Art of Living's World Culture Festival 2023 sees record-breaking attendance
CHENNAI: The Art of Living's World Culture Festival, being hosted at the iconic National Mall in Washington DC, saw a record-breaking 1 million people from 180 countries joining in on the opening day, according to the event organisers.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the founder of The Art of Living, shared "It's such a beautiful occasion to celebrate our diversity. Our planet is so diverse, yet there is an underlying unity of our human values. Today, on this occasion, let’s commit ourselves to bringing more happiness to society. Let’s put a smile on everyone’s face. That’s humanness. That’s what we all are made up of. No celebration gains depth if it's not supported by wisdom. And that wisdom is within all of us. Wisdom is to recognize we are all unique and that we are all one. Let me tell everyone once again - we all belong to each other. We all belong to one global family. Let's celebrate our life. Let us accept and face the challenges pragmatically. Let us dream of a better future for this and the coming generation.”
Dr S Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister of India, in his message, said, "While we all endeavor to expand prosperity and secure our planet's future, it is natural that we are confronted with challenges of oppressing nature. Whether it is natural disasters, man-made ones, conflicts, or disruptions, it is important that in an interdependent world, we are always there for one another. The Art of Living has been an inspirational example in this regard and I personally have seen the difference that they have made most recently in the Ukraine conflict. Today, their message, your message, our message should be of caring, sharing, generosity, goodwill of understanding, and cooperation. This is what has brought us all together here”
The event saw America the Beautiful and Vande Mataram being performed by Grammy Award Winner, Chandrika Tandon and 200 artists, Panchabhootam, a 1000-strong Indian classical dance and classical symphony, 1000 global guitar ensemble led by Grammy Award winner Micky Free and other renowned guitar players, and traditional dance performances from Africa, Japan, and the Middle East.
Global dignitaries like H.E. Ban Ki-moon, eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations; Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser; Michigan Congressman Sri Thanedar; Hakubun Shimomura, MP, Former Minister of Education, Culture, Sports and Science and Technology, Japan; Eric Solheim, former UN Deputy Secretary General and Executive Director of UNEP, as well as former Minister of International Development Norway, and others shared their common vision for unity, peace, and harmonious coexistence on the opening day.
The Pope through The Reverend Bishop Emeritus Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, Chancellor Emeritus of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences; The Holy See, shared his message as well. “To have world peace, we need inner peace. To communicate peace, we need to live in peace. And to live in peace, we need the Art of Living. To have the art of living in peace, we need to have communication with God. God is not an enemy of the human being. God is a friend. God is love. And, to have God, we need to come back to the meditation, to the prayer. We need to come back to our roots. So, in this delicate moment, we need to invoke God and in the name of Pope Francis, that we, the fraternity of all human beings, I bless you, and I bless this very big meeting, and I think that this act of living really will the future of our humanity.”