The Ministry of Culture and Heartfulness Foundation in association with International Buddhist Confederation (IBC) organized the Global Spirituality Mahotsav (GSM) with the theme of “Inner Peace to World Peace” from 14th – 17th March 2024 at Kanha Shanti Vanam, Hyderabad.
The Hon’ble President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu, and the Hon’ble Vice Shri. President Jagdeep Dhankhar graced the event on 15 and 16 March respectively. The event witnessed a galaxy of spiritual leaders and eminent personalities who participated in the 4-day event, which had a totalparticipation of over 1,00,000 people across India, including 5,000 plus worldwide. Among the prominent names were Gaur Gopal Das, HH Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswati ji, Sri Chinna Jeeya Swami ji, Shri Devkinandan Thakur ji, Dr Imam Umer AhmendIlyasi, Dr Tony Nadar, Ven Bhikku Sanghasena, Harjinder Singh Dhami, HH Acharaya Lokesh Muni, Father Anthony Poola, Acharya Balkrishna and others.
The Director General, Shri Abhijit Halder represented the IBC at the GSM.
The event showcased various panel discussions, cultural programmes associated with spirituality, an exhibition showcasing India’s spiritual history, narratives of peace, and an immersive experience of spirituality through books and musical rendition by Shankar Mahadevan, Kumaresh Rajagopalan and Shashank Subramanyam, among others.
The IBC displayed an exhibition and some live Buddha Dhamma creative Arts. The exhibition on the ‘Life and teachings of the Buddha’with panels, layouts chronologically of Lord Buddha’s life with verses (Shlokas or Gathas) and artefacts. This was prepared with the support of the National Museum, Ministry of Culture. There was also an exhibition on the“Travelling Relics- Spreading the word of the Buddha” explaining the history of how the Buddha Relics were returned to India. This was prepared with the support of India International Centre (IIC).
IBC also exhibited creative Buddhists Art forms like the Thangka Paintings, Himalayan sculptures, Wood Carvings, and a Mandala Workshop,which was performed live by the artists. The exhibition received lots of love and appreciation by more than 10,000 visitors. It was even appreciated by the Hon’ble Minister of Culture, Shri G. Kishan Reddy.
IBC also made sure to have a sizable participation of Buddhist communities and over 150 Buddhist monks from both Theravada and Nalanda traditions participated in the event.They chanted for World Peace and performed a Walking Meditation, which was a unique experience for the public.
It was anexceptionaland meaningful experience for IBC to be a part of GSM where there were people of different faiths with an aim to propagate “Inner Peace to World Peace”. The Heartfulness Foundation acknowledged and appreciated the efforts of IBC in making this event a resounding success.
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