Annual Subscription Rs. 60 May 2010 Scenes from the soul-stirring Sat-Chit-Anand Water Show displaying a fusion of laser, light, fire, sound, animation and water: (Top) Nachiketa on his way to the abode of Lord Yama. (Middle) Yamaraj reveals the secret of immortality to Nachiketa. (Bot- tom) According to Yamaraj’s revelation an ideal guru (Pramukh Swami Maharaj) is necessary to attain immortality. May 2010, Vol. 33 No. 5 CONTENTS FIRST WORD Swaminarayan Akshardham The Kathopanishad describes the story of a 4 Making of Sat-Chit-Anand Watershow valiant young boy called Nachiketa. He was hurt Result of blessings and sterling efforts... when his father, Uddalak Rishi, gifted old, lean 12 Grand Inauguration Sat-Chit-Anand cows to Brahmins after completing a Vishvajit Watershow yagna. Nachiketa felt that charity meant giving 18 Opinions the best or dearest things in life. When the son 21 Media Coverage asked his father repeatedly as to whom he would 21 Swaminarayan Akshardham, give him in charity, Uddalak shot back angrily, “To Gandhinagar Death I give you!” Brief introduction... Nachiketa went to the abode of the mighty Vicharan & Inspiring Incidents Yama, the god of death, who had gone out at that icharan; 24 Pramukh Swami Maharaj’s V time. He patiently waited at his door for three Living with Swamishri days without food and water. When Lord Yama BAPS News returned, he was pleased with Nachiketa and he 29 National Seminar on Yoga Darshan: Worldwide Philosophical and Cultural told him to ask for three boons. Then Nachiketa Impact, Ahmedabad requested: 1. “When I return, may my father’s 29 Satsang Shibir, Singapore anger disappear, and may he recognize me and 30 Sarah Brown Attends Women’s greet me.” 2. “Teach me about the sacred fire Conference at London Mandir that leads to swarga.” 3. “What is the effect of 30 Over 3,500 Take Part in the BAPS death on man; whether after death his soul would Charities 10K Challenge, UK exist or not?” In short, he wanted to know about immortality. Website: www.swaminarayan.org While Lord Yama granted the first two boons E-mail: [email protected] readily, he tried to dissuade Nachiketa from pressing for the third one by promising him horses, gold, elephants, kingship and beautiful maidens. But Nachiketa remained firm in his resolve to be enlightened about the atman and the knowledge Founder: HDH Pramukh Swami Maharaj, about what happens after death. Editor: Sadhu Swayamprakashdas, Contributors: Sadhu Vivekjivandas, Sadhu Amrutvijaydas, Finally, Lord Yama revealed to Nachiketa the Designer: Sadhu Shrijiswarupdas Published & Printed by: Swaminarayan Aksharpith, Shahibaug, knowledge about atman and the path of shreya, Ahmedabad–380 004. India. or eternal happiness, and of preya, or the path of SUBSCRIPTION RATES Outside India (By Air Mail) India worldly happiness. Rupees Pounds US Dollars Rupees 1 Year 500 6 10 60 Nachiketa’s desire for the knowledge of atman is 2 Years 1000 12 20 110 a clarion call for humanity to rise above the human 3 Years 1500 18 30 160 Website: www.swaminarayan.org, E-mail: [email protected] bondages and conflicts of life.
May 2010 Swaminarayan Bliss 3 Making of Sat-Chit-Anand WATERSHOW Revealing the Secret of Eternal Happiness Swaminarayan Akshardham, Gandhinagar Inspirer: HDH Pramukh Swami Maharaj
4 Swaminarayan Bliss May 2010 We Wonder What Happens… when fi re fl ows like water and water fl ames like fi re when sounds paint pictures and colours sing songs when clouds come down and rains go up when lasers begin to crawl and rocks begin to melt when the light from the past illuminates the stars of our future when science and spirituality hold hands time stops… the mind opens… and the heart prays... amidst a mist of mysticism, the great Upanishads come alive and the ancient secret is revealed.
