World Peace Center, Alandi, Pune
The World Peace Centre (Alandi) of MAEER’s MIT, Pune, India was established on 1st December 1996, as an outcome of the “World Philosophers Meet” – A Parliament of Science, Religion and Philosophy, held in November, 1996 at MIT, Pune. The conference was attended by more than 700 delegates from India and abroad. They represented nearly forty seven (47) countries including USA, UK , Germany, Japan, China, Russia, France, Canada, Australia, Bangladesh, Egypt, Israel, Italy, South Africa and many others. The World Philosophers Meet was in fact a Parliament of Science, Religion and Philosophy in which eminent scientists, scholars, social scientists, philosophers and religious leaders, apart from educationists and other intellectuals from India and abroad, actively participated.
Apart from deliberating on various aspects and areas of science; religion and philosophy, the discussions were mainly focused on the world scenario, which was far from satisfactory. Almost every delegate expressed his/her innate feeling, concern and heartfelt passion strongly in favor of starting a mission for establishing peace in the world. The general consensus was to take appropriate steps immediately, to prevent the situation from further deteriorating, which would result in total chaos, lawlessness and violence. One of the measures, strongly advocated was achieving peace through education and training at the global level.
For the above purpose, all the delegates unanimously resolved and approved the proposal of establishing “World Peace Centre at Alandi, Near Pune, in Maharashtra – India”, which is the birth place of the great Indian Philosopher Saint Shri Dnyaneshwara. The World Philosophers Meet mandated MAEER – the trust running MIT, Pune to take a lead in establishing the World Peace Centre to propagate and promote love, peace and harmony all over the world by adopting various measures.
Accordingly, MAEER’s MIT, Pune, India established World Peace Centre (Alandi) on 1 st December 1996 in the presence of eminent world renowned personalities like His Holiness Dalai Lama, Sri sri Vishveshtirtha, Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, Mr. Francine Fornier of UNESCO, Paris, Mr. Claes Nobel and many others.
World Peace Centre (Alandi), MAEER’s MIT, Pune has been conducting a number of programme promote “Culture of Peace”, Harmony, Universal Brotherhood, Tolerance, Human Rights and other human welfare activities for the global society at large.
UNESCO Chair for Human Rights, Democracy, Peace and Tolerance
In appreciation of the work carried out by MAEER’s MIT, Pune, India under the banner of World Peace Centre, of championing the ’cause of promoting the Value Based Universal Education System for spreading the message of peace based on the appropriate blending of science, technology and spirituality, UNESCO, Paris bestowed the World Peace Centre, MAEER’s MIT, Pune, India, UNESCO Chair for Human Rights, Democracy, Peace and Tolerance on 12th May 1998.
Realizing how the world has become an unsafe and insecure place to live in due to the increasing terrorism and conflicts, World Peace Centre of MAEER’s MIT, Pune, India has taken various steps to achieve its objective of establishing a “Culture of Peace” in a systematic and organized manner. As a part of this initiative, Vishwa Shanti Sangh (VSS) – World Peace Association was established on 3rd February 2000 and a decision to widen the sphere of its activities to the global level was taken on Friday, 27th March 2009, mainly to promote the cause of World Peace through various peace building activities.
The VSS is a forum of individuals and a network of institutions / organizations devoted to the cause of welfare of the entire humanity. Involvement and active participation of large number of individuals and organizations with full faith in the noble cause of promoting Culture of Peace is essential for the success of the work ahead. Those individuals or organizations who believe in the mission.
World Peace Centre, can become the members / associates of the VSS, and actively participate and contribute their own little share for the promotion of Culture of Peace with a sense of complete devotion and dedication. It may not be out of place to mention that usually, there is a tendency of wicked and evil minded people coming together more easily than virtuous and good people with noble intentions. VSS will strive to bring all the good and right thinking people together for this noble cause of world peace.
president's message
When I was studying in the government Engineering College in Pune, I came across a small booklet containing the quotes of the Great Noble Son of India Swami Vivekananda. I was thoroughly impressed and fascinated by the philosophy of Swami Vivekananda. Thereafter, I read all the works of Swamiji that I could lay my hands on. Later on, the MAEER’s MIT Group of Institutions, Pune was established on August 05, 1983. Since I belonged to the devotional Warkari sect of Maharashtra, I was also influenced by the teachings of Philosopher Saint Shri Dnyaneshwar and Philosopher Jagadguru Saint Shri Tukaram Maharaj. In addition to this, I also had the good fortune of being blessed by my elder sister, a true example of sacrifice and devotion, Tyagmurti Poornabrahmayogini Smt. Prayag Akka Karad. It was under the influence of all of this that I took up the noble task of building ghats on the banks of the river Indrayani at Alandi, which brought in a major transformation to this major pilgrim town of India.
