Bangalore set to witness congregation of 2.5 mn

Bangalore, the garden city, will be the host for a different reason for three days from February 17. It will witness the congregation of over 2.5 million 'art of living' (AoL) enthusiasts from over a hundred countries.

The silver jubilee celebrations of the AoL "" the globally expanding family of individuals, who have learnt the 'art of living' from Guru Ravi Shankar "" will witness an assembly of heads of states, policy makers, religious and industry leaders.

Russians, Americans, Canadians, Mauritians, Africans, Kosovas, Pakistanis, Chinese, Moroccans, apart from Indians, will meditate next to each other for world peace at what is perhaps the largest collective meditation in history. Over a thousand saints from all spiritual traditions will grace the inaugural function on February 17.

The President of India, governors and chief ministers of ten Indian states, former prime ministers Atal Behari Vajpayee and H D Deve Gowda, former deputy prime minister L K Advani, several Union and state ministers, bureaucrats, and eminent personalities from the world of business, showbiz, academics and sports will take part in the celebrations.

There will be nearly ten heads of states of different nations, including presidents and vice-presidents.

Explaining the elaborate arrangements being made, Bangalore AoL Headquarters' representative Prashanth V Kumar told a press conference here on Monday that for the first time-ever 3,800 musicians will present a grand symphony of Indian music playing on 650 mrudangams, 770 veenas, 138 nadaswarams, 750 flutes, 782 violins, 92 saxophones, 150 guitars, 138 thavils, 30 morsings and several other instruments.

A massive stage will spread across 3.5 acres and can seat over 5,000 dignitaries including the 3,800 musicians.

The silver jubilee initiatives, apart from AoL programmes, include making people of one lakh villages alcohol and tobacco free, chemical free farming and rainwater harvesting in those villages, promoting ayurveda and holistic healthcare, taking tele-agriculture and tele-medicine facilities to 100 villages in collaboration with ISRO, and achieving 100 per cent literacy in Karnataka through trained youth leaders, he said.

The Art of Living Foundation is the largest volunteer based NGO in the world. The Foundation's service projects, programs on yoga, meditation and stress elimination have benefited over 20 million people representing all walks of life, religions, cultures and traditions. The AOL foundation is active in over 140 countries.