As part of the festival "Cultural Marathon "Around the World in the Two Semesters" more than 500 international students of Penza State University from India celebrated the Navaratri holiday.

The event was held at the Athletics Arena of the Olympic Reserve School of the Penza Region.

In order to familiarize international students with the culture and traditions of different nations, national holidays are held within the framework of cultural adaptation events, and days of culture of different countries are organized. The annual celebration of the most significant holiday in Hinduism, "Navaratri", has become a good tradition.

The name of the festival "Navaratri" combines 2 words "nav" and "ratri", which translated from Sanskrit means "9 nights". Navaratri is nine special nights for transforming the negative energy of life into positive.

"Currently, about 3,000 international students from 50 countries of the world are studying at PSU. We respect the cultural traditions of representatives of each country and nation and always provide assistance to students in holding and organizing national festivals. And Navaratri is no exception. We are very delighted to see international students from other countries who came to share this holiday with students from India," emphasized Gleb Sintsov, PSU Vice-Rector for International Affairs.

At the end of the celebration, the organizers held an award ceremony in two nominations: “best dancer” and “best costume” among boys and girls separately.

The general partner of PSU, the Chevalier Group, represented by Dr. Yuvraaj Solanki, expressed words of gratitude to the management of the university and the Institute of International Cooperation: “We are grateful to Rector of the university, Aleksandr Guliakov, and the Institute of International Cooperation, represented by its director, Gleb Sintsov, for their assistance in organizing and holding national holidays for students from India and for their comprehensive support of our students.”