Continuing his efforts of building hope and encouraging the people to usher in a new dawn of social, economic and spiritual development, Art of Living founder, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar will embark on a five-day visit to Andhra Pradesh beginning December 18. Gurudev will visit the cities of Hyderabad, Vizag, Guntur, Mehboobnagar, Kadapa, Vijaywada and Karimnagar where he will address lakhs of people over a series of public satsangs and public interactions.
“His visit, with the theme of ‘Prajna – the dawn of a new era’, will add momentum to the various service initiatives taking place in the fields of education, rural development, youth empowerment and environment sustainability in Andhra Pradesh,” shared Art of Living spokesperson Santosh Rao.
In Hyderabad (December 19),Gurudev will lay the foundation stone of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Vidya Mandir (SSRVM), a school being run by The Art of Living across several states in India which provides holistic and value-based education to children.
Taking forward his commitment to build a violence and a stress free world, Gurudev will lead a Vishwa Shanti Yagna for world peace at the RRC grounds in the evening. In Vijaywada (Dec 21), Gurudev will lay the foundation stone of a temple of knowledge which will serve as a center for people from all walks of life to come together for achieving inner peace through ancient knowledge and practical breathing techniques.
From Vijaywada, Gurudev will visit Guntur, where at an event titled ‘Antharyami’, Annamaya Sankirtanai will be sung by a gathering of an estimated one lakh people. Also participating in this event will be an estimated 1000 canvas artists, who will be painting together at the venue.
The people of Guntur are preparing to welcome Gurudev with a 10-km long rangoli along the road that he will be taking to the venue.
Gurudev will also meet the students of Sri Sri Seva Mandir, a rural school being run by The Art of Living since 2001, which provides free education to over 300 children belonging to the marginalized sections of the society. The school is committed to providing value-based, quality education to the children, most of who are first-generation learners.
In addition to the school in Guntur, The Art of Living is running a tribal school at Paderu near Vishakapatnam, a rural school at Aatmakur and a slum school at Vallabh Nagar, Hyderabad. In all, 120 free schools are functioning in rural and tribal areas of the country.
Inspired by Gurudev's vision of creating a stress-free and a violence-free society, The Art of Living has reached out to more than 1,982 villages in Andhra Pradesh. Through its various service initiatives and stress-elimination programs for villagers, prison inmates, police forces, sex workers, and flood-affected population among others, the organization has touched the lives of lakhs of people.
The Art of Living has aimed to bring in economic and social sustainability among people of Andhra Pradesh, and has so far built 1016 homes and 3742 toilets, four free rural and tribal schools, formed 258 Self Help Groups (SHGs), and planted 2,06,299 trees.
