Festival -Utsava Maa: A woman’s  body really is a battleground, we must know how to care for and be kind  to ourselves. Reset and be refreshed by wholesome home cooked meals,  fresh mountain water from our desert well, yoga classes from a host of  international teachers, rejuvenating guided meditations and TLC  treatments from our wondrous wellness centre. Lectures, workshops, performances, red tent discussions, crafts market, and community time with sisters from the village and around the world.

Pre Conference - 'SEED Films' - A pre conference is offered, introducing female film makers from around the world to the festival participants. We will be relaxing on campus with yoga and ayurveda sessions, home grown organic meals, evening puja and satsang, exposure to the local village culture, and daily viewing of inspiring and educational films designed to raise awareness of our ecology and the feminine responsibility in humanity's dependence on it. 

Tickets for pre conference and festival are sold separately. Pre conference is sold as an Add on. 

Women's voices can be heard in many venues and mediums as Shakti regains her seat. For the pre-conference we will be screening several films from female documentarians concerning the role of women in ecology, the food chain, and rights:

'Women and Religion in India' by Disha Arora

'Cotton for My Shroud' by Kavita Bahl

'Eat Pray Love' by Elizabeth Gilbert

and more!

Liz will lead an all-day, immersive creativity workshop, to help you get on the other side of your fear, so you can start making what you want to make in the world. Through a series of simple writing exercises, Liz will help you navigate (and make peace with) the many different voices in your head that keep telling you that you aren’t good enough, brave enough, original enough, or strong enough to be creative. This is spiritual work, open to anyone with the curiosity to join. (In other words, you don’t have to be an official “artist” to participate.) Bring an open mind and an open heart to this day of gentle, compassionate, and quietly fierce awakening.”

Elizabeth Gilbert is best known, however for her 2006 memoir EAT PRAY LOVE, which chronicled her journey alone around the world, looking for solace after a difficult divorce. The book was an international bestseller, translated into over thirty languages, with over 12 million copies sold worldwide. In 2010, EAT PRAY LOVE was made into a film starring Julia Roberts. The book became so popular that Time Magazine named Elizabeth as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

In 2010, Elizabeth published a follow-up to EAT PRAY LOVE called COMMITTED—a memoir which explored her ambivalent feelings about the institution of marriage. The book immediately became a #1 New York Times Bestseller, and was also received with warm critical praise. As Newsweek wrote, COMMITTED “retains plenty of Gilbert’s comic ruefulness and wide-eyed wonder”, and NPR called the book “a rich brew of newfound insight and wisdom.”

Her 2013 novel THE SIGNATURE OF ALL THINGS is a sprawling tale of 19th century botanical exploration. O Magazine named it “the novel of a lifetime”, and the Wall Street Journal called it “the most ambitious and purely-imagined work of (Gilbert’s) twenty-year career.” THE SIGNATURE OF ALL THINGS was a New York Times Bestseller, and Janet Maslin called it “engrossing…vibrant and hot-blooded.” The novel was named a Best Book of 2013 by The New York Times, O Magazine, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, and The New Yorker.”

In 2015, she published BIG MAGIC: CREATIVE LIVING BEYOND FEAR—a book that encapsulates the joyful spirit of adventure and permission that Elizabeth has always brought to her work and to her life.

Her latest novel is CITY OF GIRLS — a rollicking, sexy tale of the New York City theater world during the 1940s. It will be published in June of 2019.

Powerful Shakti presenters will take the main stage and offer smaller workshops throughout the day covering important empowerment topics from around the world. For more on our talent, see the main page www.utsavamaa.org 

Day events are for goddesses only, evening entertainment is open to the public. Days 6 & 7 will feature regional innovative craftspeople exhibiting their wares and demonstrations. 

Daily: yoga, 3 vegetarian meals, puja and satsang

Mothi the camel will take you and your friends out into the desert at sunset, and then to the royal encampment for an evening of traditional meal, folk dancers, bond fire, clear starry sky, and silent sleep in the royal tent, complete with bathroom. The shuttle will return you to Jodhpur 10:30 a.m. on the 5th.