Rishikesh, March 2 : 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.
“I am coming from Singapore. This is my eighth Yoga Festival. I have been coming here since it started in 2001. It has been a real gift and it is very important for me to come here every year because for me as Swamiji says, it is like coming home,” said Rebecca, a tourist from Singapore.
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.
“Our aim is to make people aware about yoga, which is an inherent part of our culture. Yoga is helpful not just for physical health, but it also helps to overcome a number of mental problems like stress, depression, frustration,” said Swami Chidanand Saraswati, President and Spiritual Head of the Parmarth Niketan.
The Yoga festival has been uniting people of different cultures and faiths as it promotes the unity of the body, mind and soul.
— ANI >> More
March 3rd, 2008
The Wildlife Conservation Society and the Panthera Foundation announced plans to establish a 5,000 mile-long “genetic corridor” from Bhutan to Burma that would allow tiger populations to roam freely across landscapes. The corridor, first announced at the United Nations on January 30th, would span eight countries and represent the largest block of tiger habitat left on earth.
Dr. Alan Rabinowitz, director of Science and Exploration Programs at the Wildlife Conservation Society, said that genetic corridors, where tigers can travel with less risk of inbreeding, are crucial for their long-term survival in Asia. The proposed corridor includes extensive areas of Bhutan, northeast India, Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia, along with potential connectivity to Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. It has already been endorsed by the new King of Bhutan, his Majesty Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, who requested other heads of state to support similar efforts.
Rabinowitz, the co-director of Tigers Forever – a WCS/Panthera Foundation collaboration – made a clear request at the recent UN meeting that he and other tiger conservationists would be seeking additional approval and assistance from other heads of state.
“While Asia’s economic tigers are on the rise, wild tigers in Asia are in decline,” Rabinowitz said. “Much like the call-out for global agreements on banning tiger parts in trade, a similar cross-border initiative for genetic corridors is key to the survival of the tiger. Tiger range states need to work together, as tigers do not observe political borders nor do they require a visa or passport to travel where habitat and prey remain.”
Rabinowitz said corridors did not have to be pristine parkland but could in fact include agricultural areas, ranches, and other multi-use landscapes – just as long as tigers could use them to travel between wilderness areas.
Twelve of 13 tiger range states were represented by ambassadors and delegates at the UN meeting. Other organizations working to save the tiger came out in force, including representatives from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Save the Tiger Fund, Conservation International, Rare Conservation, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Actress Glenn Close was in attendance and spoke at the event.
Tigers Forever was launched in 2006 as a bold plan to grow tiger numbers by 50 percent at key sites over a ten year period. This increase is being achieved through collecting baseline data and long-term scientific monitoring of tigers, their prey, and their threats, to ensure that the goals can be met. Key threats are the direct killing of tigers, poaching of tiger prey, and habitat loss – all of which are being targeted and mitigated.
The meeting, hosted by UN Under-Secretary General Ambassador Joseph Verner Reed, was opened with a welcoming statement by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and marked the first time government, business, and conservationists have come together at the United Nations for the sake of conserving a single iconic species.
Source: PHYSORG.com News » see details
February 14th, 2008
T.S. Subramanian, The Hindu - India’s National Newspaper
Workers found the sculpture below the ground at the “yagasala mantapa”.
CHENNAI:A rare piece of beautifully executed sculpture, depicting Vishnu seated on a Naga coil under the five hoods of the serpent deity, was unearthed a couple of days ago at the Nithyakalyanaswamy temple at Thiruvidanthai, about 45 km from here. Workers found the sculpture below the ground at the “yagasala mantapa”. “Kumbhabhishekam” at the temple is scheduled for June 10.
At the bottom of the one-metre-high “Naga stone sculpture is a decorated pedestal with several components. Above this pedestal is a peeta (pedestal) in the form of a “koorma” (tortoise) and above this is the Naga in five coils. Vishnu is seated on the topmost coil. The five hoods spread out like an umbrella over him. The sculpture belongs to the 17th century Vijayanagara period. The temple was built in the 7th century A.D.
T. Satyamurthy, superintending archaeologist, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Chennai Circle, said it was “a unique Naga stone”. Such stones were generally found in Siva temples, with the linga seated on the Naga coils. The Naga stones were offered as votives for boons granted. But the Nithyakalyanaswamy temple was a Vishnu temple, and this Naga stone had a Vishnu at the centre. Besides it was found at the yagasala mantapa, where it could have been given as an offering. Vishnu is seen seated in a “sukhasana” (relaxed posture). He has four arms, holding a chanku (conch), `chakra’ (wheel), a stylised `gatha’ and a `padma’ (lotus). His cylindrical “kreeta”, elaborate ornaments and the posture of holding the weapons indicated that the sculpture belonged to the Vijayanagara period. The serpent’s five hoods had “mukhapattika” — ornaments on the forehead. The hoods had prominent eyes. “It is a beautiful and finely executed sculpture. The finish is excellent,” Dr. Satyamurthy said on Friday. It was made out of a single piece of greenish granite.
The temple is one of the earliest on the east coast. The sanctum has a big Varahamurthy (boar deity), with Bhudevi at his left. Varaha is more than seven feet tall. “The sculpture of a Naga, depicting Vishnu at the centre — that too, seated on a koorma pedestal — is rare,” Mr. Thirumoorthy said.
January 16th, 2008
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