These children, trained by CTU according to the M.S. Subbalakshmi style of rendition sang the Hanuman Chalisa for the first time after the Alankaram. This was followed by the Sahasranama Archana for Lord Hanuman.
After the Sahasranama Archana, the children sang the Hanuman Chalisa again for the second time.
Subsequently the utsava moorthy of Lord Hanuman was carried in a procession around the sannidhis inside the temple with the CTU children singing the Hanuman Chalisa for the third time. After the Pradakshnam inside the temple, the children were pleasantly surprised to be taken outside where they had a longer walk along the external periphery of the temple as part of the procession with the utsava moorthy. They sang the Hanuman Chalisa for the fourth and fifth time during this procession outside.
The following quote from another child sums it all: “And it was great weather. I think Hanuman had a great time too. Happy Birthday, Hanuman. Thank you for inviting me to be part of your birthday.”
As per the CTU tradition, children contributed at least one dollar on the Arathi plate after the Archana.
Chicago Tyagaraja Utsavam acknowledges these children who sang at the invitation of the temple a total of 5 times over a period of two hours as part of the Hanuman Jayanthi celebrations at the S.V.S. Temple (Balaji):
- Sitara Iyer
- Swathi Narasimhan
- Anirudh Prasanna
- Vaanathi Rajasingham
- Laxmi Siva
- Vishnupriya Siva
Note: CTU also acknowledges Mythreyi Rajasingham who came for the practice session held the previous day for this performance.