The world’s biggest International Temples Convention and Expo (ITCX) 2023 opened its door with much fanfare of dhol-tasha, shehnai and traditional folk lezim dance to welcome the attendance at the Rudraksh Convention Centre in Varanasi.
The first-of-its-kind event witnessed a celebratory inauguration by some of the India’s most notable leaders that included Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Chief Mohan Bhagwat; Prasad Lad, Chairman, International Temples Convention & Expo 2023 and Member Of Maharashtra Legislative Council; Giresh Kulkarni, Founder of Temple Connect and International Temples Convention & Expo 2023; Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution of India; Ashok Tiwari, Mayor of Varanasi.
International Temples Convention & Expo 2023 (ITCx) is the world’s first-of-its-kind knowledge sharing event on best practices in temple management that is taking place in the oldest city in the world, Varanasi. From 22-24 July, around 1,000 delegates from 32 countries and over 250 temples will soak in the experience of the first-ever gathering to support and uplift organisation, management and administration of temple ecosystems with around 40 sessions.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat said, “A huge and extremely critical aspect of temple management is cleanliness because temples are a symbol of purity. Definitely, with the PM’s Swacch Bharat Abhiyan there has been a great effect on temples as well, however with the International Temple Convention we seek to achieve this on a deeper level in every temple in the world – small or big. We need to pass on the legacy of temple service to the next generation for which education and awareness on temple ecosystem is important. In view of the same, we need to solidify every aspect of temple management whether it is hygiene, service or infrastructure – it all must be a robust and effective system for our youth to take forward for generations to come.”
Giresh Kulkarni, Founder, Temple Connect and International Temples Convention & Expo 2023 said, “Temple management has been the oldest and most important topic which has been handled since ages. Temple ecosystems and dependent ecosystems have been benefiting for years together. In earlier ages, temples look at all social activities, or towns, temples have been doing their job gracefully, conducting various activities from education, improvising systems such as sanitisation, solid waste management and new age technology. This generation has seen television media, mobiles and now AI and chatbot initiatives. All these initiatives have been upgraded to the level of corporation and coordination for the temple. All this for convenience for pilgrims, devotees, and anyone visiting the temple. This conference is an epitome of various sessions about devotion, systems management, creating sops, and beyond that coming together, learning, discussing and driving a white paper together and improvising this as any other organised communication. This meetup will work two ways – to meet up with people, interact, and learn from the topic specialist.”
Ashok Tiwari, Mayor of Varanasi, said “We feel extremely happy and proud that you all are here, in the land of Kashi for this unprecedented event. I hope that through this ITCX, and under the guidance of RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat, we can inspire the winds of change in Kashi and temple management across the world.”
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