May 2010 Swaminarayan Bliss 5 Indian spirituality has inspired humanity for millennia and continues to do so even in this modern age of high-powered technology and glitzy attractions. Yogiji Maharaj used to encourage the youths to adapt technology to convey Sanatan Dharma’s eternal wisdom to all. Pramukh Swami Maharaj has adopted this maxim to fulfill Yogiji Maharaj’s wish. The BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham complexes in Gandhinagar, the capital of Gujarat, and New Delhi, the capital of India, reflect the foresight of these two great holy persons. They are a unique and creative blend of ancient art, architecture and spirituality with modern technology. Pramukh Swami Maharaj’s latest addition to this portfolio of creative spiritual-themed attractions is the spectacular Sat-Chit-Anand Water Show at Akshardham, Gandhinagar. ‘Sat’ means Truth, ‘Chit’ means Consciousness and ‘Anand’ means Bliss: Consciousness of the Ultimate Truth leads to the experience of Eternal Bliss. The show reveals this ancient secret of India through the gripping Upanishadic story of Nachiketa, a nine-year-old boy who bravely confronts Yamaraj, the god of death, and receives from him the knowledge of immortality and eternal happiness. It is the world’s first watershow used to convey a spiritual message through a delightful fusion of lasers, lights, water, fire, sound, animation, video projection and live characters.
THE STORY of children of India since ancient times. Live The show begins with a mystical introduction to actors play the roles of Nachiketa and his father, India’s cultural and spiritual glory using colourful Uddalak Rishi, and take the audience back 10,000 combinations of water, lasers and lights. The years to the time of Vedic India. Nachiketa travels narrator then introduces the story of Nachiketa – to the land of death when Uddalak, angered by a fearless and determined 9-year-old boy who has his son’s persistent questioning, sends him to been an inspiration to the countless generations Yamaraj. Nachiketa arrives in the land of death and has to wait for three days before he meets the god of death. Projected on a 60-feet high water screen, Yamaraj creates thunderstorms, volcanoes, fire and tornadoes to scare the little boy by his powers of destruction. However, Nachiketa remains unmoved. Impressed by Nachiketa’s fearlessness, Yamaraj offers him three boons. Nachiketa first requests that his father’s peace of mind is restored. Then he asks for details of the ‘yagna’ ceremony by which all people can attain divine wisdom. Finally, BAPS sadhus and volunteers discuss on-going work Nachiketa asks Yamaraj to reveal the
6 Swaminarayan Bliss May 2010 truth about what happens after death and how to the BAPS. Founder and creative designer of ECA2 attain eternal happiness. Not sure of Nachiketa’s in France, Yves Pépin is regarded as a pioneer of spiritual determination and eligibility to receive projections and special effects on large surfaces such elevated spiritual wisdom, Yamaraj tries to using cutting edge technology. tempt him by offering him worldly pleasures – On his first meeting with Pramukh Swami colourfully depicted by lasers, video projections, Maharaj, Yves was deeply touched by Swamishri’s lights and water fountains – but Nachiketa remains simplicity, love and natural saintliness and unaffected by all the enticements. Yamaraj is decided then to offer his services for the water thus convinced of Nachiketa’s genuine spiritual show at Akshardham. Further, on learning about quest and enlightens him with the knowledge of the selfless voluntary services of the dedicated atman and Paramatman – the source of eternal sadhus and volunteers, Yves waived his entire fee happiness. The show concludes with a grand and served as a BAPS volunteer. finale celebrating the joys of life, presented by an On 21 April 2008, Swamishri was in impressive combination of fountains, laser, lights, Sarangpur. At that time, work on the water show sound and fire. had just begun as a collaboration between BAPS and ECA2. BAPS would execute all the building PROJECT HISTORY and setup requirements, while ECA2 would Every year, since its opening in October 1992 provide guidance and implement the direction over 2.3 million people have visited Swaminarayan and programming for the show. Normally, ECA2 Akshardham in Gandhinagar and have been only accepts ‘turnkey’ projects in which they are inspired by its lofty spiritual messages. responsible for the entire project from start to In 2006 Pramukh Swami Maharaj suggested to finish. Even when working on creative projects for Ishwarcharan Swami and the Akshardham team renowned companies like Disney, ECA2 does not of sadhus that a spiritual themed water attraction allow joint implementation. But for the first time, be set up at Akshardham in Gandhinagar. After they relaxed their rule and agreed to collaborate a thorough review of all options, it was decided with BAPS. that a water show be presented. With the BAPS At the beginning, under