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)
Gita Chanting National Competition for the Excellent chanters from all State/Regional Finals shall be held on Sep 6, 2026.
For: Grade 1 - Grade 12 (In-Person only)
Chanting Groups:
The top two chanters of every group, from the individual state final competitions, are eligible to participate in the National Chanting Competition.
This is an opportunity to celebrate bhagavad-gītā chanting and showcase the finest bhagavad-gītā chanters from every state!
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:
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
Chinmaya Gita Chanting National Competition: (USA & Canada)
In-Person participation only.
Participants will be evaluated on their ability to chant verses from Chapter 12 of Bhagavad-gītā and GITA Panchamrit, this year.
| 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% |
EVENT FORMAT:
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 verses that follow the prompted quarter, and continue until prompted by the Judge panel to stop chanting.
Rounds per participant: Shall vary based on group from two to five.
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)
Time Schedule: Sep 6, 2026 9 AM – 4 PM (timing is tentative until schedule is finalized)
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.
Parents are required to provide consent and submit additional participant and contact details, at their earliest, and before July 4, 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.
Gita Vocabulary Quiz participants will be tested on the understanding of the meaning of the words provided in their group’s Vocabulary List, within the context of the verses from chapter 12. Difficulty of the quiz will vary based on the age-group.
Final Quiz will be proctored in participating Chinmaya Centers and in Chinmaya Amarnath on Sep 5, 2026.
Check out these fun activities to learn the vocabulary words.
Have fun learning!
Here is a sample Vocabulary Quiz.
National Vocabulary Quiz will be administered using Classmarker, an online assessment tool. Each Quiz will have 25 multiple choice questions based on the Vocabulary List and understanding of the chapter. A total of 20 minutes will be allotted for the Vocabulary Quiz.
Vocabulary Quiz will be proctored in Chinmaya Amarnath, Pittsburgh, for in-person participants and proctored in participating chinmaya centers for remote participants on Sep 5, 2026 at the same time duration.
Time Schedule: Sep 5, 2026 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM (tentative, until schedule is finalized)
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.
TOPICS / CATEGORIES FOR KRIDA:
Learning resources to study the above mentioned categories will be published in the upcoming months.
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.
TOPICS FOR YUVA TALKS
1.YOGA OF DEVOTION – ILLUSTRATED
2. Chinmaya International Foundation Resource to understand the meaning of Chapter 12 in depth. (For Yuva and Adults)
Swami Chinmayananda’s Commentary on Chapter 12 is another great resource for those who are interested in a deeper dive.
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.