It’s that time of the year when celebrities make a beeline to Coimbatore, to attend the Mahashivarathri celebrations held at a spiritual center in the outskirts of the city. This year too, the revelry reached a feverish peak on Friday as hordes of devotees from across the world thronged the foothills of Vellingiri hills to bask in the spiritual fervour. The icing on the cake was the arrival of the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi himself, who unveiled the 112 ft bust of the first yoga guru, Adiyogi consecrated by the center’s founder Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev.
Terming yoga a potent peace instrument, the Indian PM, said, “Yoga is not only a physical activity; but, can play a crucial role in bringing peace to the world. Today, the world is longing for peace; and it’s not only from wars and conflicts, but they want peace of mind as well. Yoga has the potential to combat stress and lifestyle-related ailments. Yoga is ancient and modern at the same time. It’s time to create a new ‘yuga’ of togetherness and harmony, through the ancient form.” Sadhguru seconded his thoughts and added that by the next Mahashivarathri, the center would create more than one million yoga veeras and waxed eloquent about Adi Yogi. “Adiyogi represents the 112 ways, in which one could attain bliss through the science called yoga. He taught us to look inside ourselves. He is beyond all religion.” The center added that the progenitor of the idea (Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev) to build a statue on the yogi, took 2.5 years to design the mammoth statue. “But the work on the same was completed in just 8 months,” Sadhguru added.
Despite a sea of people thronging the venue to witness the potpourri of art, music and dance; a spiritual mood prevailed throughout the night. The chants exalting Lord Shiva grew louder as the night wore on. This was peppered with some soul-stirring music by singer Kailash Kher, who dedicated a special song as homage to the first yogi – Adiyogi. The performance by Rajasthani musician Kutle Khan, the center’s home grown group of musicians and dance troupe Nritarutya had the audience enthralled. The midnight meditation and discourse by Sadhguru had the audience in rapt attention.
Prasoon Joshi pens a tribute to Adiyogi- The source of Yoga
As homage to the first yogi – Lord Shiva, popular singer Kailash Kher had composed a song, which had lyrics by poet and writer Prasoon Joshi. Speaking to CT, the lyricist elaborated, “‘Adiyogi – The source of Yoga’ is a song dedicated to the concept of yoga and the first yogi. The song shows that we are part of the oneness represented by Adiyogi, who has been around for centuries. It’s sad that the West has construed Yoga as only a physical activity. Through the song, we have tried to say that yoga is much more than that. It is a part of our consciousness and the energy within. Just like it is difficult to express one’s feelings of love, it’s hard to express devotion for a god, yoga or a yogi. I have always believed that there is a force beyond me and the song is an attempt in bringing out that facet, too.”
When asked if Sadhguru had provided his inputs for the song, pat comes the reply. “The song wouldn’t have been possible without him. He has a great understanding of classical music and has the potential to keep everyone around him energized. As for Kailash Kher (who sang and composed music for the song), we both go a long way and it was a joy to team up with him, yet again.”