The week- long International Yoga Festival organised by Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board in association with Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN) kicked off on a musical note in Rishikesh on Thursday. The evening witnessed hordes of yoga enthusiasts on the Ganga banks when the chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat inaugurated the festival.
Eminent Sufi singer set the ball rolling with Kedar anthem.
A number of ministers, including the Tourism Minister and the Agriculture Minister besides chairman GMVN along with other officials, were present during the inauguration.
The managing director GMVN, said, “The yoga enthusiasts from around the world would get a chance to experience the divine art of uniting mind, body and soul during this fest. It is a total rejuvenation for the people who are engaged in 24 x 7 works.”
This week- long festival has been divided into three themes. While the first two days would have deliberations on the Traditional Yoga the next two days are focused on Contemporary Yoga and the rest of the festival would have ‘Shakti’ – the primordial energy of creation as its theme.
The chapter being a celebration of the divine feminine spirit, some prominent female spiritual figures and yoga practitioners would share their knowledge and conduct a Shakti - invoking session in a variety of yoga styles, said the coordinator of the festival.
Besides the yoga classes, a string symposiums would be held on ‘Yoga for women’, ‘The Yogic way of Life’, ‘Yoga before and beyond the asanas’ during the fest.
The goal and the foundations of Yoga, an integrated body, mind, soul approach to Yoga would be deliberated upon along with the significance of the Shatkarma in Yogic advancements and frontiers of Yoga as per the ancient texts and their attainability.
“Across the world India is the only country where one experiences the merits of pilgrimage and spirituality and Uttarakhand is the Devbhoomi of this land, blessed by saints and sages. Himalayas are the forehead of Uttarakhand which houses the revered Kedarnath temple on the Kedar mount. I have dedicated a song for the Kedar dham which has been here since the Dwapar period”, sufi singer said. Notably, the festival is meant to highlight the state on the world map while promoting spiritual tourism.