hariḥ om. Chinmaya Gita Fest 2026 is an event conducted for chinmaya bala-vihar students from various Chinmaya Mission Centers in USA & Canada to showcase their chanting and understanding of Chapter 12 of śrīmad-bhagavad-gītā, the Yoga of Devotion. Engaging in the study of bhagavad-gītā is a great way for every chinmaya student to express his/her devotion to the Chinmaya Guru parampara and the Supreme Self.
Get ready to dive deep and broaden your knowledge of Bhagavad-gītā, by preparing and participating in Gita Chanting Competition, Quizzes, Gameshows and Talks, based on bhakti-yogaḥ, as we celebrate Chinmaya Amrit Mahotsav, the 75th anniversary of the Chinmaya Movement. We invite all Chinmaya Bala-vihar students to fine-tune their chanting of bhakti-yogaḥ, understand the meaning of the key words and the essence of the verses, and practice the values discussed in this chapter, in your daily life.
GITA CHANTING: Annual GITA Chanting Competition will start from the individual Centers, then progress to Regional/State level, National level – based on the participants’ performance. The best chanters from Gita Fest 2026 GITA Chanting competition will have the special opportunity this year to participate in the International Gita Chanting Competition, to be held in India (bhārat), on Dec 19 – 20, 2026 [tentative]. All Chanting competitions shall be conducted in-person.
Vocabulary Quizzes, Game Shows and Talks will be conducted as part of Gita Fest 2026, to encourage the students to learn and understand the meaning of chapter 12, as part of the Learn Gita initiative. These Learn Gita contests will be conducted in a hybrid format. Please check below, for the details of these events, and learning resources.
More details shall be published as we go along in this journey of celebrating bhagavad-gītā and Chinmaya Amrit Mahotsav.
List of centers/states participating in Gita Fest 2026 (As of March 14, 2026)
For: Grade 1 – Grade 12 (In-Person only)
Chanting Groups:Vocabulary Quizzes, Game-shows and Talks will be conducted on Sep 5, 2026, in Chinmaya Amarnath and proctored in select chinmaya centers.
Finalists from each State will be selected to represent the state in the Learn Gītā contests that will be conducted on Sep 5, 2026.
Note: In order to participate in the Learn Gita contests/events, one should have participated in the Chapter 12 Chanting Competition conducted by one of the Chinmaya Centers. However, they are not required to be excellent chanters, to participate in the Learn Gita contests/events at the State Level contests.
Learn Gita Contest Groups:
Showcase your understanding of the meaning of the words in Chapter 12 of Bhagavad Gita.
For: Grade 1 – Grade 2 (matsya group); Grade 3 – Grade 6 (kūrma group); Grade 7 – 12 (varāha group)
(In-person & Remote participation from affiliated chinmaya center)
Showcase your knowledge of Bhagavad Gita, and your understanding of Chapter 12, in a game-show. See details for the various topics for the game-show.
For: Grade 3 – Grade 6 (kūrma group), Grade 7 – Grade 12 (varāha group)
(In-person & Remote participation from affiliated centers.)
Showcase your eloquence and understanding of the topics from chapter 12 and GITA pañcāmrit.
For: Grade 10 – Grade 12
(In-person & Remote participation using Zoom)
sādhanā challenge: (For Adult sevaks and sevikā-s)
Guru bhakti, or Devotion to the guru, is the theme of sādhanā this year. Centers are requested to come up with meaningful activities under the guidance of their guru, involving all Chinmaya Mission Members.
Duration: Jan 2026 – Dec 2026
Gita Chanting National Competition (For: Grade 1 – Grade 12) – Sep 6, 2026
Chinmaya Gita Chanting National Competition: (USA & Canada)
Participants will be evaluated on their ability to chant verses from Chapter 12 of Bhagavad-gītā and GITA Panchamrit, this year.
In-Person participation only.
| GROUP # | GRADES | ASSIGNED VERSES |
|---|---|---|
| B. | Grade 1 – Grade 2 | 12.1 – 12.20 |
| C. | Grade 3 – Grade 4 | 12.1 – 12.20 |
| D. | Grade 5 – Grade 6 | 12.1 – 12.20 |
| E. | Grade 7 – Grade 9 | 12.1 – 12.20 |
| F. | Grade 10 – Grade 12 | 12.1 – 12.20 |
| CATEGORY | Points (%) |
|---|---|
| MEMORY (Includes Fluency & Recall speed) | 40% |
| PRONUNCIATION | 40% |
| PRESENTATION | 10% |
| METER & TUNE | 10% |
Note: A tie breaker challenge might be conducted to resolve ties in the National Competition.
The first quarter of a verse will be read out as a prompt to the participant. The participant then has to recall and chant the prompted verse and the subsequent two verses that follow the prompted quarter.
Rounds per participant: ?
Response time: 10 seconds before time-out.
Note 1: Chapter opening and closing has to be chanted by all participants. Verses prompted shall be randomly selected for each participant, within the assigned verses. Chanting of the opening and closing shall not be evaluated for pronunciation.
Note 2: A tie-breaker challenge shall be conducted to all participants. Every participant will be required to chant the five verses of Gita Panchamrit. This Tie breaker score shall be used in case of ties to resolve the selection of the top two participants.
(The format for the international chanting competition shall be announced later)
GITAFEST State coordinators shall submit the finalists selected by the Judge Panels at the completion of each of the GITAFEST State Finals. Only these Finalists will be eligible to advance to the NATIONAL GITA Chanting competition. Last day to receive Finalist submissions for all states is June 30, 2026.
A consent form will be sent to the parents of these Finalists, explaining the logistics of participating in the event, through email. Parents are required to email their filled in consent form back to chantgitacmw@gmail.com, at their earliest, and before July 15, 2026.
Participant Families are expected to bear the expenses for their travel and lodging.
Hotels/Travel: Participating families are expected to arrange their lodging/travel arrangements as per their convenience for the participant and the accompanying parents or guardians.
Check out these fun activities to learn the vocabulary words.
Have fun learning!
A game show will be conducted as part of Gita Fest 2026 for the kūrma group and the varāha group finalists, with questions based on the topics listed below. The Final Game show will be hosted in Chinmaya Amarnath and in participating chinmaya centers on Sep 5, 2026.
Speakers are requested to talk for 5 minutes on a selected topic from the list below. Speakers should be prepared to answer questions on the topic of their presentation.
Qualified speakers from the State Final Competition will be emailed a zoom meeting link with the assigned time, prior to the event. Yuva Talks will be conducted on Sep 5, 2026.
Centers who participated in the Live Gita challenge are requested to share a 3-5 minute video presentation summarizing the highlights of their sādhana and how they benefitted from the wisdom of bhagavad-gītā in their lives.