MUMBAI: Chinmaya Mission has dedicated the upcoming year to a celebration of spirituality and its various nuances. Chinmaya Ananda Utsav from 13th to 20th December is a part of the year long celebrations. Chinmaya Ananda Utsav begins with ‘Spirit of India’ organized by Chinmaya Mission Mumbai as a musical evening on 13 December, 2015 at the Sri Shanmukhananda Chandrasekarendra Saraswati Auditorium. It serves to be a significant occasion that brings together youth, corporates, industrialists devout acharyas, members and trustees of various Chinmaya Mission Trusts, and the who’s who of India’s business world who are fervent followers of the mission.

Spirit of India is a perfect kick start to 2015’s mega event Chinmaya Ananda Utsav. The concert is dedicated to Swami Chinmayananda.

Earlier the vocals of renowned Bollywood singer Shankar Mahadevan were to resonate at the Ananda Utsav who is unable to perform due to a medical emergency. In place of Mahadevan, Sonu Nigam’s melodious renditions will regale all at an evening full of soul enriching music where Nigam will be presenting a blend of pop bhajans, patriotic numbers, traditional chants strung along modern tunes.

Elated to perform at the country’s most coveted spiritual celebration, Sonu Nigam expressed, “I am happy to perform for the Spirit of India concert by Chinmaya Mission Mumbai and offer my tribute to Swami Chinmayananda in his birth centenary. I will try to offer my music with all humility to all the devotees and listeners and I hope it will be an evening to remember. So let's come together and celebrate the Spirit of India.”

“Swami Chinmayananda was a true patriot who worked for the betterment of his country and people through the knowledge of Vedanta. With Spirit of India, a musical charitable evening, we wish to re-invigorate the cultural and national spirit of India he firmly believed in – a spirit that can transform the core of every person and inculcate the will to place ‘Nation before self’,” said Swami Swatmananda Acharya, Chinmaya Mission Mumbai.

Spirit of India is a charity concert aimed to raise funds for conducting free workshops on “Transforming Indians to Transform India” in schools and colleges for students from sixth standard till graduation. 900 workshops have already been conducted impacting about 60,000 students. The proceeds will also be used to offer Chinmaya Transformation Scholarships to deserving students for education and also for Farmer’s relief in Maharashtra.

2016 is a special year for Chinmaya Mission. It marks the birth centenary of the founder of the mission – Swami Chinmayananda Saraswati, a spiritual master who was born in 1916. To commemorate 100 years of his birth, the mission is initiating a series of events and celebrations across India to enrich the spiritual quotient of all the devotees, followers and attendees.

The evening scheduled to begin at 5:30 pm at Sri Shanmukhananda Chandrasekarendra Saraswati Auditorium, Mumbai will be inaugurated by, the Global head Swami Tejomayananda, Smt Rajshri Birla, Smt. Vibha Shangavi, Sonu Nigam, Shri Mukul Patel – President of Chinmaya Mission Mumbai & Swami Swatmananda.

The key voices of the mission will share plans for upcoming events scheduled for December i.e. the flagship Chinmaya Ananda Utsav to be held between 13th and 20th December, 2015; and the Chinmaya Jyoti Yatra from 21st to 31st December.