The pre­lim­i­nary round of the 2011Baal Vikaas com­pe­ti­tion, host­ed by the Sanatan Dhar­ma Ma­ha Sab­ha be­gan yes­ter­day at Freeport Hin­du School.Sec­re­tary gen­er­al of the Ma­ha Sab­ha Sat­narayan Ma­haraj, said this year's event marked an­oth­er sig­nif­i­cant mile­stone of the com­pe­ti­tion which start­ed in 1985.Ma­haraj said Ma­ha Sab­ha schools were the nurs­eries for the prop­a­ga­tion of In­di­an cul­ture in T&T.

"Baal Vikaas fes­ti­val is de­signed to em­pow­er the young Hin­dus with the dy­namism of Sanatan Dhar­ma," he said."It has been the av­enue to plant in the hearts and minds of our chil­dren the seeds of our rich her­itage brought to this coun­try by our an­ces­tors."Ma­haraj said more than 50,000 stu­dents would have par­tic­i­pat­ed in the event since its in­cep­tion 25 years ago.He said all Ma­ha Sab­ha schools were look­ing for­ward to the months of May and June, at which time there was a mag­nif­i­cent dis­play of cul­ture and tal­ent from stu­dents.The fi­nals of the com­pe­ti­tion takes place on June 11 and 12.The pre­lim­i­nary round con­tin­ues to­mor­row at Pal­maya Hin­du School.On Thurs­day, it takes places at St He­le­na Hin­du School and on Fri­day at the Spring Vil­lage Hin­du School.