Interview with Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati at Rishikesh

—an inspiring narrative that may well ignite your own spiritual awakening.

Let us delve into an exclusive dialogue from Rishikesh, recounting Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati Ji's extraordinary contribution in bringing the World Together by Celebration of Yoga at International Yoga Festival, Rishikesh.

Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati, affectionately known as Sadhviji, stands as a distinguished global spiritual luminary and an acclaimed author whose life has been profoundly shaped by nearly thirty years of contemplative existence in the Himalayan sanctuaries. Raised amidst the glitz of Hollywood and an alumnus of Stanford University with a doctorate in psychology, she deliberately relinquished a life of superficial achievement to embark upon a sacred voyage of spiritual awakening and dedicated service.

Sadhvi Bhagawatiji is the Director of the world-famous International Yoga Festival at Parmarth Niketan, a festival in which the world comes together in the name of yoga, or union, on the holy banks of Mother Ganga. Every year, thousands of people from 100 countries came to learn asana, pranayama, kriyas and meditation from renowned presenters from all over the world. Each year, International Yoga Festival provides participants with darshan, satsang and inspiring discourses by revered saints and yogis, who fill the atmosphere with bhakti yoga (devotion) and gyan yoga (wisdom).

An exclusive Interview with Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati at Rishikesh, recounting her extraordinary contribution in bringing the World Together at International Yoga Festival.

Journey of Inspiration:

I went to India nearly thirty years ago for the most unspiritual reason imaginable - I liked the food. I was a Stanford graduate in the midst of my PhD in psychology, an academic and a scientist. I wasn't religious, wasn't seeking, wasn't even one of those people who say "I'm not religious but I'm spiritual." But when I stood on the banks of Mother Ganga in Rishikesh and said "I'm going to put my feet in the river," everything changed - before my toes even touched the water. It felt as though a veil had been torn off not only my eyes but off every way I had of knowing myself and the world. I experienced the Divine permeating everything around me and within me.

All I could say through streaming tears was "Oh my God, it's so beautiful!" These weren't sad tears or even happy tears - they were tears of truth, tears of coming home to my self.

For the first time in my twenty-five years, I realized I was one with the universe, one with the Divine. All I could say through streaming tears was "Oh my God, it's so beautiful!" These weren't sad tears or even happy tears - they were tears of truth, tears of coming home to my self. That which was given to me on Ganga's banks was more real than anything I had experienced in my entire life. There was no way to turn back.

A few days later, walking through Parmarth Niketan ashram as a shortcut to the river, I heard a voice say "You must stay here." I looked around - no one was there. I heard it again. I remembered a vow I'd made on the plane from San Francisco: to keep my heart open to discover why I was being drawn to this country I knew nothing about. So I followed the voice to an office and asked to stay. When I finally met the ashram's president - His Holiness Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji, one of India's most revered spiritual leaders - his first words to me were "Welcome home." And I have been home ever since, serving Mother Ganga and all who come to Her banks.

And in Her waters, in the sacred energy of Rishikesh, in service to something greater than my small self, I discovered who I really was.

Vision Behind the Festival:

The festival originally started as a project of Uttar Pradesh Tourism when Rishikesh was still part of UP.  They used to host it at a hotel, however. In 1999 the UP Tourism department requested us, at Parmarth Niketan, to host the festival at the ashram. At that time there were fewer than twenty participants!In 2000 when the state of Uttaranchal was formed HH Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji spoke to the newly formed Department of Tourism and told them about this Festival and offered to them that we would be happy to keep hosting it and also organizing it and we could do it together with the new Government of Uttaranchal. They were deeply happy, of course, and so we have been organizing the festival now since then.

The vision we had was an experience where the ancient science of yoga could meet the modern seeker, where East and West, science and spirituality could embrace each other. 

Over the years, that vision has evolved into something even greater: a living embodiment of unity. Today, the festival is not only about asanas. It’s about awakening consciousness. 

