast counterpart of Bhaagiirathii in which participants from Seattle in the north to sprawling Los Angeles in the south gathered at Pt. Bonita, CA (near San Francisco) to celebrate their love of Samskritam. 2007: Jaahnavii-2007, held at Edison, NJ over the Labor Day weekend, saw an increase in the participation, with 125 people -- ranging from a 4-year old to a septuagenarian -- adding lustre to the camp. This year we also decided to call all our future east coast family camps as Jaahnavii and conduct them during the Labor Day weekend each year! Follow the URL for a report on the camp by Aaj Tak TV and TV Asia. 2008: Jaahnavii-2008 returned to the campsite at Edison, NJ over the Labor Day weekend with about 110 attendees learning and laughing, sharing a deep bond because of Samskritam. 2008: Narmadaa was this year’s west coast residential camp held over the Memorial Day weekend near Los Angeles, CA. 2009: Jaahnavii-2009 moved to Stroudsburg, PA nestled in the Pocono mountains, a more rustic setting than the previous years’ Edison campsite. This year saw the largest participation with more than 180 people coming to the camp! Dare we hope for similar participation in 2010 and beyond?! 2009: Vitastaa, held near Seattle, WA saw an enthusiastic participation of around 45 attendees from all over the west coast. Residential Youth Camps: In 2007, a separate residential camp called Shraddhaa was started to cater exclusively to youth students (teenagers) in the east coast. The following year, Prajnaa began as its counterpart in the west coast. In Shraddhaa and Prajnaa, students spend about a week immersed in Samskritam under the guidance of teachers from both India and the US. A noteworthy feature of these camps is that the teacher to student ratio is quite high! Teachers volunteer enthusiastically seeing the shraddhaa (dedicated commitment) of young students.
We are especially proud of Shraddhaa and Prajnaa because these camps are conducted not just by adults, but also by youth who grew up in the US and have made Samskritam a part of their lives in a significant way. Shraddhaa on the east coast, and Prajnaa on the west coast have become annual residential camps exclusively for the youth. Previous Youth Camps: 2007: Shraddhaa-2007 was the first residential youth camp. More than 20 teenagers participated in the camp. Whatever apprehensions they may have had about Samskritam melted away by the end of the first day and they were eager to learn! and come back the following year! Most often heard complaint? Four days at the camp is too short! 2008: Shraddhaa-2008 was extended to be a six-day camp in response to the overwhelming demand during the previous year’s camp. 2008: Prajnaa-2008 was the first residential youth camp conducted in the west coast. About 15 teenagers participated in it.
2009: Shraddhaa-2009 saw an increase in attendance with 25 teenagers at the camp at AVG. Several new youth instructors also made their debut as teachers or teaching assistants! 2009: Prajnaa-2009, the second annual residential youth camp in the west coast saw the participation of 15 teenagers. 2010: Prajnaa-2010 was conducted during the week of June 20-26 in California. |
Samskrita Bharati’s family camps bring together students across ages (3-year olds to septuagenarians), across levels of expertise (beginners to advanced students), across professions and across geographical boundaries. They are engaged in programs all day long, starting with yoga classes in the morning, interactive Samskritam classes during the day and entertainment programs after dinner!
people from not only the nearby Northeastern states, but also from Florida and Texas in the South, California in the West and Illinois in the midwest. About 75 people attended 
Arsha Vidya Gurukulam (AVG) in Saylorsburg, PA graciously hosts Shraddhaa every year. A gurukulam setting is ideally suited to these classes!