The immortal message of the Gita was delivered by Lord Krishna to Arjuna on first day of the battle of Mahabharata in Kurukshetra. The anniversary of the deliverance of this great event is celebrated in Kurukshetra every year as International Gita Mahotsav. With the growing Indian diaspora and increasing popularity of the Gita around the world, the government of Haryana decided to organize International Gita Mahotsav in other parts of the world too.
The very aims and objectives of celebrating International Gita Mahotsav in other parts of the world are to spread the global inspirational message of the Bhagavad Gita and enlightening the world with message of Peace, Harmony and Universal Brotherhood. It is a spiritual journey and an opportunity to understand the Gita through various mediums like Seminars, Exhibitions, Chanting, Yajna and Multimedia Shows.
Since the beginning of International Gita Mahotsav in Kurukshetra in the year 2016, the people of Mauritius have participated in many cultural events. For this reason, in the year 2017 and 2018, the Government of Haryana included Mauritius as a partner country for the celebration of International Gita Mahotsav in Kurukshetra. In the year 2018 itself, the Government of Mauritius took a decision to celebrate the International Gita Mahotsav in Mauritius and accordingly International Gita Mahotsav was celebrated in Mauritius from 13th to 16th February 2019.
The participation of thousands of devotees from India, Mauritius and abroad led by Gita Manishi Swami Gyananand was a unique experience of this grand celebration. The main events were held at the Swami Vivekananda International Convention Center. The ceremonies of Gita Yajna and Gita Pujan were followed by the Exhibition on the Gita and Craft Bazar. In the seminar on the Gita, many scholars and thinkers from different parts of the world participated. During the celebration the grand cultural programmes were in the evening. On concluding day of the festival Gita Yajna and complete recitations of the Gita was held at Ganga Talao. In the end a grand Aarti with recitations of Vedic mantras was held at the same venue which was attended by Chief Minister of Haryana and devotees from different parts of the world.
In view of the successful organization of the International Gita Mahotsav in Mauritius, some voluntary organizations of England requested the Haryana Government to celebrate the International Gita Mahotsav in London. Accordingly the International Gita Mahotsav was organized in London from 9th to 11th August 2019.
Amidst blowing of conches the opening ceremony of the festival was held in the Atlee Hall of the British Parliament. In this three days festival an exhibition on the theme of Gita and Kurukshetra was also set up. On 10 August the International Gita Seminar was organized at the Logan Hall of University College of London. The seminar was attended by Indian religious leaders, Indian delegates and diplomats of many countries.
On the concluding day of the festival after Gita Yajna and the Global chanting of the Gita, GIEO Gita and fourteen other organizations participated in Gita Sadbhavana Yatra. A huge and colourful procession started from the Shree Ram temple in South Hall. Thousands of people participated in this procession which was welcomed by the spectators on the way.
Inspired by the successful organization of International Gita Mahotsav in Mauritius and London, requests from many other countries are coming to Government of Haryana for organizing the festival which indeed is a great opportunity to spread the message of Gita globally.
After the successful celebration of International Gita Mahotsav in the foreign soils in Mauritius and United Kingdom, the proposal of celebrating the festival in Canada was accepted by the Government of Haryana. So, the festival in Canada was celebrated under the aegis of Kurukshetra Development Board from 16th to 18th September 2022. During this three-day festival, an exhibition on the theme of Gita & Kurukshetra, International Seminar on Gita and Gita Sadbhavana Yatra were organized in different cities of Canada.
Welcome Function of the Festival was held in Ottawa which was attended by the delegates from India in Canada. Many senior leaders, parliamentarians, minister, ambassadors and head of many social, religious and voluntary organizations participated in the functions of International Gita Mahotsav on this occasion cultural programs were held in living art center of the city of Mississauga in the evening after International Seminar of Gita. On the final Gita Shobha Yatra was held in the city of Toronto in which thousands of people participated.