It’s where thousands of people from nearly one hundred nations (and sometimes more than one hundred!) pray together, play together, meditate together, celebrate together and realize our inherent unity. That, to me, is yoga in its truest sense. People come to Rishikesh, desperate for authentic teachings, but they sometimes get lost in the maze of options or caught by commercial operators. We wanted to create a sacred container where the real essence of yoga -- not just asanas but the full eight limbs -- could be transmitted by authentic masters in the very birthplace of yoga. The vision was simple: bring together the greatest living masters, create accessibility for sincere seekers, and let Mother Ganga's presence infuse it all.

Over the years, it's evolved from a gathering into a global family reunion. We've watched people arrive as strangers and leave as soul family. The festival has become a bridge between ancient wisdom and modern seeking, between East and West, between the yoga that's become exercise and the Yoga that's union with the Divine. Now, decades later, it's not just about teachings and techniques, but it’s about touch and transformation.

Challenges and Triumphs:

In the early years, the challenges were logistical: how to host thousands of people from around the world in a traditional ashram; how to balance the sacred silence of spiritual practice with the joyful energy of celebration. But the deeper challenge was to preserve the authenticity of yoga amidst the waves of commercialization sweeping across the world. We overcame it by holding firm to our roots -- by grounding everything in seva (service), sādhanā (practice), and sanskār (values).  And we have kept the eight limbs of Patanjali’s ashtanga yoga as our lighthouse.I always say that we aim to provide classes and programs for the first seven limbs. The eighth limb – samadhi – happens by Maa Ganga’s grace. 

Role of Mother Ganga:

Mother Ganga isn't just the backdrop for the festival. She's the primary teacher and its heartbeat. Every session, every chant, every breath is infused with her presence. She teaches us the essence of yoga — flow, surrender, and purity. Ganga Mā reminds us that even when life’s currents are turbulent, our task is not to resist but to trust the Source and keep moving. She shows us how to let grace flow through our lives, uniting us beyond religion, nationality, or form.

Every morning, as participants gather for the sunrise session by Her banks, something happens that no human teacher could orchestrate. She strips away pretense, She whispers ancient truths, She holds space for tears and laughter. I've watched the most skeptical scientists touch Her waters and suddenly understand something beyond words. She doesn't care about how flexible your hamstrings are, how long you can stand in headstand, your yoga credentials or Instagram followers; She sees straight through to your soul.

When we conduct the evening aarti, with thousands of people from dozens of countries offering light to Her waters, you can feel the barriers dissolve -- between nations, religions, races. She reminds us that we're all just drops returning to the ocean. The message I want to convey through the festival is Her message: come as you are, let yourself be washed clean of 

everything that isn't truly you, and remember that you're part of 

something infinite and eternal, not your individual story.

Impact and Growth:

When we began, yoga was often seen in the West as simply a fitness routine. Today, thanks to this festival and many like it, the world is rediscovering yoga as a complete way of life — a science of union, not just of stretching. Each year, thousands of participants return home transformed, as ambassadors of peace, mindfulness, and sustainable living. What touches me so much is that governments, corporations, and universities now send delegates — recognizing that inner peace is the foundation for global harmony. That ripple began on these banks, and it continues to flow outward like Mother Ganga herself.

When we started, as I said there were fewer than twenty people and only a handful were from abroad. Now there are thousands from nearly one hundred countries and even sometimes more than one hundred. But the real impact isn't in numbers, it's in the ripple effect.  When students come from Israel and Palestine, from Russia and Ukraine and they join hands and hearts together in love, peace and union – that energy spreads across the world! It touches my heart so deeply to watch how the festival has helped return yoga to its roots while making it universally accessible. We're seeing a beautiful recognition that yoga isn't Indian or Western—it's human. It's the technology of consciousness that belongs to everyone. Through the festival, traditional ashram wisdom is meeting modern seeking in a way that honors both. Ancient rishis would recognize the teachings, and contemporary seekers can apply them. That's the bridge we're building—one soul at a time.

