World Culture Festival: The Art of Living foundation conducted its World Culture Festival 2023 at the National Mall in Washington DC, United States. Around 10 lakh people from across the world came together for the event. Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who is in the United States, former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon among other dignitaries attended the event.
During the event, the rush was so huge that it filled up the gap between the US Capital and National Monument.
A spectacular performance where around 300 Americans sung 'Vande Mataram' was also witnessed during Art of Living's cultural event in DC.
Speaking at the event, Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said, “we all belong to one global family" adding that life is too short for conflicts and called for the world to face challenges pragmatically and to dream for a better future.
“Let us once again reaffirm our faith in the goodness of humanity. There is a lot of goodwill and the desire to do good in society," Ravi Shankar said
"Let us face the challenges pragmatically; accept the challenges and dream for a better future for this and the coming generation," he said.
"One person not being happy in a family can make the whole family miserable and several such families make the whole nation unhappy... Let's commit ourselves again on this occasion to bring more happiness… Let's create more happiness in society. Let's bring more smiles and white tears. That's humaneness and that's what we are all made up of,” said the Indian spiritual guru.
“No celebration gains depth and width if it's not supported by wisdom, and that wisdom is within us within all of us. Wisdom is to recognise we are all unique and we are all one," he said.
"We all belong to one global family. Let's celebrate our life. Life is too short to think about conflicts,” Ravi Shankar said.
Speaking at the occassion, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said, "Congratulations to the Art of Living who under the inspiration and guidance of the Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar have brought us all together."
Further speaking at the event, Jaishankar said the big global challenges like climate change and economic progress cannot be effectively addressed in isolation and it has become even more important to bring the world together.
The event in its fourth edition over the next three days is expected to draw more than a million people from over 100 countries. This mega-cultural event will witness the performances of more than 17,000 artists from over 180 countries.
Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, who also attended the event, said culture builds bridges. "Culture breaks down walls, Culture brings the world together through dialogue and mutual understanding. Culture enhances unity and harmony among people and nations. And culture can create powerful exchanges between all global citizens,” he said.
Over 1,000 leaders from business, government and international institutions attending the festival will gather for the Global Leadership Forum (GLF) on September 30.
With inputs from PTI
