Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Addresses 40000 Abhyasis At The World’s Largest Meditation Centre Kanha Shanti Vanam, Heartfulness Organization

Press Release

• 27-11-2023

New Delhi, 26 November 2023: Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi arrived at Kanha Shanti Vanam, the world headquarters of Shri Ram Chandra Mission and Heartfulness, in the outskirts of Hyderabad as part of his visit to the city on Sunday. Hon’ble Prime Minister reached Kanha Shanti Vanam by helicopter Sunday morning. He had a short tour of the facility by Revered Daaji – Spiritual Guide of Heartfulness and President of Shri Ram Chandra Mission. Shri Nardendra Modi ji also visited the largest meditation hall in the world at Kanha Shanti Vanam which has a capacity of one lakh people meditating at a time. Hon’ble PM was felicitated by Rev. Daaji followed by a welcome address by Rev. Daaji. Hon’ble PM also unveiled the commemorative plaque for 125 years of Babuji celebrations.

To mark the occasion, Hon’ble Prime Minister planted a Bakul plant, also called Pagoda or Indian Bullet tree. The significance of the tree lies in its medicinal, cultural and astronomical association. More than 40,000 people from across the country and overseas came together and many more joined virtually to meditate together at the largest meditation centre of the world.

In his address, Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji said, “My visit here was long overdue, but the time to visit Kanha Shanti Vanam has come only now and see the inspiring work under the vision of Pujya Daaji here. Today Kanha Shanti Vanam is known as the world’s largest meditation centre. One can imagine the kind of positive energy emanating here. Kanha is propagating the wisdom and traditions of our ancient seers and yogis which over 160 countries are adopting as yoga and meditation – it is your great service to humanity. Babuji Maharaj used to say that evolution of consciousness is everyone’s right. His successors Chariji and now Daaji are bringing to transformation to build a strong Bharat.

What Pujya Daaji is doing for humanity today is truly incredible. His immense contributions also got him being honoured by Padma Bhushan. Daaji is one of the greatest souls I have met. On one hand he did a spectacular job in the pharmaceutical industry earlier, on the other he is leading by example in the field of spirituality.  I feel very happy to see the heights to which Daaji has taken Kanha today as a great motivator and spiritual guide for entire mankind.

History witnessed attempts to subdue our heritage and culture. But today India has risen again with her inherent strength through meditation, yoga, ayurveda and other sciences. The developed India should reflect our pride in our heritage, our solidarity, our dutifulness and a prosperous nation – wherein Shri Ram Chandra Mission and Heartfulness and its volunteers are contributing immensely.

I believe in the four pillars for a strong India – 1. Nari Shakti 2. Yuva Shakti 3. Shram Shakti and 4. Udyam Shakti. These four pillars will ensure that all the women, youth, employees, enterprises and labour are empowered. There was a time when citizens used to knock at the government’s doors, today we are knocking at your door. We have also come up with a My Bharat mission that will prevent youth in getting into the quagmire of drug or substance abuse. Just as nature gives selflessly, let us work selflessly and build a strong Bharat.”

Rev. Daaji, Guide of Heartfulness and President of Shri Ram Chandra Mission said, “In Modi ji, we have a global leader and it is with his vision that India is shining. What strikes to me the most is what we must do next – we must bring the inner cleansing to be better human beings. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals have laid out many of the goals as imminent. But when you think about deeply the root cause of all of the problems that needs to be addressed urgently is thought pollution. Yoga and meditation will help you clean the thought pollution and hence ‘Har din dhyan, har dil dhyan’ is something I recommend to everyone. Let us be proud of our heritage and be proud of each other.”

For the last 78 years, Shri Ram Chandra Mission has been teaching meditation to the global community free of charge. Heartfulness meditation aims to adopt the ancient Indian traditions of raja yoga and meditation in a modern world, allowing practitioners to experience its benefits and achieve inner harmony and balance while navigating a fast-paced world. The Heartfulness way is unique because it is supported by Pranahuti, or yoga transmission, a divine energy for human transformation which was revived by the early guides of Shri Ram Chandra Mission in the 1800s.

Kanha Shanti Vanam was inaugurated by former President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind in 2020. Since the start of its development in 2015, Kanha Shanti Vanam has grown both in immensity and in impact. What was once a barren land, typical of the Indian Deccan Plateau, Kanha Shanti Vanam is now a thriving green space, with over 10 lacs saplings planted and nurseries at a combined total of 50 lacs of 280 critically endangered species. Kanha serves not only as a meditation centre, with the world’s largest meditation hall, but also as a holistic hub for learning, yoga, meditation, wellness, sustainable living, ecological preservation, and water conservation. It blends modern and traditional approaches to promote a harmonious way of life. In recent years, Kanha Shanti Vanam has attracted big names from the worlds of sports, music, film, academic and entrepreneurship, and counts individuals such as Pullela Gopichand, P.V. Sindhu, Rohit Sharma, Kabir Bedi, and Ricky Kej among others as avid practitioners and supporters.

*About Heartfulness:* Heartfulness offers a simple set of meditative practices and lifestyle changes, first developed at the turn of the twentieth century and formalized into teaching through the Shri Ram Chandra Mission in 1945 in India with a goal to bring peace, happiness, and wisdom to one heart at a time. These practices are a modern form of Yoga designed to support contentment, inner calm, and stillness, compassion, courage, and clarity of thought, as the first step towards a purposeful life. They are simple and easily adopted and are appropriate for people from all walks of life, cultures, religious beliefs, and economic situations, who are over the age of fifteen. Ongoing training in Heartfulness practices continues at thousands of schools and colleges, and over 100,000 professionals are meditating in corporations, non-governmental, and government bodies worldwide. More than 5,000 Heartfulness Centers are supported by many thousands of certified volunteer trainers and millions of practitioners in 160 countries.

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