the guidance of Centenary Celebrations, in 2007, the water show Ishwarcharan Swami, many hours were spent project took a back seat. Then in 2008 during discussing the subject for the water show. Finally, a meeting at the Fuldol festival in Sarangpur, Swamishri reminded the team of the water show and guided, “Produce the water show with help from the best. Make it the best so that it is a great hit. And minimize the budget.” Thus, in these few sentences, Swamishri chalked out the action plan for the project. While Swaminarayan Akshardham in New Delhi was under construction, the world-renowned Yves Pépin had visited the site and was profoundly touched by what the saw, and thereafter resolved to offer the use of his creative skills for Coordination meetings between BAPS and ECA2 personnel
May 2010 Swaminarayan Bliss 7 internationally reputed companies with substantial discounts. These companies also generously gave technical guidance when required. The shipping of these items was coordinated by Dharmavatsal Swami and Rajendra Rathod. The production of the film to be projected on the water screen was managed by Kalpesh Bhatt and Ritesh Gadhia. Editing of the film was done by BAPS volunteers, Krunal Bhavsar and Pradip Panchal. The animation work was done by Prana Studio, Mumbai, Volunteers from London help with the installations while Prime Focus, Mumbai, helped with Swamishri’s approval, the inspiring story of with the special effects. Nachiketa from the Katha Upanishad was selected. An essential part of the water show is the To help present the philosophical aspects of the music and sound. The entire music composition, story, advice was given by Viveksagar Swami direction, mixing and sound system design was and Bhadresh Swami. Thereafter, required ably carried out by BAPS volunteer Parag Shastri. research, script and screenplay were prepared by Renowned percussionist, Shivmani and 80 artistes renowned scriptwriter Kamlesh Pandey together also provided their skillful assistance in recording with Brahmavihari Swami and Aksharvatsal the music. Swami. The water show presentation includes live While this preparation was in progress, characters enacting the roles of Nachiketa and his Anandswarup Swami and Vishwavihari Swami father, Uddalak Rishi. Uttamswarup Swami and supervised the demanding task of constructing Jasvant Dave contributed to the training of these the water show at Akshardham, Gandhinagar. actors and preparing a team of 14 Nachiketas and In consultation with Yves Pépin, Shrijiswarup 7 Uddalaks to perform on a rota basis during the Swami prepared the architectural concept for the daily shows. watershow pavilion and water body. Bhaktinandan After the completion of the water body Swami meticulously, prepared the rocks and ‘Land construction, the mechanical installations of Yamaraj’. were completed between September 2009 and The water show site construction was managed January 2010. This challenging task of fitting by Dilipbhai Patel and the land leveling was done all the pumps and connecting the pipes was by Ashokbhai (Jhakhora). completed by Muniraj Swami and a team of Coordination with ECA2 and technical details 12 volunteers from London. Disregarding the of all aspects of the show was managed by Kalpesh daytime heat and nighttime cold, the volunteers Bhatt and Ritesh Gadhia. This was a demanding worked round-the-clock to complete the work in responsibility requiring much attention to detail just two months. and hectic travelling. For acquiring technical The electrical installation was supervised by equipments they shortlisted 130 companies in R.M. Modi and Haresh Kataria. Ashish Chauhan 20 different categories. After much scrutiny, of Nairobi and other volunteers helped with they secured the required equipment from the electrical installation, laying out 25 km of
8 Swaminarayan Bliss May 2010 electrical cables. Based on the designs of Yuichiro Ide of Japan, the DMX cabling and fire effects systems were installed by Nishkampurush Swami and BAPS volunteer, Amit Joshi. The steel fabrication requirements were completed by Kirtisagar Swami and Subhashchandraji of Delhi. The mist generation system was designed and supervised by Divyapurush Swami. The overall coordination of all the various departments was effectively carried out by Ritesh Gadhia and Yatin Patel of London, who spent one year in Volunteers checking the electical installations India to help with the project. A special feature of the show is the travelator, Other notable voluntary services were rendered which was designed and built in-house, to by Sanjay Kara of London and key Akshardham transport Nachiketa across the water during the staff members, Manish Mistry, Hitesh Parmar and show, by Vipul Vaghela and his team – Sanjay others. Khamar, Santosh Kulkarni, Gunjan Jansari and Another challenging feature of the water others. show set up was the installation of the numerous Also, Urjit Bhatt set up the lights, while electrical implements acquired from different Lalitbhai Shukla helped