New Delhi: Millions of people around the world stretched and twisted their bodies and performed a variety of breathing exercises Tuesday to celebrate the second edition of the International Yoga Day.
Thousands of Yoga fans gathered in New York’s Times Square to mark Yoga Day, coinciding with the summer solstice — the longest day of the year.
The yogis transformed the famous intersection in one of the world’s busiest cities into a huge outdoor yoga lesson.
Amid a huge police presence, thousands of yoga mats were distributed for the get-together, covering crosswalks. Last year, during the first International Yoga Day designated by the United Nations, some 17,000 people participated in the event.
Health benefits
In India, Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi addressed the people urging them to embrace yoga for better physical and mental health.
Modi, in a white T-shirt and pyjamas, with a stole around his neck, led from the front in Chandigarh’s Capitol Complex. Stretching on a mat and staring at the overcast skies in Chandigarh, he performed the ‘asanas’ (yoga postures) among a crowd of over 30,000 yoga enthusiasts.
“Make yoga a part of your life. Just as the mobile phone is now a part of your life, make yoga too should be a part of your life. yoga is not only a way to get rid of a disease but also guarantees wellness and a holistic development,” the prime minister said. “With the help of yoga, diabetes can be controlled. Can we start a public campaign to suggest measures in yoga for the common man suffering from diabetes? It will be an achievement if we can help in treating diabetes. From next year, we can take on another disease,” he told thousands of yoga enthusiasts.
The PM also expressed happiness at the rising awareness about yoga and its benefits.
“I am glad that people are now seeing yoga as not just a tool to get better health, but as an important part of daily life to achieve complete wellness. I am confident that the whole world will join this yoga movement and move in the direction of achieving wellness,” Modi said.
Indian President Pranab Mukherjee also urged people to make yoga an integral part of their lives as it promotes better health and brings harmony. Mukherjee was leading about 1,000 people at a yoga event at the President House.
Elsewhere, nearly 2,000 pregnant women set a record by performing yoga in Rajkot in Gujarat, as nearly 12.5 million people took part in International Yoga Day celebrations held at around 40,000 venues across the west Indian state of Gujarat.
“Nearly 1.25 crore [12.5 million] people today participated in this second edition of International Day of Yoga, celebrated at 40,000 different places across Gujarat. In Rajkot, 2,000 pregnant women set a world record by performing yoga while 8,000 children on this ground set a world record by making a human chain,” Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel told journalists after the event.
At the University of Madras, 34-year-old K.P. Ranjana, an advocate and a martial art student, was progressing steadily to set a world record of continuous yoga performance for 53 hours.
“Ranjana performs around 600 asanas with five minute rest after every hour of yoga exercise. She has completed 48 hours of yoga and will soon break the world record set by Uttam Muktan of Nepal who performed yoga for 50 hours and 15 minutes in December 2015,” Ramesh Rishi of the Mahamaharishi Foundation Charitable Trust Mahayogam told media here.
Ministers join in
In Bengaluru, thousands of people from all walks of life, including children, woke up early yesterday and performed yoga exercises across the city under a cloudy sky.
At the main event in the Kanteerva Sports Stadium in the city centre, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah joined union ministers D.V. Sadananda Gowda and Ananth Kumar to do yoga with about 800 people. Bollywood star Bipasha Basu, a yoga aficionado, was a star attraction on the stage.
Addressing the huge gathering, Siddaramaiah said yoga was the best form of exercise for a healthy body and mind and cheapest preventive health care.
“I have been practising yoga since the past two years under a trainer to be fit physically and mentally. Though I am 68 years old and diabetic, daily yoga exercises are helping me withstand the stress and strain that comes with duties and responsibilities of being a chief minister,” Siddaramaiah said.
In Mumbai, budget airline SpiceJet celebrated the Yoga Day by conducting practice sessions on all its two-hour flights across the network.
