International Yoga Festival kicks off at Parmarth Niketan in India’s Rishikesh

The week-long event will see participation of 1,200 yoga lovers from 75 countries across the world.

• Shubham
• 09 March, 2024

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By: Shubham Ghosh

THE International Yoga Festival (IYF), which kicked off in Parmarth Niketan in Rishikesh in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand on Friday (8), has rolled out the red carpet for 1,200 yoga lovers from 75 nations.

The event is organised by Parmarth Niketan with the support of Incredible India, which is under the country’s tourism ministry, in association with the ministries of culture and AYUSH, which works on reviving the knowledge of India’s ancient systems of medicine and ensuring the optimal development and propagation of the Ayush (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa Rigpa, and Homeopathy) systems of healthcare.

It was officially inaugurated on Saturday (9) by the governor of Uttarakhand, Lt Gen (Retd) Gurmit Singh. The week-long event will be attended by several ministers, diplomats and other dignitaries.

Read: International Yoga Festival 2024: Special Mahashivratri celebrated at Parmarth Niketan

His Holiness (HH) Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswati Ji, president of Parmarth Niketan and Pujya Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati Ji, director of the IYF welcomed participants from across the globe at the event. A special celebration of Mahashivratri was also held on the opening day (8).

A special sacred Ganga Aarti was held on Friday to welcome the participants on the eve of the official inauguration of the programme. They were invited to be present at the venue as one world, one spirit, one family and one consciousness as the world witnesses more divisiveness, polarisation, and violence.

Highlights of this year’s highly anticipated festival are:

• Divine Spiritual Wisdom plenary sessions with Luke Coutinho (Saturday, March 9); Pujya Maa Hansa Jayadeva, Gauranga Das Prabhu (Sunday, March 10); Dr. Ishwar V. Basavaraddi (March 14); Dr Chinmay Pandya and Gurmaukh Kaur Khalsa (March 12);
• Classes with famed international yoga master teachers such as Seane Corn, Kia Miller, Anand Mehrotra, and Tommy Rosen and others;
• Musical performances by MC YOGI (March 9); Kailash Kher (March 10); Daphne Tse (March 12), Gurnimit Singh, and Visvambhar Sheth (March 13);
• Special celebrations with Ecstatic Rhythm and Soul percussionist Drums Sivamani with his wife Runa Rizvi (March 14)
• A visit to the iconic Maharishi Ashram (Beatles Ashram)
• A sacred Mahashivratri meditation, prayers and puja on the banks of Mother Ganga.
• Special announcement of Maha Kumbh Mela activities being organised by ParmarthOn Saturday, more than 1,200 participants from 75 countries around the world started the day with a special spiritual lecture on the “Sacred Energy of Shiva” with HH Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswati Jii and Pujya Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswat Jii, and enjoyed Kriya and Kundalini asana classes, joined a thought-provoking conversion on “How Ayurveda and Yoga can Heal Addiction” between American yoga teacher and addiction recovery expert Tommy Rosen, founder of Recovery 2.0, and renowned Ayurveda expert Dr Vaidya Ramkumar.

  

  They will conclude the day with a special sacred Maha Shivratri Celebration with a Ganga aarti on the holy banks of River Ganges.

  On Saturday, the participants were officially welcomed to the IYF in the presence of the governor of Uttarakhand. They also took part in a Divine Spiritual Wisdom Plenary Session on “Total Wellness,” with esteemed guests such as Luke Coutinho, the Wellness Champion at the forefront of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s Fit India Movement, Anand Mehrotra, founder of Sattva Yoga and the Sattva Yoga Academy, and Dr N Ganesh Rao, founder of ACT Yoga.This year’s Sacred Sound Stage at the event will feature a gifted lineup of kirtan, mantra, and sound artistes. The festival is also being covered by reputed international media outlets such as Time Magazine, the New York Times and CNN, among others.

  

  The event draws India’s most revered names in spiritual leadership and has been inaugurated in the past by PM Modi via live video conferencing and in person by former vice president Venkaiah Naidu.

  During the festival the year, the participants will have the opportunity to join over 150 classes, workshops, lectures, discourses and interactive sessions on topics including a wide variety of Yoga Asanas (from Kundalini to Hatha, and so many more), Yog Nidra, Pranayama, Sound Healing, Ayurveda, Meditation, as well as Ancient Indian Philosophy and Vedanta, classical Indian dance and musical instruction.

  “This year we are so glad to be coming together as a global family when much of the world is torn apart with divisiveness. Yoga is not what you do. Yoga is who you are. To perform actions without any expectation, just as an instrument of divine grace, is Yoga. To me, yoga is beyond religion, yoga is for all. With this Festival, we illustrate India’s ability to connect people from all walks of life through and with Yoga,” said HH Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswati Ji.

  Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswatiji said, “In this sacred land, where the saints, sages and rishis have come for thousands of years, the participants of International Yoga Festival at Parmarth Niketan receive the highest excellence in teachings. But along with teachings from yoga experts from across the world, the participants also receive the divine touch and transformation of Mother Ganga and the Himalayas, and his energy of awakening in the Birthplace of Yoga. It is that confluence of teachings, touch and transformation that is so special and draws people here from every corner of the globe.”

  Marina Egges, a participant from Switzerland, said, “I always wanted to come to India and I love yoga. I heard about a festival in the birthplace of yoga so I said yes! I have to go!”

  Anna May Hayes, who came from the United Kingdom, said, “I haven’t been to India for 40 years. I wanted to come to see what’s changed. I’m looking forward to exploring different classes and trying new things.”