Adhyatmavari group has been consistently meeting online from March 2023 for various weekly and monthly sessions. Various guest speakers have blessed us with their presence and knowledge and we have been fortunate enough to see new faces regularly who are naturally drawn to the concept of Spirituality. We learn and inspire along the way and get inspired from others as well.
One more feather in the Cape was this year's participation of Adhyatmavari group in an event called Woche der Stille. It is organized in Karlsruhe since last 8 years where various churches (Stadtkloster Karlsruhe is one of the leading organizers) take part in this week of silence, prayers and meditation. The human connection experiencing the Stillness and Quietness is the core here. There are various sessions offered by various groups in churches or yoga and meditation centres, which focus on Stillness, silence, going inwards, experiencing peace and solitude.
Last year we had got hold of the flyer of Woche der Stille event (year 2025) and had attended one Buddhist meditation session which we found very interesting. I expressed the wish of participating in it next year as a Hindu group to my friend and co-founder Yasha and she immediately liked the idea.
We approached the organizer, Ms. Fank - Landkammer and expressed the desire to be a part of Woche der Stille. She called us over to talk and introduce ourselves. We created a small presentation about our group and showcased it to her. She liked it a lot and was very excited to have a group who represented a vast majority of Indians. She asked us if we have a common place or a temple where we meet regularly to chant or discuss. We told her that here in Karlsruhe there is no such place though there are a lot of Indians in Karlsruhe. She promised to write to us when she starts planning for the event in 2026.
We both approached a few like minded people from our friend circle and they encouraged us to go ahead with the idea. They also immediately agreed to be a part of it.
We looked for halls to host the event and found one in Mühlburg in Karlsruhe. We went to see the hall and we finalized it by signing the contract. The registration was opened in the meantime for Woche der Stille and we enrolled ourselves for it. We had a rough idea of what we wanted to do. But till the idea got fixed in our heads, it took a long time.
We decided on the concept, wrote the script with inputs from everyone and finalized the singing parts (Bhajans, Stotra, Mantra). The singer team was finalized and one friend took over the helm of directing the whole thing into a session. The flyers were published and sent to all the teams participating in the event. We started distributing the flyers to bakeries, Apotheke, Edeka grocery stores etc. We printed our own flyers and distributed wherever possible.
The registrations were opened on the websites of Stadtkloster and Woche der Stille and we waited patiently for something to happen. We were excited as it was the first time that a Hindu group was going to participate, but we were also not sure of how it would be received, if we would have enough participants, if no one turns up for the event what will happen. After various rounds of self-doubt and thoughts about calling off the event, we decided to wait a little longer for the people to register. Slowly and steadily the number started picking and we were hopeful that we will have a decent crowd. Many of our Indian friends registered to encourage and motivate us. Non-Indian people also started showing interest. We all cheered up and got charged up for the event.
We started practicing the script reading and singing. Almost every Sunday of October was blocked for rehearsals. The script underwent many changes, and we realized that it was going to be a very short session and not as planned for two hours. For the first time, we thought it's a decent duration for a crowd who has little or no exposure to Sanatan Dharma.
And finally the day arrived. The event was scheduled for 1st November which was a Sunday. We were all geared up for the event and very happy to see that 50 participants had registered for our event. Non-Indian crowd was almost 15. We went to the hall at around 1 pm, arranged all the things there. Our team worked as one, with each other, supporting and encouraging each other. We did one grand rehearsal and people started coming in.
At 4 pm we started the session. The script was written in German for the German audience and we had also prepared a PowerPoint presentation which helped the audience to understand the core concepts. We welcomed the guests by introducing our Adhyatmavari group. We spoke about the pillars of Santana Dharma, about how it is a philosophy that stands relevant even today. Then we chanted the universal "Om" Mantra 11 times. We paid homage to Lord Ganesha, to the Gurus and to the feminine dieties by chanting the Sanksrit Mantras for each of the them. Following, we talked about how Naam Jap (repeating a certain God's name) helps us to look inwards and access the spring of happiness and peace that we all are naturally born with. We chanted Ram Naam 108 times. It was endearing to see the non indians attempt it. Next, we spoke about Bhagwad Geeta and shared a few Shlokas from it explaining the pearls of wisdom in it. Yasha chanted the Shlokas while Smita explained the meaning and gave examples from our daily life. It was time for a break as we had a dealt with a lot of theory. We served tea, prepared by one of our culinary expert friend and also served the guests some lip smacking Indian snacks.
After the break we discussed the Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh by also explaining what is Bhakti and how music is the easiest way to immerse in that emotion. The singer friends took the centre stage and sang different Bhajans like Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram, followed by Ashtalaxmi Stotra and Shri Krishna Govind Hare Murari. The culminating point of the second half was the dance performance on the Shiv Tandav Stotra depicting the crushing of Ego and regeneration. Our friend, Vaishnavi who is a trained Bharatnatyam dancer took hold of everyone's attention and danced with grace and grit for the next three minutes. Her expressions, her outfit and her form was mesmerizing. After a round of applause after her performance, to bring the high energy down to normal, we chanted the powerful Mahamantra which was Hare ram hare raam ram ram hare hare, hare krushn hare krushn krushn krushn hare hare 11 times.
Soon the evening came to an end. Without singing the Shanti Mantra, the session would not have got a proper farewell. We explained the meaning behind it which stresses the enrichment, peace, health and happiness for everyone in the world. I thanked all my friends who helped in making this event a great success. And that's it, the session was done.
After investing months of thoughts, energy and time, the session was done in one and a half hours. It is often observed that the journey towards realizing the destination is more beautiful than the destination itself. And exactly that happened. We were done within no time and our hearts were filled with relief for everything gone smoothly and also with gratitude for everyone who worked tirelessly towards achieving this dream of participating in the Woche der Stille. The hall was cleared within no time and we all left with a smile on our face and a pat on our backs.
Did the event go perfectly? Maybe yes, maybe not. A few non-indians came to us and conveyed that they liked the session. A few left without speaking or interacting. That's okay too. We learned a few lessons along the way and it was definitely a great experience for all of us to share the stage and give a glimpse of our beautiful and eternal Sanatan Dharma to the German audience.
A few mentions here without whom the program would not have been possible:
- Saurabh for his wonderful accompainment on the harmonium. He kept the musical session lively with his art.
- Aakansha, Leena and Amit for the wonderful rendition of songs and Bhajans. They put soul in the session by their voice.
- Mahesh for donning multiple caps as a director, critic, observer and the leader.
- Smita for hosting the session along with me and Yasha. Her cheerful demeanor lit up the session.
- Akhil, Rashmi, Shital, Monika, Harshal and Sonali for helping us out very spontaneously during and after the session. Much with love and care!
- Last but not the least, the ever chirpy and beautiful artist Vaishnavi for bringing out the best through her performance.
- Yasha, my partner in crime who is always there with her unwavering support.
- My mom, mother-in-law and my husband who kept cheering me up when I had thoughts of calling the event off.
Thank you all for the memories, thank you all for this first attempt at creating something beautiful.
A tribute to Sanatan Dharma was a great way to start our journey.
Looking forward to many more!
