Adiyogi Light Show or ‘Divya Darshanam’ is a spectacular audio-visual experience that happens every day at 7pm at Adiyogi Coimbatore & 7.20 pm at Chikkaballapur, Bangalore. It is free and open for all to attend. With advanced technology using laser projections directly onto the Adiyogi Shiva Statue this is a one-of-a-kind event that gives life to ancient Shiva stories about the Saptarishis, Parvati and Ganas with Sadhguru’s oration.

I feel not much is spoken about this light show. And there is something to speak of. Of the technology that is on display, for free, for masses from all walks of life, and with the bonus of a powerful visual and audio experience. Not to mention the spiritual aspect of the message and the ambiance.

Adiyogi Light Show, A Must See in India

Recently, a popular traveller added this Adiyogi light show in her list as one of the must-sees in India. I was very happy with that. I chatted with her, and she shared my perspective, that the powerful amalgamation of spiritual and technology that happens at this light show needs to be understood.

The Adiyogi statues in Coimbatore and Chikkaballapur have been built in-house by the Isha Foundation construction team. I had earlier written a long article on the Making of the Adiyogi. Currently it is behind the sign-in login. But if you read through it, the story is fascinating. Under Sadhguru’s direction, the in-house team has worked through an ingenious method to build this grand statue out of Iron (most other monuments of this scale are made in copper or bronze because it is much softer but also more expensive). They figured out a solution for every problem – from the right rust-proof paint to the local manpower to work at the scale and speed needed. At every step of the way, a lot of volunteers, strangers, devotees, professionals pitched in. Thus, presenting this monument to the world was not a small feat.

And what makes the Adiyogi visit even more spectacular for a lot of the visitors is the daily Light Show.

Divya Darshanam, Not Just Any 3D Light Show!

When we look at the story of how Divya Darshanam came to be – it is not just any light show. It is an ingenious technological project, harnessed and modified to provide a truly grand audio-visual experience to the viewers. The project coordinator, Avijit Samajdar, CEO of Kolkata-based AXIS Three Dee Studios Pvt Ltd. says, “On that day (of first light show) on Maha Shivratri when the 350,000-strong audience were screaming in frenzy, to show their appreciation, awe and sheer wonder, it made every effort of the over 150 personnel, including our staff, partners, vendors, Indian and overseas professionals as well as volunteers from Isha Foundation, who worked tirelessly for over six months, seem all so worthwhile.” source

“It was an experience of a lifetime as this project was one of the most complicated projects that anyone would have ever done in India,” says Lucky Singh, the AV System Integration, Programming & Project Manager from Chennai. “First, the black surface of the bust; second, the environment that we worked under.”

“The location of projector placement towers as advised by the Ashram team gave us very little tolerances to work with,” recalls projectionist Manu. “Two towers at 90° apart from the centre of the bust, with the focal point being off the AXIS of audience view point was really challenging.”

Read more about the technical challenges here.

To sum it up, I need to highlight that if this light show had a ticket price to it like 500 to 1000 INR for viewing, then I might not be so gaga about it. But the fact that an experience of this level of technology is being offered for free to the masses. And Adiyogi (& Sadhguru) DO pull masses from all walks of life – from local villagers to uber rich HNIs alike. And they all sit in relatively similar seating spaces, and view this awesome spectacle. It really makes me happy! I love it!

For more activities at the Adiyogi that will make your trip really memorable, you can read: 9 Activities to Make Your Adiyogi Visit Memorable blog post