Yoga festival attracts foreign tourists in large numbers

 The ongoing International Yoga Festival at Rishikesh is drawing a large number of foreign tourists.
The seven-day long festival that started on March 1 has been jointly organised by Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board and Parmarth Niketan Ashram.
The festival was first organised in 2001 and since then it is being held every year.
A large number of visitors are coming every year to attend the yoga sessions and perform yoga exercises.
"The environment is such that people can learn, enjoy and also listen to speeches of big people. There is serious study and exposure," said Birju Mehta, a visitor.
The participants said that attending the festival has been an enriching experience for them.
The festival is held on the banks of the river Ganga, it offers a wide variety of yoga including Kundalini Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Reiki, Pranayama, Power Yoga, Yoga Nidra, Pranic Healing, Music Therapy, Yoga Therapy, Nada yoga, Meditation and special satsangs.
The question-answer sessions with prominent exponents of Yoga are one of the highlights of the Yoga Week.
The Yoga festival has been uniting people of different cultures and faiths as it promotes the unity of the body, mind and soul.

To prevent the holy River Ganga from further pollution, a massive campaign has been launched from Gangotri, the origin point of River Ganges to West Bengal's Gangasagar, the point from where River Ganga flows into Bay of Bengal

To prevent the holy River Ganga from further pollution, a massive campaign has been launched from Gangotri, the origin point of River Ganges to West Bengal's Gangasagar, the point from where River Ganga flows into Bay of Bengal.

 

Organised by Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, the 99-day campaign named "Ganga Sanskriti Pravah Yatra" which commenced on February 1, reached Varanasi earlier this week.

 

The campaign would conclude at Gangotri, the origin point of River Ganges on May 11.

 

"People have lost their faith in those who give speeches. They have even lost their faith in the Saints. There have been so many swords coming out during the Kumbh fair to take a dip in the river Ganga, if the same come out even to save, the river could be saved.," said Satya Narayan Baba, an artist.

 

"It is a group effort of Ganga Mahasabha and 145 other organisations from Ganga Sagar and Gangotri. We have called for this yatra (campaign) completely on the trust of the people of this nation and those living on the banks of River Ganga and not the government. The people who have come riding on boats in this Yatra are not a sponsored lot," said Acharya Jitendra, National Secreatary of Ganga Mahasabha, an RSS outfit.

 

"We believe soon a time will come when even the public would come out on roads to save the sacred River Ganga", Acharya Jitendra added,

 

"Pollution and commercialization has increased a threat to river Ganga. The society is also polluting Ganga in the name of development. We believe this initiative would help in creating awareness regarding cultural and water pollution," said Indresh Kumar, All India Karamkarini Member of the RSS.

Many prominent Hindu clerics are likely to join the campaign.

 

After Varanasi, the campaign would be taken to Allahabad, Kanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Rishikesh and Devprayag, Tehri, Uttarkashi before concluding at Gangotri, the origin point of River Ganga.

 

Meanwhile, the principal sources of pollution are domestic and industrial wastes. Conservative estimates put the effluents flowing into Ganges at 1.7 billion litres each day, out of which 1.4 billion litres is untreated.

 

Nearly 88 per cent of the pollution originates in the 27 cities that are located along the river's banks and the banks of its tributaries.

 

According to a recent official report, only 39 percent of the primary target of the Ganga Action Plan, which the Central Government had started in 1985, has been met so far.

 

The Ganga Action Plan (GAP) was originated from the personal intervention and interest of the late Prime Minster Indira Gandhi, who requested a comprehensive survey of the situation in 1979.

 

After five years, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) published two comprehensive reports, which formed the base from which the action plan to clean up the Ganga, was developed. By Girish Kumar Dubey