When I was studying in the government Engineering College in Pune, I came across a small booklet containing the quotes of the Great Noble Son of India Swami Vivekananda. I was thoroughly impressed and fascinated by the philosophy of Swami Vivekananda. Thereafter, I read all the works of Swamiji that I could lay my hands on. Later on, the MAEER’s MIT Group of Institutions, Pune was established on August 05, 1983. Since I belonged to the devotional Warkari sect of Maharashtra, I was also influenced by the teachings of Philosopher Saint Shri Dnyaneshwar and Philosopher Jagadguru Saint Shri Tukaram Maharaj. In addition to this, I also had the good fortune of being blessed by my elder sister, a true example of sacrifice and devotion, Tyagmurti Poornabrahmayogini Smt. Prayag Akka Karad. It was under the influence of all of this that I took up the noble task of building ghats on the banks of the river Indrayani at Alandi, which brought in a major transformation to this major pilgrim town of India.
All the great saints, sages and seers of the world, because of their renunciation, sacrifice, devotion and dedication to understand the Ultimate Reality / Truth of the Universe, while worshiping the knowledge divine, could develop positive energies and achieve the highest status. The places where these great visionary saints and sages worshiped the Knowledge Divine in quest of the ultimate truth, achieved Divine Status as Pilgrim or Spiritual Centers, which in the modern times are perceived as “Positive Energy/Divine Knowledge Centers.”
This verse very distinctly speaks about Philosopher Saint Shri Dnyaneshwara’s own purpose of writing this treatise on Geeta i.e. Dnyaneshwari, and says that he wants to clearly know and understand the “Ultimate Truth” – “The Ultimate Reality” – “The Ultimate State of Matter” as enunciated in the Vedas. He further states that the “Ultimate Truth” is nothing but pure intelligence / consciousness, the Knowledge Divine, the true nature of the Soul – Atman.
It is highly revealing that on the same lines, one of the greatest scientists of the world, Dr. Albert Einstein, later in his life, very assertively says that – The Entire Universe is a manifestation of pure intelligence and consciousness. Further, he says, “I believe in God – who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of the Universe. I believe that intelligence is manifested throughout Mother Nature. The basis of scientific work is the conviction that the world is an ordered and comprehensible entity and not a thing of chance.”
All this led to the conferment of the UNESCO Chair for Human Rights, Democracy, Peace and Tolerance in the 1995 on MAEER’s MIT Pune, which was the first such Chair in the Asia-Pacific region. During these years, I pursued with great diligence my dream of igniting the pride and esteem of India in the minds of students by imparting to them value based universal education, which was lost through the regressive education system employed by our British rulers under the directive of Lord Macaulay, through the various institutes of academic excellence established by the MAEER’s MIT Group of Institutions, Pune.
Today, whenever I meet any youth, I first think how much of an Indian he is!
Of course, I am not averse to adopting everything that is good from the western world, be it discipline, punctuality, tidiness and many other qualities. However, one should not forget that one is an Indian at heart. With these thoughts in mind, the Youth Mission of World Peace Centre (Alandi), MAEER’s MIT, Pune, India was established in the year 2000. Today, its National Coordinator is Dr. S. N. Pathan, former Vice Chancellor of Nagpur University and currently the Vice President of Indian Council of Cultural Relations, New Delhi. He is a richly experienced academician as well as an administrator with great organizing skills. The philosophy behind World Peace Centre (Alandi) is to bring together all peace-loving citizens of the world under one roof, transcending the boundaries of caste, creed, religions and nationalities. The entire human race should be happy and peaceful. The youth should invest their energy in establishing the Culture of Peace in the world.
Swami Vivekananda had once said that in the 21st century, India will emerge as the Knowledge Corridor of the World and will show the pathway of Harmony and Peace to the entire mankind. I appeal to the empowered and cultured youth of India to bring this dream to reality by coming together on the platform of ‘Youth Mission’.
Come be a part of this global noble mission of World Peace!