It's that time of the year when celebrities make a beeline to Coimbatore, to attend the Mahashivarathri celebrations held at a spiritual center in the outskirts of the city. This year too, the revelry reached a feverish peak on Friday as hordes of devotees from across the world thronged the foothills of Vellingiri hills to bask in the spiritual fervour. The icing on the cake was the arrival of the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi himself, who unveiled the 112 ft bust of the first yoga guru, Adiyogi consecrated by the center's founder Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev.

Terming yoga a potent peace instrument, the Indian PM, said, "Yoga is not only a physical activity; but, can play a crucial role in bringing peace to the world. Today, the world is longing for peace; and it's not only from wars and conflicts, but they want peace of mind as well. Yoga has the potential to combat stress and lifestyle-related ailments. Yoga is ancient and modern at the same time. It's time to create a new 'yuga' of togetherness and harmony, through the ancient form." Sadhguru seconded his thoughts and added that by the next Mahashivarathri, the center would create more than one million yoga veeras and waxed eloquent about Adi Yogi. "Adiyogi represents the 112 ways, in which one could attain bliss through the science called yoga. He taught us to look inside ourselves. He is beyond all religion." The center added that the progenitor of the idea (Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev) to build a statue on the yogi, took 2.5 years to design the mammoth statue. "But the work on the same was completed in just 8 months," Sadhguru added.

Despite a sea of people thronging the venue to witness the potpourri of art, music and dance; a spiritual mood prevailed throughout the night. The chants exalting Lord Shiva grew louder as the night wore on. This was peppered with some soul-stirring music by singer Kailash Kher, who dedicated a special song as homage to the first yogi - Adiyogi. The performance by Rajasthani musician Kutle Khan, the center's home grown group of musicians and dance troupe Nritarutya had the audience enthralled. The midnight meditation and discourse by Sadhguru had the audience in rapt attention.

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A concoction of art, yoga and spirituality - Times of India