Pune The second edition of International Festival of Spiritual India (IFSI) will be held from January 31 to February 2 at Yashwantrao Chavan Academy of Development Administration (Yashada) Pune. Author Manjiri Prabhu is the organiser and curator of the festival.

The festival aims to demystify the concept of spirituality and bring it to the grassroots level. It will also make participants aware of what spiritual India means and understand and try to imbibe its values in our day-to-day existence.

Prabhu says, The festival will help understand and connect the myriad thoughts and concepts of spirituality in other parts of the world with those in spiritual India. It will also help encourage everyone to find their path of spirituality and rediscover the deeply engraved spirituality already within us with a union of the mind, body and spirit.

Rajiv Mehrotra, trustee, Foundation for Universal Responsibility of the Dalai Lama will attend the inaugural function on January 31.

The topics at the festival will include yoga, faiths, meditation, well-being, arts, food and nutrition, health and happiness, heritage, healing, crystals and energies, harmony and coexistence, communes, soul connects and twin flames and relationships. The formats include workshops, discussions, performances (dance, music), demonstrations and talks by national and international invitees.

Prabhu said, The logo of the festival is specially designed to connote the essence of Indian spirituality and that of IFSI. The five colour stripes represent the universe and our Earth which is made of five basic elements or Panchmahabhute which also constitutes our body in which our soul or the spirit of life resides. We need to be in unison with these elements to create and maintain a balance in our life. The two hands depicting a gesture of namaskar depicts the core of Indian philosophy recognition and respect of another being as a part of universal divinity. It also symbolises an eternal flame of enlightenment or knowledge that manifests within a being through following a spiritual and divine path in life. The circular shape of the logo denotes the Brahmanda or the Indian description of the universe.

The panellists include Dr John Dayal, member of the National Integration Council of India; Seshadri Chari, politician, author and foreign policy analyst; Swami Atmapriyananda, vice-chancellor of Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University; Shubhranghshu Roy, author; Ranjit S Bhogal, scientific research department, Kaivalyadhama, Pune and Mickey Mehta, fitness guru.

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Spiritual festival curated to bring world together in peace, love and harmony - Hindustan Times