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Lighting the lamp to start events at the cultural center |
Established by the Embassy of India in Hanoi, Swami Vivekananda Cultural Center is located on Tran Hung Dao Street, opposite the embassy.
According to the center’s Director, Dr. Monica Sharm, the center showcases various fields of Indian culture with the aim of promoting and cultivating cultural linkages between India and Vietnam. Particularly, the center regularly organizes cultural programs, seminars, photo exhibitions, film screenings, and workshops in different fields to give Vietnamese visitors a better understanding of Indian culture.
Attentively, yoga draws much attention of Vietnamese people. Many people come to the center to do yoga to improve their mental health. Apart from yoga, the center also introduces traditional Indian dances, art and philosophy, the Hindi and Sanskrit languages, traditional medicine, and the shared heritage of Buddhism and Champa with Vietnam, among others.
The old French library under the canopy of the massive tree is part of the Swami Vivekananda Cultural Center. The building displays hundreds of books featuring cultural characteristics of India - a country of 1.4 billion people with the Ganges civilization.
In addition, classes on Indian culture are also a favorite destination for many Vietnamese people. We chose a yoga class to learn about the Swami Vivekananda Cultural Center. It was a small and clean room fully equipped with yoga mats. The class has about a dozen students of different ages and genders. Yoga teacher Apita Agarwal is funny and she can learn Vietnamese quickly. Although she has been in Vietnam for a short time, she speaks Vietnamese very well. During her class, she speaks both Vietnamese and English. Teaching yoga at the center offers her a chance to exchange and make friends with Vietnamese people, as well as understand more about Vietnamese culture. She shared that she has visited several tourist destinations in Vietnam and she was impressed by the country’s scenery and the hospitality of Vietnamese people.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Hue, a member of the yoga class, said that she has attended many yoga courses at other centers. However, what surprised her when taking a yoga class at the Swami Vivekananda Cultural Center was that she was thoroughly introduced to the history of yoga’s formation and development. In addition, she has a chance to engage in many activities related to yoga held by the Embassy of India in Vietnam and the Swami Vivekananda Cultural Center.
Translated by Quynh Oanh