CHENNAI, INDIA, August 2, 2016 (New Indian Express): The annual Hindu Spiritual and Service Fair will be inaugurated by yoga guru Baba Ramdev at 5.30 pm on Tuesday in the presence of Jain, Buddhist and Sikh scholars at the AM Jain college grounds here. Ahead of the six-day Fair, a mass yoga event was organized in which over 10,000 schoolboys participated. That was followed by a mass singing program called Ganathon in which 10,000 college girls took part. Also hundreds of Vivekananda Raths rolled into various institutions to spread the message and ideals of the Fair.
Attended by thousands, the Fair is now in its eighth year. This year’s edition will focus on the revival of traditional games of India. According to S. Gurumurthy, the brain behind the Fair, over 1,000 competitions in about 180 traditional games will be conducted during the Fair.
The Fair’s core message is environment protection and conservation. The program is innovative since it links yoga positions to the six themes of the Fair, namely conserve forest and protect wildlife, preserve ecology, sustain environment, inculcate family and social values, promote women’s honor and instill patriotism. For instance, the Vrukshasana (tree position) is linked to reverence for trees and conservation of forests and Bhjujangasana (snake position) for protecting wildlife.