The Mohandas K. Gandhi statue beachside of the Honolulu Zoo becomes the gathering point tonight for a free community celebration built around Hawaiian blessings, Indian spiritual rites, hula, yoga and a candlelight ceremony. The event runs from 5 to 6:30 p.m. and carries the theme “World Peace,” with the community invited to share an evening dedicated to that idea.
The Gandhi International Institute for Peace is presenting the celebration, which according to nripress.com marks Hawaii's 21st annual Mahatma Gandhi Day and International Day of Nonviolence gathering. Other accounts of the event's history differ: a 2024 report from the Honolulu Star-Advertiser described that year's gathering as the 19th annual celebration, a 2025 Star-Advertiser report called the following year's event the 20th, and a listing on hongwanjihawaii.com refers to this year's program as the 13th annual celebration. The Gandhi International Institute for Peace has been honoring Gandhi's birthday with interfaith leaders since 2006, per the organization's own history page at gandhianpeace.org.
As reported by KHON2, event organizers said the gathering emphasizes peace grounded in harmony among nations, individuals' hearts, families, communities, and people of different cultures and beliefs. That framing has echoed through the celebration's history; a 2012 program covered by civilbeat.org featured speakers from Native Hawaiian, Christian, Hindu and Buddhist backgrounds all addressing world peace at the same statue.
What's on the Program
nripress.com reports the event opens with a Hawaiian blessing ceremony led by Dr. Kahu Kaleo Patterson, followed by an Indian spiritual invocation with Veda Das, meditation, a yoga demonstration, live music from the Royal Hawaiian Band, Taiko drums, crystal bowls, Indian cultural dance and Hawaiian hula. The same report notes the program includes messages from interfaith and community leaders. A separate listing from hongwanjihawaii.com adds that the evening includes interfaith dialogues for peace and a candlelight ceremony, alongside Royal Hawaiian Band music and multicultural dances.
Hawaii State Senator Sharon Y. Moriwaki is set to speak as guest of honor, and Jocelyn Doane, Deputy Director of the Department of Enterprise Services, is expected to represent Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi, the report states. Free parking is available at the Waikiki Shell, while metered parking can be found in the zoo parking lot, according to hongwanjihawaii.com.
A Statue With a Rocky Recent History
The Gandhi statue at the center of tonight's gathering was knocked from its base at Kapiolani Park on the morning of Aug. 8, 2023, with officials saying the exact cause was unknown, the Star-Advertiser reported. The sculpture underwent nearly 11 months of restoration work at a cost of nearly $38,000 before it was fully returned to its spot at the corner of Kalakaua and Kapahulu avenues in Waikiki, per the same outlet's coverage.
The Gandhi International Institute for Peace's broader history includes organizing an annual International Yoga Day event in Hawaii since 2019 and a World Peace Walk from Magic Island in Ala Moana to Kapiolani Park back in October 2007, according to the organization's own records. Those earlier efforts, like tonight's gathering, trace back to the same founding mission of raising awareness around nonviolence in Hawaii.
