Delhi is 4,000–5,000 years of continuous civilisation — and most Indians don’t know it’s called Yoginipuram. Rahul Dewan opens the India Civilizational Festival with a sweeping journey through Delhi’s hidden identity: from Indraprastha of the Pandavas, to Tomar-era inscriptions of 1276 CE referencing Dhilli, to the Yogmaya Mandir near Mehrauli — the last surviving temple of what was once a Chausat Yogini Garh. The name Haryana itself, he reveals, means “heaven-like.”
The conversation with Sankrant Sanu probes the nature of civilizational continuity: what stays constant in tradition and what must change form with each generation. Dewan’s answer — the contemporary idiom must evolve, but the fire at the core is non-negotiable. Delhi, home to 50% migrants, Tibetans, Afghans, Iranians, Koreans, and all of India’s religious traditions, is described as a “micro India” — proof that civilizational identity can hold diversity without dissolving.
The ICF itself is framed not as a literary festival alone but as a sampling of many streams of Indian civilizational expression — literature, performance, manuscripts, maps, architecture — converging in a city whose oldest inscription predates the Sultanate by millennia.

About The Speaker:
Rahul Dewan is a tech entrepreneur, angel investor, blogger, social activist, and Yoga & Meditation practitioner. In 2016, he founded SangamTalks – the largest YouTube channel for documentation of ‘Indian Knowledge Systems’ (IKS) and untold Indian History. Having exited his software services business (600 people) successfully, he now dedicates his full time to Dharmic causes. He is currently on a mission to raise 1000 Crores for Hindu civilizational causes, and to campaign for making Hinduism Missionary again.

Sankrant Sanu is an author, entrepreneur, and CEO of Garuda Prakashan; a former Microsoft executive; an IIT Kanpur and University of Texas alumnus; advocate for indigenous cultures and languages; faculty at Art of Living Foundation.