Spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat at the lighting of the lamp at the festival.
Bengaluru: On the first day of India’s largest arts and cultural summit, Bhava-The Expressions Summit 2025, The Art of Living launched ‘Sita Charitam’. It is India’s largest live performing arts extravaganza, showcasing 30 dance, music and art forms performed by 500 artists. The objective of this event is to showcase Indian cultural heritage to the world. The event will be held across 180 countries and will feature songs and dialogues sung in local languages in more than 20 editions.
Amazing display of India’s rich cultural diversity
Bhava 2025 witnessed an amazing display of the richness of Indian art as the Indian classical dance Bharatnatyam performed by 10 transgender artistes from West Bengal enthralled the audience. Also, a group of ex-prisoner artists were also present on the tunes of ‘Out of Box’ music band of ‘Art of Living’, which made the gathering more colourful.
Expressing his views on the importance of this festival, global humanitarian and spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said, ‘If even one culture, religion or civilization were to disappear, the world would become poor. Every culture is part of the world’s heritage and we should preserve it. Indian Tourism and Culture Minister Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat also acknowledged the diverse forms of art and described the occasion as a cultural Kumbh.
Presentation of various forms of music, dance and art
Bhava 2025 began as an emotional experience, with the passionate Bharatnatyam presented by Kavya Muraleedharan and her troupe touching the hearts of the audience. Under the leadership of Kathak emperor Manisha Sathe, three generations came together on the stage and gave a spectacular presentation of Kathak. The presentation of Ram Bhajan and live music by a group of 30 artists left the audience emotional. The presentation of Garba songs also forced the audience present to dance.
Spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar with the artists.
‘Art transcends all boundaries of caste, religion and gender’, expressed Sushant Divikar at the end of the inauguration ceremony. The festival brought together more than 600 delegates and became part of this vast community of arts. This sense of unity can only be possible through spirituality, and Bhava provides that space for artists to explore aspects of this life.
Art Awards 2025: Honor to the protectors of Indian culture
During this time, the Art Awards 2025 was also organized in which renowned artists were honored for their lifetime contribution to Indian art. Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar presented this award. Among the honored artists was 94-year-old veena player R. Visvesvaran, veteran mridangam scholar A. Anand, Yakshagana hero Bannage Survan and Garba artiste Atul Purohit.
Celebrating art greats and traditions
The festival was inaugurated grandly with the lighting of the lamp amidst recitation of shlokas. On this occasion Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Padmashree Manjamma Jogathi, Padmashree Omprakash Sharma, Padmashree Uma Maheshwari, and music emperor Chitraveena N. Eminent artists like Ravikiran were present.
Artists displaying their art.
More detail in next versions
Bhava 2025 will be organized in 180 countries in the future, in which Indian art and culture will be promoted. Its objective is not only to provide a platform to art lovers, but also to convey the cultural heritage to the new generation.
Latest India News