Mahashivaratri and Grama Devata Utsav at the Art of Living Centre

Marking the festival of Maha Shivaratri, an utsav of over 240 Grama Devatas from villages of Karnataka was held at The Art of Living International Centre.

Thousands of people gathered at The Art of Living International Centre for the Maha Shivaratri celebrations on March 10^th 2013. The highlight of the celebrations was the confluence of over 240 Grama Devatas from villages in and around Bangalore. 

Speaking on the occasion, The Art of Living Founder, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said, "For the first time ever over 240 venerated village deities are coming together from Karnataka on the occasion of Shivaratri."

The celebrations hosted the ‘Naada Devata’, ‘Bhuvaneshwari’ (Deity of Karnataka State), and the ‘Nagara Devata’, ‘Annamma’ (Deity of Bangalore City), who were the leading deities for this occasion. Gram Devatas from places like Kunigal, Chennapatna, Bidadi, Harohalli, Kanakapura, Arasikere, Tumkur, Kolar among others were present. Some of the other participating deities from Bangalore city were Vijayanagar, Malleshwaram, N.R. Colony, Gandhinagar, Mattikere and Jayanagar.

Appreciating events like these that help restore ancient traditions and bring people together, Shri Ramprasad, Trustee of Annamma Devi Maha Samsthana said, "The event is very significant as it showcases the rich cultural heritage of our land to the present generation. We hope this continues year after year."

The Gram Devata Puja was followed by Sudarshan Kriya conducted by Sri Sri, Rudrabhishekham and satsang.