Satvik Vegan Society

Satvik Vegan Society (formerly Indian Vegan Society), founded by Shankar Narayan in 2004, is a registered public charitable trust. It is a member of the International Vegetarian Union (IVU, headquartered in the UK) and the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO, headquartered in New Delhi).

Satvik Vegan Society has it's registered office at 1-282, Sthitaprajna, Hoseri, Yeljit Village, BYNDOOR-576214, Udupi Dist., Karnataka, India.

Email: indianvegansociety@rediffmail.com

Website: www.vgan.in

What Vegans Do:

1.  Eat only 100% plant food and shun all animal origin foods including meat, poultry, fish, egg, milk and honey and their derivatives.

2. Avoid all animal origin/based products and services including leather, silk, wool, circuses, zoos, animal sports, animal entertainment, animal experimentation and animal sacrifice. Furthermore,  we promote efforts to prevent cruelty to animals.

3. Eat healthy foods including vegetables, fruits, seeds, nuts and cereals, and avoid or reduce junk and processed food. Furthermore, we are physically active and strive for excellent health.

4. Use minimum possible resources and live in harmony with nature to help a sustainable environment.

5.Strive to develop good qualities and values and encourage others to adapt such qualities.

What We Do:

Satvik Vegan Society was born to provide an identity and a voice for vegans.  Later, we included activities to create awareness about veganism, to support those who are interested in veganism and to help vegans be better vegans.

How We Do: 

We organise vegan festivals, stalls at exhibitions, vegan talks, leaf-letting, school visits, newspaper articles, television interviews, newsletters, etc., to bring awareness to people about a lifestyle which is good for their health, less damaging to the environment and doesn't harm our fellow beings.

Resources: 

Donations to Satvik Vegan Society (formerly Indian Vegan Society) are exempt u/s 80G of the Income Tax Act, 1961, vide no.  I-2/12A & 80G/CIT/MNG/2010-11, valid from 15.02.2010. 

Donations or contributions may please be sent to the following account details:

Account  Name: Satvik Vegan Society

Account Number: 4222 5001 0160 8401

Account Type: Savings Bank

Bank Name: Karnataka Bank

Branch Name: Kirimanjeshwara-576 219

IFSC: KARB0000422

Local Support Groups/Contacts:

We are looking for volunteers who are willing to organise vegans/vegan events in various cities/towns/locations to promote veganism and support vegans & vegan enthusiasts. 

The Requirements:

1. You can be an individual or an organisation.

2. You have to be a vegan and accept satvik vegan principles.

3.  You must have internet connectivity for people to contact online.

4. You will be able to reply to all mails/messages/calls  at all re4asonable times.

5.  You should be able to devote reasonable time to attend to vegan activities/responding to public queries.

6. You should be able to organise at least one convention/get together of vegans in your area.

7.  You should be able to mobilise resources for your activities on your own or spend from your own sources (Satvik Vegan Society (SVS) will not directly support you financially, however, SVS may give you leads and ideas to mobilise resources).

8. You should be able to keep proper accounts for all your incomes and expenditures in relation to your activities & events and present to all stakeholders whenever reqyured.  

9.  If you are interested, please write to us at indianvegansociety@rediffmail.com

10. Your name and contact details will appear here below, city/town/location wise. 

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A Brief History of Veganism in India:

 ”I have nothing new to tell the world, truth and non-violence are as old as mountains”, Mahatma Gandhi said. Practicing non-violence or Ahimsa has been advocated throughout India’s evolution and it has been an essential part of Indian ethos. In fact, ahimsa is the first and the most important step in the life of a yogi or attaining the status of Sthitaprajna or ideal/perfect human being. This practice of ahimsa in all aspects of life and leading a satvik life in modern times, influenced by Western World, has come to be known as ‘veganism’. (In other words, veganism is vegetarianism without its flaws). Veganism is a type of lifestyle practiced by modern humans in which they do not use, as far as possible and practical, any products or services derived by cruel means, especially from animals, in all aspects of their life, especially in diet, for the benefit of humans, animals and the environment, among others.

As can be seen in the first picture below, The Vegan Society of India (VSI) existed since, at least, as early as 1957, when India organized its first IVU World Vegetarian Congress.    The VSI became non-functional with the death of its founder Mr.A.S.R. Chari of Bangalore in 1972 (second picture) and it took another 32 years before Indian Vegan Society (known as Satvik Vegan Society since 2014, www.vgan.in) was founded in 2004 by Mr.Shankar Narayan, then living, incidentally, in Bangalore.

Picture 1 -  Vegan Society of India in 1957



Picture 2 - Excerpts from The Vegan Society's magazine Autumn 1973

Indian Vegan Society or Satvik Vegan Society (SVS) has been organizing at least one Vegan Festival every year to give an opportunity for vegans and non-vegans to come together in a peaceful place and celebrate righteousness. 

As part of the Vegan Festival series, SVS has been organizing International Vegan Festivals (IVS). Globally, the first IVS was organized by Ms.Kirsten Jungsberg in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1981. After travelling to several cities in many continents, 11^th International Vegan Festival came to Murudeshwar, India from Sep 30 to Oct 6, 2007.  For the first time in the history of IVS, the event was opened to non-vegans also and IVS was made a vehicle to reach non-vegans with vegan message in addition to celebrating life in a harmless way.



Shankar Narayan speaking at the inauguration of the 11th International Vegan Festival in 2007

Inspired by the success of 11^th IVS, 3 more international vegan festivals (independent of international series) were organized by SVS in India.  The next international vegan festival in India will happen soon.