Vivekananda Kendra brings yoga wisdom and event management into harmony with Zoho Backstage
- INDUSTRY Nonprofit | Spiritual and social service
- EVENT TYPE International, in-person Yoga conference
The organization
At the southern tip of India, where the seas meet the ocean, a quiet movement has been shaping lives since 1972. Vivekananda Kendra Kanyakumari is a spiritually oriented service mission inspired by Swami Vivekananda, built on the conviction that 'Service to Mankind is Worship of God.'
The Kendra works across the country in education, Yoga, rural development, youth development, environmental conservation, and culture. Its founder, Eknath Ranade, placed Yoga at its core: not merely physical exercise, but a way of life rooted in oneness with fellow human beings, nature, and all existence.
That tradition gave rise to Yoga Sastra Sangamam, an annual international, in-person conference on Yoga philosophy held at Vivekanandapuram, the Kendra's headquarters. Over three days, scholars, teachers, students, and seekers study traditional texts, present ideas, and put them into practice, with accommodation in and around the campus.
The first edition, in January 2018, welcomed 206 participants from 15 Indian states and Portugal. The ninth edition in 2026 turned to the Patanjala Yoga Sutras and welcomed around 685 participants.
As the conference grew, helping every participant register, pay, stay informed, and arrive ready to take part became an increasingly important part of the experience.
The challenge
For an event dedicated to the study of Yoga philosophy, the real work lies in the conversations, the learning, and the shared pursuit of knowledge. But before adopting Zoho Backstage, a considerable amount of the organizing team's time went into the mechanics of making the event happen.
Registrations arrived on physical forms. Payments trickled in as demand drafts, checks, and direct bank transfers. Every payment then had to be traced back to a person, and that was where the trouble began.
Matching each payment to the correct registration was a challenge, particularly when participants did not notify the team of a transaction or provide clear transaction references or UTR numbers.
Handwritten forms also left room for clerical errors. As registrations increased, maintaining accurate participant records, tracking payments, and communicating individually with attendees became more time-consuming.
"As the number of participants grew, we found that managing registrations, tracking payments, and communicating individually with each registrant required considerable time and effort. We realized that we needed a dedicated event management platform to bring these activities together, reduce manual work, and make the process easier for both our team and the participants."
The solution
The answer was already on the team's desk. Vivekananda Kendra's Zoho One subscription included one Premium event on Zoho Backstage. The team explored it and found it could meet most of what Yoga Sastra Sangamam needed.
Here is how Backstage reshaped the Sangamam:
- Dedicated event website: The website helped drive registrations and also served as a central hub for the event brochure, program details, photographs, reports, and announcements, keeping information accessible before, during, and after the conference.
- Payments that reconcile themselves: With the payment gateway, online payments were tied to registrations automatically, so nobody had to match transactions against names by hand.
- Communication on autopilot: Automated emails confirmed registrations and kept participants informed, replacing individual confirmations.
- Order in the crowd: Ticket classes helped the organizers manage different registration categories, while ticket QR codes made it easier to locate participant records during check-in.
- Tickets at hand: Participants signed in to the event website and opened their tickets whenever they needed them, without having to search their inboxes at check-in.
For the 2026 edition, the team took things a step further. Because the Sangamam is a three-day residential event, check-in also meant allocating rooms. They built a dedicated accommodation app in Zoho Creator and imported registration data, including ticket IDs, from Backstage. By scanning a participant's ticket QR code, the organizers could quickly retrieve the relevant details in both systems, making it easier to coordinate arrivals and accommodation allocation.
Together, these capabilities helped the team connect the participant journey with the practical work required to run the conference.
"What stood out was the ability to manage the event website, registrations, payments and participant communication in one place. Payment gateway integration and automated emails were particularly relevant to the challenges we were facing. These features gave us confidence that Backstage could simplify registration for participants and reduce manual work for our team."
The Backstage features Vivekananda Kendra uses:
- Event website builder
- Online registration management
- Payment gateway integration
- Automated email communication
- Ticket classes and QR codes
- Ticket retrieval and check-in
- Integration with Zoho Creator for accommodation management
Benefits & ROI
After two consecutive editions on Zoho Backstage, the benefits have gone beyond digitizing registration.
Registration errors reduced to almost none
Moving away from handwritten forms and manual payment reconciliation has significantly reduced the scope for errors. Across the two editions conducted with Backstage, registration errors have fallen to almost none.
Payment verification and follow-ups simplified
Integrated online payments have reduced the need to manually match individual transactions with registrations. Automated confirmations have also cut down on one-to-one communication, freeing the team from repetitive administrative tasks.
Tickets retrievable within seconds
When participants could not find their tickets, the team could locate their registrations and resend confirmation emails within seconds. Participants could also access their tickets through the event website whenever needed, making retrieval convenient.
Faster check-in and accommodation coordination
QR-code scanning helped the team connect ticket information with their Zoho Creator accommodation application. This enabled organizers to retrieve participant details quickly and coordinate check-in and accommodation allocation more efficiently.
A more informed participant experience
Immediate ticket confirmations and a dedicated website gave attendees a reliable way to access their registration details and event information. Publishing schedules, announcements, and photographs on the website also helped keep participants informed throughout the conference.
"Across the two editions, Backstage has saved our team considerable time, reduced manual tasks, and brought registration errors down to almost none."
For an event that brings together hundreds of people for three days of learning and practice, these improvements matter. Less time spent resolving registration issues means more room for the team to focus on the experience of the conference itself.
Looking ahead
The team's next milestone is to grow Yoga Sastra Sangamam to at least 1,000 participants, while keeping registration, communication, and check-in convenient for attendees and manageable for the organizers. They have also chosen Zoho Backstage for the 2027 edition, building on their experience with the platform over the past two editions.
For the 2027 edition, the team also hopes to explore Backstage's Abstract submission feature, which was in beta during the previous Sangamam. The feature is designed to help organize abstract submissions and simplify coordination with presenters, bringing another important part of conference management into the same platform.
"Our experience over the past two editions has given us confidence to choose Backstage again. Whenever we needed help or guidance, the support team responded promptly and helped us find suitable solutions for our specific requirements."
For an event rooted in timeless teachings, the way forward is clear. Preserve the depth of the tradition. Make the experience of coming together simpler. And create room for the community to grow.