Spread message of happiness: Sri Sri Ravishankar

KOCHI: The silver jubilee celebrations of the Art of Living Foundation and the Punarnava-2006, happiness and meditation course, was formally inaugurated here on Tuesday.

Governor R L Bhatia inaugurated the function in the presence of Sri Sri Ravishankar, the spiritual leader and founder of the Foundation.

The Art of Living is of high relevance in the present day, especially in a world tormented by discord, R L Bhatia said. Inaugurating the function held at Jawaharlal Nehru international Stadium, the Governor said that the sweet and soft voice of Guruji had brought many troubled minds to tranquillity.

He said the Foundation is on the right path of creating a ‘one world family’ and bringing human beings into unity.

Sri Sri Ravishankar urged the people to remain happy and spread the message of happiness. ‘‘Let the God own God’s own country,’’ he said. ‘‘If you don’t believe in God, never mind, let us all work for the cause of humanity,’’ the spiritual leader said.

‘‘Only spirituality can bring unity of hearts, culture and religion,’’ he said. Actors Jayaram and Kavya Madhavan, K S Radhakrishnan, Vice-Chancellor, Sree Sankaracharya Sanskrit University, Kalady, Kris Gopalakrishnan, Infosys Technologies, Bangalore, Mohammed Hanish, District Collector, Mercy Williams, Mayor, and Rajmohan, president of Vyakti Vikas Kendra, Kerala apex body, spoke at the function.

Playback singers Gayathri and Chitra Iyer recited bhajans. The inaugural ceremony was followed by a mohiniyattom performance staged by 1000 artists and mahasatsang. The happiness and meditation course Punarnava-2006 will be held at Jawaharlal Nehru stadium till December 1.