The Children’s Club Chennai Open Competitions — Open School Contest: Story Telling, Recitation, Carnatic and Bhajan Vocal, and Violin/Flute

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An open competition for school pupils in Chennai, India, built from a 2025 rules booklet: Story Telling in Tamil, English and Hindi for Std I-IV, poem Recitation for Std V-IX, Carnatic and Bhajan vocal for both bands, and Violin/Flute – Carnatic for the seniors, with First and Second winners.

A ready-made open contest for school pupils in a city: junior Story Telling in three languages, senior poem Recitation, Carnatic and Bhajan vocal for both class bands, and a senior Violin/Flute – Carnatic item, all four-minute individual turns with First and Second winners.

This template models an open competition for school children in Chennai, India, of the kind a children’s cultural society runs every year for pupils from any school in the city. It was built from the newest printed rules and schedule booklet, the 2025 edition. Only pupils of Chennai schools in Std I to Std IX may enter, and the booklet prints classes rather than ages, so a coordinator checks each entrant’s class, not their birthday. Rules change from year to year, so check the current circular before reusing languages, classes or entry limits.

Two class bands run side by side, both as individual items. The Junior band, Std I to IV, takes Story Telling, Vocal – Carnatic and Vocal – Bhajan. The Senior band, Std V to IX, takes poem Recitation, Vocal – Carnatic, Vocal – Bhajan and Violin/Flute – Carnatic. Story Telling runs separately in Tamil, English and Hindi, and Recitation in Tamil, English and Samskritham, with a separate set of winners for each language, so the template carries one competition per language rather than one mixed competition. The rules page prints only Tamil and English for Recitation; Samskritham is kept because the schedule page lists it.

Every item runs to the same four-minute clock. The song and music items have set choices. A Carnatic entry is a kriti of a well-known composer in Carnatic style, and the name of the composition and its ragam go to the judges in writing. A bhajan is one bhajan of a well-known composer, with namavali excluded, sung in Tamil, Hindi or Sanskrit at the entrant’s choice, which is why it is a single item with the language left open. For Recitation, a written or printed copy of the poem and its author must be handed in. Violin/Flute – Carnatic is open to the seniors only.

Judges select the First and Second winners in each event, and consolation prizes may be given at their discretion. No marks, points or criteria are printed, so every item is installed as scored out of 100 with no criteria set and First and Second at zero points; the organiser adds its own score sheet. The per-participant fee, the entry deadline, reporting times and the prize function are on the Registration Page rather than in the structure, and the fee is installed as zero for the organiser to set. The booklet prints classes, not ages, so the template uses two placeholder age bands, 6-9 for Junior and 10-14 for Senior, which a coordinator should adjust.

Where this event is run

Open competitions in which pupils from many schools enter short individual items such as story telling, recitation and classical music, with winners named language by language, are a long-standing format across India and in many other countries with school cultural calendars. This template follows one Chennai programme and suits any children’s association, school cluster, district education committee or cultural society that runs a multi-language contest for junior and senior class bands, especially one that mixes spoken word with Carnatic and devotional music.

• India

Key facts

• Five items: Story Telling, Recitation, Vocal – Carnatic, Vocal – Bhajan and Violin/Flute – Carnatic, all individual
• Two groups: Junior Std I-IV and Senior Std V-IX; the booklet prints classes and no ages, so the age bands 6-9 and 10-14 are placeholders
• Story Telling (Junior) runs in Tamil, English and Hindi and Recitation (Senior) in Tamil, English and Samskritham, each language with its own winners
• Every item is capped at 4 minutes; Carnatic needs the composition and ragam in writing, Recitation needs a copy of the poem and its author
• Violin/Flute – Carnatic is a Senior-only item; Vocal – Carnatic and Vocal – Bhajan run in both bands
• No marking criteria are printed, so every item is installed as scored out of 100 with no criteria set

Age groups

2

Competition items

5

Competitions

11

Grade bands

0

Rank awards

2

Age groups

Every candidate is placed into one of these groups by age, and competitions are run per group.

Junior (Std I-IV)

6From

–

9To

Candidates aged 6 to 9 compete in this group

Senior (Std V-IX)

10From

–

14To

Candidates aged 10 to 14 compete in this group

Competition items

The events themselves — each with the category it belongs to and how judges score it.

Story Telling

OralMarks

Recitation

OralMarks

Vocal - Carnatic

MusicMarks

Vocal - Bhajan

MusicMarks

Violin/Flute - Carnatic

MusicMarks

Frequently asked questions

Can I change this template after installing it?

Yes — installing it creates a fully configured, live event, not a locked package. Every age group, competition item, rule and scoring setting can be edited afterwards to match exactly what your event actually needs.

Do I need technical knowledge to set this up?

No. Installing a template does the setup work for you; you only need to review the details (dates, unit or house names) and open registration.

Want the fuller picture first? See our guide to singing competition judging criteria guide.