Modern Pythian Games Makes History at Bishkek with SCO Nations

Maiden Participation of Indian Team of Youth Artists at the 1st Youth Delphic Games in Kyrgyzstan

Rakesh Thapliyal

New Delhi:Modern Pythian Games is set to mark a historic milestone in global cultural history as India leads its maiden Indian Youth Team of artists to participate in the 1st Youth Delphic Games for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Member Nations. This will be the first occasion when an Indian team of artists will represent the country as an officially organised national delegation, on the lines of international sporting events.

The 65-member Indian delegation will depart on 22 March 2026 for Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, which currently holds the Chairmanship of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). The 1st Youth Delphic Games are being hosted by the Mayor of Bishkek in collaboration with the International Delphic Committee, Moscow, the apex body that organises Delphic Games across the CIS region. The Delphic Games draw inspiration from the ancient Pythian Games, which celebrated excellence in arts and creativity.

The Indian delegation will comprise 41 young artists—21 from Delhi, 10 from Himachal Pradesh, 4 from Karnataka, and one each from Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, and Haryana—representing a wide spectrum of artistic disciplines. These include folk music, dance, singing, pop music, DJ arts, visual arts, arts and crafts, and piano.

Through this diverse cultural representation, the delegation will showcase the richness of Indian arts and heritage to the SCO Member Nations, ushering in a new era of cultural diplomacy. With this landmark participation, India not only steps onto the international competitive cultural platform, but the Modern Pythian Games—initiated from India—also attains formal cultural recognition among SCO nations, marking a significant diplomatic and cultural milestone.

It is a matter of great honour that Bijender Goel, a global cultural visionary from New Delhi, India, and the Founder of the Modern Pythian Games, has been officially invited by the organisers to address a special session of SCO Member Nations during the 1st Youth Delphic Games.

In his address, Mr. Goel will articulate a bold and forward-looking vision for the revival of the ancient Pythian Games in a contemporary form through the Modern Pythian Games. He will highlight how this integrated online and offline cultural ecosystem has the potential to transform arts and culture from a largely unorganised sector into a globally structured and sustainable industry, with an estimated economic contribution exceeding €1,000 billion to the global economy. His address will further underscore the pivotal role that India and other SCO Member Nations can play in shaping this new global cultural order—fostering youth engagement, cultural exchange, economic growth, and long-term cultural diplomacy.

The Indian delegation to the 1st Youth Delphic Games will be led by a distinguished team of cultural and administrative leaders.

Chief of Mission: Shri B. H. Anilkumar, IAS (Retd.), Karnataka

Deputy Chief of Mission: Mr. S. Siva Kumar, Tamil Nadu

Chief Choreographer: Mr. Sandip Soparrakar, renowned Latin and Ballroom dancer and choreographer

It is a matter of great pride that Mrs. Sneha Venkatramani, an eminent Bharatanatyam Guru from Bengaluru, and Mrs. Sulbha Joshi from Uttrakhand, a renowned visual artist, have been selected to serve on the International Jury for the Games.

The list of young artists selected to represent India at the 1st Youth Delphic Games is attached herewith.

Revival of the World’s Oldest Cultural Games

Pythian Games are the oldest cultural games of the world revived by Mr Bijender Goel, The founder, from India as the Modern Pythian Games after a gap of 1,630 years. These games were originally held in Delphi, Greece, with available historical data since 582 BC.

While the Olympic Games were the oldest sporting events of the world, originating in Olympia, Greece and with available historical date since 776 BC—were revived after nearly 1,500 years in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin of France.

The Pythian Games were a grand fusion of music, dance, singing, poetry, painting, sculpture, and athletics, unlike the Olympics which focused exclusively on sports. According to Greek mythology, the Olympic Games themselves were initiated on the instruction of the Oracle of Delphi, and many athletic traditions were adopted from the Pythian Games.

Recent Journey of the Modern Pythian Games

The Modern Pythian Games movement has witnessed a series of significant national and global milestones, steadily evolving into a major force in cultural sports and artistic diplomacy.

7 April 2022 – Concept of the Modern Pythian Games presented by Bijender Goel at the Delphi Economic Forum, Delphi, Greece

December 2023 – 1st International Pythian Games Festival, New Delhi, with participation from 22 nations

2024 – 1st National Cultural Pythian Games, Panchkula, with over 5,000 artists and players

2025 – 2nd National Cultural Pythian Games, Bengaluru, involving more than 3,500 artists and players

Building on this momentum, the movement is now preparing for the 3rd National Cultural Pythian Games in Ranchi, the 1st Global Youth Cultural Pythian Games in Dubai in October 2026, and the inaugural Pythian Games — the Olympics of Arts and Traditional Games — to be held in Athens, Greece, in 2027.

 

List of Selected Artists – Indian Team

1st Youth Delphic Games | SCO Nations

S. No.

Name

Art Category

1

Siddharth

Piano

2

Daksh

Piano

3

Rakshit Parasramka

Visual Arts

4

Pratyush Thakur

Visual Arts

5

Prathik Dass

Arts & Crafts

6

Firoz Khan

Folk Instrument

7

Aniket Chauhan

Folk Instrument

8

Dishita Singh

Folk Singing

9

Atharv Bhatnagar

Folk Singing

10

Myra Kataria

Classical Folk

11

Bhavishya Pedda

—

12

Isabel Ann Philip

—

13

Manasa Vijayaraghavan

—

14

Soumithra Sivakumar

—

15

Srijan Singh

—

16

Vanishka Thakur

Nati Folk

17

Adithya

—

18

Sunakshi Bhardwaj

—

19

Kuldeep

—

20

Preshika Sen

—

21

Sunny

—

22

Aarav Choudhary

Gondhal Folk

23

Abhas Jain

—

24

Arnav Tyagi

—

25

Hridey Jain

—

26

Kishlay Sethi

—

27

Leeroy Rustagi

—

28

Maahir Kayat

—

29

Mayank Motwani

—

30

Vivaan Arora

—

31

Yuvraj Chopra

—

32

Bhavya Kanyal

Garba Folk

33

Gunika

—

34

Kanishka Panwar

—

35

Aaradhya Kanojia

—

36

Adreeja Paul

—

37

Lakshita Bhakuni

—

38

Tanisma Mohapatra

—

39

Dhan Dev

—

40

Tanya Devi

—

41

Aadhya Lal

—

 

Group Leaders

Name

Role

Sripurna Banerjee

Group Leader

Gaurav Kayat

Group Leader

Priyadharshini Ramamoorthy

Group Leader

 

Officials / Accompanying Members

Name

Role

Bijender Kumar

Founder, Modern Pythian Games

Bellavi Hanumantha Raju Anil Kumar

Official

Siva Kumar Subramaniam

Official

 

International Jury

 Sandip Soparrakar – Chief Choreographer

 Sneha Venkatramani – Folk Dance (International Jury)

 Sulbha Joshi – Visual Arts (International Jury).