Personal Transformation:

Rishikesh itself is the guru that never stops teaching. This sacred land where the Ganga flows forth from the Himalayas, where rishis have meditated for millennia, where the very air vibrates with Om -- it doesn't let you remain stuck. There is something about this land — the vibration of thousands of years of meditation, the energy of the wind as it flows over the waters of Mother Ganga, as it flows across the tops of the Himalayas mingling with the sacred chants of rishis and sages….This very land reshapes you from the inside out. Every dip in Mother Ganga is a purification of not only the body but the heart and mind. My personal journey has been profoundly shaped by this sacred soil. Rishikesh teaches surrender — because here, the Divine presence is palpable.

It teaches humility — because in the face of the Himalayas, you realize how small you are and yet how infinite your spirit is and you realize how ancient and yet timeless true wisdom is. And it teaches service — because you can’t live on the banks of a river that gives to all without learning to give yourself. More than anything, Rishikesh continually reminds me that spirituality is not about escape but about engagement — living every moment as an offering, in harmony with the Divine flow.

After nearly three decades here, I'm still learning from every sunrise over the mountains, every sunset that turns the Ganga to liquid gold. The festival is simply one expression of what this land offers: that transformation isn't something you achieve but something you become when you’re prepared to let go of that which you are not.

Future Aspirations:

My vision is that the International Yoga Festival becomes a catalyst for a global consciousness shift. Not just a yearly event, but a movement that ripples out through every participant into their communities worldwide. I see us creating programs that bring the festival's essence to those who can't physically come to India—through technology, satellite programs, and teacher trainings that maintain the authentic transmission while honoring local contexts. We're not trying to make the whole world Hindu or Indian; we're inviting everyone to discover the universal truths that yoga reveals.

I envision it as a platform where yoga meets climate action, meditation meets innovation, and ancient wisdom guides modern leadership. As the world faces growing division and despair, I hope this festival continues to stand as a luminous reminder that peace is not found in isolation but in integration — when body, mind, and spirit, and when all of humanity, move in harmony. The future I envision is one where the festival creates even more bridges between traditions, cultures, ages, and backgrounds. Where a teenager from California and a grandmother from Kolkata can sit by Mother Ganga and recognize themselves in each other. Where world leaders come not for flexibility in their muscles but for flexibility in their minds!  Where the practice of yoga -- full yoga, not just the physical postures -- becomes a tool for true, global healing as it is meant to be. As we suffer from the dis-ease of separation – from our Selves, from each other, from the Divine, from Mother Earth – yoga is the panacea. That's what the festival must continue to be: a lighthouse of hope and healing.  

Message for Aspirants:

Come home to your Self.   Shift from a Hollywood way of thinking where we believe that we ARE our bodies – the size, the shape, the color, the power, prestige, popularity and prosperity – to the Himalayan way of thinking where we remember that we HAVE a body, but we are not the body. We are soul. We are spirit. We are Source. We are One! The path of yoga isn't about adding more to yourself. It's about removing everything that isn't authentically you. You don't need to be more flexible, more strong, more fit, more anything. You need to be more YOU.

Yoga is not something you do; it is who you are. Come to Rishikesh not to escape the world, but to remember your true place in it and to remember that you are one with the universe and all of existence itself. Let the sound of the Ganga remind you of your own inner flow — ever pure, ever perfect, always giving of your very Self to the world.

And please, don't wait until you're "ready" to come to Rishikesh or to deepen your practice. You'll never be ready. I wasn't ready when I came here at 25.  Nobody's ever ready for transformation. That's why it's transformation, not continuation. Whether you join us at Parmarth Niketan for the International Yoga Festival or simply commit to your practice wherever you are, remember that every great journey starts with a simple thought, a simple mindset shift. Your yoga mat is a magic carpet that can transport you from who you think you are to who you really are. Trust the practice, trust the process, and most importantly, trust yourself. Mother Ganga is waiting for you, and so is the life you're meant to live.

By Pankaj Jha Feature Writer & Media Relations

Vol 1, Issue 05, Dec 2025, Rishikesh Yogalaya

Register Now

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/f1c1e2_9bca2f1d44b3488da2c03e9bb600799a/360p/mp4/file.mp4