The 28th annual international yoga festival will be held at Haridwar from March 1 to March 7. This festival is being organised jointly by the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board (UTDB), Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN) and the Parmarth Niketan (Rishikesh). Its objective is to promote tourism in the State, said State Tourism Secretary Shailesh Bagauli while interacting with the media persons in the presence of GMVN Managing Director C Ravishankar and Swami Chidanand Saraswati from Parmarth Niketan, in Dehradun on Saturday.
Maha Kumbh yoga festival will also be organised in Rishikesh and Haridwar during this period in support of various yoga organisations. During Ardh Kumbha Mela, programme on yoga will be held at various places on each Saturday and Sunday in Mela area.
The tourism dept is committed to promote adventure tourism in the State and tourism calendar has been developed for this year. Several programmes of car racing, bike racing, paragliding, rafting mountaineering and others will be held in Kumaon and Garahwal divisions this year, he added.
Chidanand Saraswati said that this festival has been taking place in Rishikesh since 1989, organised first by UP Govt, and then by the Uttarakhand Govt since 2001. Since 1999, Parmarth Niketan has been hosting this world renowned event which has grown to international acclaim and which grows in size year after year.
Yogacharyas, teachers, students and seekers come from every corner of the globe to participate in this programme. last year we had more than 1000 participants from 60 countries and nearly 80 per cent of the participants came from abroad. One can get more information about this festival on website www.internationalyogafestival.com.
This year also there are more than 70 presenters, from 20 countries, giving nearly 150 classes, from 4am until 9:30 pm. Ashtanga Yoga, Iyengar Yoga, Vinyasa Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, Jivamukti Yoga, Raja Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Bharat Yoga, Deep Yoga, Shintoh Yoga and Somatics Yoga are just a few of the more than 60 different offerings throughout the week. There are also classes in meditation, mudras, Sanskrit chanting, Reiki, Ayurveda, Indian philosophy and much more. Further, spiritual discourses will be held by revered spiritual leaders from India and abroad.