with the water filtration companies worldwide and their computerized system. integration. This task is the terrain of only a The unique aspect of the volunteers was that few $50,000-a-month experts worldwide, but most were not experts in their area of service and by the grace of Pramukh Swami Maharaj, BAPS were able to accomplish this challenging project volunteer and former ISRO scientist, Vipul only through the blessings of Pramukh Swami Vaghela, successfully completed the installation Maharaj. and integration. He and his team provided the In the recorded film, the role of Yamaraj is technical support that allowed Yves Pépin’s played by distinguished actor Surendra Pal and creative genius to be expressed through the the role of Nachiketa by Munir Patel, a BAPS combination of lasers, lights, water jets, fire and balak. film. The installation and programming of the Over 1 km of fibre optic cable was laid to allow water show was completed in a mere six months smooth control of all the various water nozzles, to the amazement of Claude Lifante, a world multicoloured lights and other equipment. renowned Hollywood and Universal Studio laser For the first time in such a water show, the programmer. He commented, “For me, working 10.2 multichannel surround sound system has here is like a dream since all my technical been used, giving 15000W of audio output. The requirements are satisfactory fulfilled.” installation and programming of the sound system Yves Pépin’s key programmer, James Thomson, was done by Parag Shastri with the help of Vipul commented, “In my experience of all installations Vaghela. The music score of the entire show was upto now, only here has everything gone smoothly done by Parag Shastri. since day one.” Although, he was involved
May 2010 Swaminarayan Bliss 9 shoots, animation, laser programming and music. He made a special effort to understand each word of the script and added his creative touches accordingly. Also, the ECA2’s team from France diligently supported the entire project from start to finish: James Thomas, Laser programming – Claude Lifa; Nicolas Savigny and Ajay Sharma – lights programming; Jason Fischer – installation supervision; Guillaume Duflot – technical design, John Canizares – CEO. As the deadline for the inauguration approached, Yves and his team worked Yves Pépin in discussion with Anandswarup Swami meticulously round-the-clock to ensure the best from the initial design phase, Yves Pépin’s main possible results. work began after all the construction work and Throughout the course of the project, over installations were completed. 450 BAPS volunteers contributed their skills and Over a period of 18 months, Yves had visited services. Thus, with such a spirit of dedication, India six times. And for the final phase, he stayed devotion and teamwork, the Sat-Chit-Anand continuously for 6 weeks. He delved deep into Watershow was completed. The Vedic Yagna and every detail, spending many hours in discussion Mahapuja took place on 15 February 2010 and the with the sadhus to understand the philosophical public inauguration was held on 3 April 2010. details of the show and India’s spiritual traditions. Thus, he was able to focus on India during the film
Swamishri blesses the core team of sadhus in front of the water show stage
10 Swaminarayan Bliss May 2010 PROFILE: YVES PÉPIN, ECA2
ECA2’s Creative do so with Director, Yves Pépin, BAPS.” To this, has conceived and Yves replied, staged one-off “Since I saw the productions for a making of BAPS host of landmark Swaminarayan events, including: Akshardham in the Euro Disney Delhi, I felt that Opening Ceremony, the work you are the Opening and doing would last Closing Ceremonies for thousands of the 1998 football World Cup in Paris, and the of years. No matter how elegant the attractions 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens. He was also at Disney, what is their lifespan? But I saw that the Artistic Adviser, along with Steven Spielberg Akshardham was something totally different. and Ric Birch, for the Opening and Closing Nowhere in the world have I seen anything that Ceremonies of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. will survive for thousands of years. I feel content ECA2 has also created permanent multimedia that I have served for a saint like Pramukh Swami shows for theme parks such as Sea World (USA), Maharaj in a place that will exist for thousands Futuroscope (France), Tokyo Disney Sea (Japan) of years. In my life I have made many shows and Sentosa (Singapore). for entertainment. They provide a few hours of When Yves Pépin agreed to join the Sat- pleasure. However, since I met Pramukh Swami Chit-Anand Watershow project, many in the Maharaj I have felt that he and BAPS try to make entertainment industry were surprised. He was people happy for their entire life. So I decided to asked, “You have never done such collaboration work with this Sanstha.” with anyone before, yet why did you agree to
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