Case Study: Jagriti Yatra (Kanyakumari, India)

Five hundred aspiring entrepreneurs have arrived at India’s southernmost tip. “Yaaron Chalo!” they sing, belting out their anthem in Hindi while dancing in unison: “Let’s keep on marching! Let’s go together! Let’s bring change!” These young Indians have been selected from some 20,000 applicants to journey across India by rail for fifteen days on a specially chartered train. Their purpose? To learn from people around the country about their needs, and to implement the entrepreneurial skills they learn to build solutions. 

Founded in 2008 by Shashank Mani, Jagriti Yatra – which translates to Journey of Awakening – now has 8,000 alumni who have shared this transformative pilgrimage-like program. Twenty-eight percent have started their own ventures, almost 60% of those in rural communities, and many more stay in frequent touch with their fellow Yatris. 

Jagriti Yatra is a secular program with a nation-building goal: its tagline is “building India through enterprise”. Yet its philosophy and design draw on spiritual principles. According to Chief Executive Officer Ashutosh Kumar, Jagriti Yatra intentionally learns from the ancient tradition of pilgrimage in India, recognizing that both inner and outer journeys are necessary to facilitate transformation.

Indeed, the program is designed to support the spiritual well-being of a generation often looking for something beyond themselves. Spiritual practices pepper the experience, from daily moments of silence, to small group reflection with mentors, to meditating and chanting around a 300-year-old Banyan tree, to a winter night sleeping without heat in a village in solidarity with the majority of Indians who live this way. When the ride is over, participants celebrate with a valedictory session where they get to express their growth through art and music. This rite of passage marks them with a new identity: they are Yatris now.

It is no surprise, then, that many participants come away with a heightened sense of meaning, purpose, and connection that they wish to carry forward. For its next chapter, Kumar and his team are working to establish hubs throughout India to foster ongoing collaboration and community among Yatris. They have started in Uttar Pradesh, building a support ecosystem that provides community, mentorship, and access to resources for all Yatris who come and stay. This vision is rooted in the concept of kṣetra-sannyāsa in Hindu scripture, in which one leaves behind a former life and goes to be in a place of energy or grace. 

Back in Kanyakumari, all 500 participants visit the Vivekananda Rock Memorial honoring Swami Vivekananda, who is said to have gained enlightenment on the rock. Famously a spiritual innovator himself, Vivekananda was a key figure in introducing yoga to the West and raising awareness of Hinduism worldwide. “We go here because we want to remind everyone that spirituality is not just about becoming a monk,” explains Kumar. “It is also about working for the poor, the community, the nation.” 

‍

Discover Additional Spiritual Innovation Case Studies

• Conscious Kenya (Nairobi, Kenya)
• Extreme Way of the Cross (Kraków, Poland)
• Mãe de santo Bianca de Xango (São Gonçalo, Brazil)
• Amr Khaled (Cairo, Egypt)
• Soin Fujio and Vowz Bar (Tokyo, Japan)