Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati

We also run a wide range of environmental protection and preservation programs. For example, tree plantation programs we have include thousands of fruit trees planted in the schools of poor children, so that they can have fruit (a luxury) to supplement their meager diet. We are doing a lot of work with cleaning the Ganga river, including solid waste management programs, sewage management programs, organic farming programs (not just for the health benefit but also to prevent toxic runoff in the groundwater and river systems), education programs, etc. We also recently formed an alliance of interfaith leaders in the name of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH), called the Global Interfaith WASH Alliance. We work to bring clean, safe, drinking water to villages, to bring toilets—both for sanitation reasons, as well as to protect the girls/women who fall prey to wild animals and humans who act like wild animals in the jungles! We do a lot of educational campaigns to raise awareness about basic yet crucial aspects, such as hand washing with soap. The Global Interfaith WASH Alliance was launched by UNICEF at their headquarters in New York last year, during the General Assembly Week of the U.N., a launch co-sponsored by the Dutch Government and USAID. Now we’ve partnered with UNICEF in India.

OMTIMES: Every year, you produce the largest international Yoga festival, can you tell us more about it?

Sadhvi Bhagawati Sarasvati: Our Yoga Festival, which runs from March 1st through 7th, is definitely one of the highlights of the year. Participants say they’ve never been to any other festival which offers such excellence in the physical aspects of yoga as well as such a deep and profound emphasis on the meditative and spiritual aspects. We have top yoga experts from around the world, typically coming from at least 20 to 25 different countries. Last year, we had more than 600 participants from 61 countries, not including people staying outside the ashram who came for just one or two events. During the seven days of the festival, there are nearly 150 classes.