From the 5th-12th of November, Parmarth Niketan (Rishikesh) hosted a huge function with more than 600 people from abroad who came to celebrate 11-11-11, which to many of them signified the dawning of a new age of light and love. But as H.H. Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswati, Founder of Ganga Action and Spiritual Head of Parmarth Niketan (Rishikesh), says, “Whenever you open your eyes it’s morning!” It was a wonderful opportunity to have so many people from all over the world gathered together in the spirit of love, peace and commitment to an age of light and love. As Pujya Swamiji says, “Whenever two people (one and one) come together in a spirit of love, peace and unity, they become not 2 but 11!” So wherever we go, whomever we meet, if we do so in a spirit of deep love and unity, we can create 11-11-11 every day! For seven days Parmarth held a beautiful festival of peace, yoga and divine song. Deva Premal & Miten, Snatam Kaur, and others sang devotional music on the banks of Mother Ganga and Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa, Gurudev Khalsa and other renowned Kundalini yoga teachers led yoga classes.
On the sacred evening of the 10th November, Kartik Purnima (and also Guru Nanak Devji’s birthday), there was a special, divine yagna and meditation program. Pujya Swamiji inspired everyone to join together to serve as one family – as Ganga Action – to protect and restore the free-flow and pristine nature of our Divine Mother, Ganga, and the millions of lives that her holy waters sustain. In that spirit, on the 11th morning we had a huge Ganga Clean up program, taking to the ghats and to the streets of Rishikesh to clean up years of trash along Ganga’s banks! Together we ushered in 11.11.11 with the spirit of action and with the pledge that together we would each inspire at least eleven other friends and family to join and be a part of the world Ganga family!
View photos from the clean-up, and all of GAP’s clean-ups >>