By Sachin Murdeshwar

Mumbai:  The World’s oldest organized centre of Yoga, The Yoga Institute, Mumbai,  is set to complete 100 years of transforming lives through outstanding service to Yoga, and will celebrate the momentous occasion with India’s biggest wellness festival, Harmony Fest, across two days in Mumbai.

His Excellency, Shri Ramnath Kovind – Hon’ble President of India, will grace the  historic occasion and inaugurate the celebrations on Friday, 28th December. Other distinguished guests of honour who will grace the ceremony are Shri C. Vidyasagar Rao – Honble Governor of Maharashtra, Shri Devendra Fadnavis – Honble Chief Minister of Maharashtra, and Dr Smt Hansaji Jayadeva Yogendra,  Director of The Yoga Institute, Mumbai, among others.

The Honble Governor will also officially release Dr Smt Hansaji  Jayadeva Yogendra’s book, Yoga For All, which  has been 3 years in the writing, and is based on a hundred years of research by The Yoga Institute.

Dr Hansaji Jayadeva Yogendra, Director of The Yoga Institute, Mumbai, said, “On behalf of the millions of people whose lives have been touched by The Yoga Institute over the past 100 years, I am extremely grateful to the Honble President of India  Shri Ramnath Kovind, Honble Governor of Maharashtra Shri C Vidyasagar Rao, Honble Chief Minister of Maharasthra Shri Devandra Fadnavis, Union Minister of State for Ayush Shripad Y Naik and other dignitaries who will grace us with their presence and blessings. We feel humbled and privileged to have continued the service of Yoga through The Yoga Institute as per the vision of our Founder, the great Yoga Guru Shri Yogendra ji, and we welcome one and all to the Harmony Fest, which we hope will help bring about harmony and balance in the lives of people across India.”

The Harmony Fest – 28-29 December 2018, MMRDA Grounds, BKC, Mumbai. 12 noon to 9 pm

The free and open-to-all Harmony Fest will offer a banquet of health and wellness  for thought, mind, body and soul, delivered through a music, entertainment and good food festival, a marketplace for sustainable goods and art  plus, of course, 20 hours of Yoga, panel discussions, workshops, mentorship and guidance talks, higher and novice learning programmes and much more.

Some highlights of Harmony Fest, to be attended by celebrity host Kabir Bedi:

A GOOD FOOD FESTIVALabout healthy food with  with celebrities like Chef Ranveer Brar, Chef Pankaj Bhadouria. It will include Food Trucks and Stalls, a Marketplace, a Farmers’ Market, and more.

EXPERT GUIDANCE FROM RUJUTA DIWEKAR, India’s leading sports science and nutrition expert and amongst the world’s most followed Nutritionists.

TALKS AND PANEL DISCUSSIONS on Yoga with celebrated experts like Gaur Gopal Das, Dr H R Nagendra, Chidanand ji Saraswati, Dr D R Kartikeyan, Dr Lokesh Muni, Dr ChInmaya Pandya, Sadhvi Bhagwati Saraswati, a YogTalkby Laxmi Narayan Tripathi, and others.

4 YOGA WORKSHOPS: To help spread the word about Yoga for Householders: Bhavas Workshop, Asana Workshop, Women’s Health Workshop, and Couples’ Workshop

MEDITATION PODS to relax and unwind

HARMONY STAGE will feature performances by Symphony Stage & Musical bands, with illustrious names like Shankar Mahadevan, Sukhwinder Singh, Rekha Bhardwaj and bands and musical acts like Dharavi Rocks, Indian Ocean, Prem Joshua, Flamenco Kathaa and Kabir Café.

The Yoga Institute, a non-profit organisation,  was founded on 25th December, 1918, by Yoga Guru Shri Yogendraji at  Santacruz, Mumbai. Thanks to the efforts of three generations of Yogis led by Shri Yogendraji and including Mother Sita Devi,  Dr. Jayadeva Yogendra and Dr. Hansaji Yogendra, and Hrishi Jayadeva Yogendra, The Yoga Institute has  contributed immensely to the holistic development of Yoga for the Householders.

In 2018, it  received the Prime Minister’s Award for outstanding contribution for promotion and development of Yoga, conferred by the Ministry of AYUSH. It is also India’s first Yoga school to be certified by the Quality Council of India, Ministry of AYUSH.

The Yoga Institute has more than 500 publications to its credit, and Shri Yogendraji’s books about Yoga are preserved in the oldest and the largestmillennial time capsule in the world, the Crypt of Civilization at Oglethorpe University, USA, to be opened in the year 8113 AD.

Dr Hansaji Jayadeva Yogendra is the only woman Yoga guru to be invited by Hon. Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi to share the stage  at the first International Day of Yoga.

Every day, about  2000 persons visitThe Yoga Institute  for training and health consultations. Over the years, the Yoga Institute has also certified more than 55,000 trained Yoga teachers who, in 120 countries, have  been helping millions live better holistically healthy lives with the help of householder Yoga.