Coimbatore, India | Los Angeles, CA, Feb. 20, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — On February 15th, the Isha Foundation invited the world to Mahashivratri at the Isha Yoga Centre (in Coimbatore, India) – one of the globe’s largest multi-cultural events and spiritual festivals, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors in person from over 100 countries, and approximately 140 million via global streaming – a larger audience than the Grammys or the Super Bowl. In addition to guided meditations with renowned Yogi Sadhguru, the 6pm – 6am all-night festival included nightlong musical and cultural arts performances.
For the first time this year, attendees were able to have their own one-on-one conversations with an AI Avatar of Sadhguru by visiting the Proto Hologram units at the event. Through it, attendees received answers to their questions in keeping with his wisdom, and Yoga practices. They were also able to have Sadhguru’s avatar take a selfie and download the photos using Proto’s innovative new selfie feature.
Sadhguru’s AI Avatar conversed with Mahashivratri event attendees using Proto Hologram technology
“Our hope is that through this, we see more people taking up the simple, evidence-based Yoga and meditation practices that Sadhguru is offering.” said Henry Asplin, a representative from Isha Foundation. “Mahashivratri is one of the largest multi-cultural events on the planet, and for us this is a way to connect further with this global audience, and offer them a unique experience – in their own language.”
Research from institutions, including BIDMC at Harvard Medical School, has documented significant benefits of Sadhguru’s meditation and Yoga practices, from reduced stress markers, improved mental clarity and even signs of slower brain aging, offering a bridge between Yogic wisdom and modern science.
Proto Hologram is in use globally across healthcare, education, finance, retail, sports and entertainment. Executives, athletes, doctors, teachers, and celebrities of all kinds beam internationally for interactive experiences and Proto is in use in top hospitals, over 50 universities and many more locations. In recent months, Proto has been used to fight breast cancer in Ghana, to let people talk to Serena Williams and Sanjay Gupta at the MCAAD museum in Washington D.C., and at San Francisco’s recent Super Bowl events.
Sadhguru’s use of Proto is the first time a spiritual leader has utilized this technology, which provides a real sense of presence that other remote communication technologies can’t.
“When people step in front of Sadhguru in the Protos at Isha Yoga Centre, they hade a genuine experience of his presence, from head to toe,” said David Nussbaum, Inventor and Founder of Proto Hologram. “It’s the same reason our technology is used by doctors having life changing conversations with patients every day – when what people are talking about matters more than anything in the world, the importance of feeling like they are really together adds focus, trust, and real human connection.”
The AI hologram represents a continuation of Isha Foundation’s approach to leveraging technology to support meditators in their practice. In February 2025, Sadhguru launched Miracle of Mind, a free AI-powered meditation app offering a simple 7 minute meditation. The app uses AI in an ‘ask Sadhguru’ feature to tailor support for each user’s journey. It broke records at launch by getting over 1 million downloads in 15 hours, outpacing ChatGPT, Tik Tok and Instagram’s initial adoption.
Attenddees of Isha Foundation’s Mahashivratri event were able to ask questions of Sadhguru’s AI Avatar, or have him take a selfie with them using Proto Hologram technology.
See more photos from Mahashivratri 2026 here.
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Media contact for Isha Foundation: henry.asplin@sadhguru.org
Media contact for Proto Hologram: owen@protohologram.com
About Isha Foundation
Isha Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to human wellbeing. Founded by Sadhguru, the Foundation offers Yoga and meditation programs globally and implements large-scale humanitarian and environmental initiatives including Action for Rural Rejuvenation (healthcare serving 2,500 villages), Cauvery Calling (132 million trees planted, 250,000 farmers transformed), and Isha Vidhya (education for over 9000 rural children).
About Sadhguru
Yogi, Mystic and Visionary, Sadhguru is one of the most influential voices of our times. Over the past 4 decades, he has been known across the globe for his powerful Yoga programmes, and also his renowned ecological initiatives, including Rally for Rivers and Cauvery Calling, which address river revitalisation, farmer wellbeing and soil health. He has launched one of the world’s largest people’s movements, Conscious Planet – Save Soil, dedicated to global policy action for soil health.
Mahashivaratri
At Isha. Mahashivratri is unique as a cultural festival with massive global participation. It is celebrated not as a religious festival but as a night of particular significance for yoga practitioners across the globe. The darkest night of the year, it is said in the Yogic tradition that there is a natural upsurge in energy around the world that evening, and staying awake with an erect spine can support inner well-being and spiritual growth. In support of this, a host of contemporary and classical Indian and international musical artists performed, as well as renowned dance troupe Isha Samskriti. Renowned Indian Yogi Sadhguru also led the global audience in several guided meditations during the evening.
About Proto Hologram
Proto Inc. is the patented leader in hologram technology and AI spatial computing. Proto devices and its platform are in use across enterprise, finance, healthcare, education, retail, hospitality, sports and entertainment. Partners and clients include AWS, Walmart, Target, Verizon, Christie’s, CBS, and many more. Invented in Los Angeles and with showrooms and distribution partners around the globe, Proto distributes the large Proto Epic and Proto Luma, the desktop-sized Proto M2, and a suite of hologram AI and spatial computing services. Learn more at protohologram.com
