25 crore people to participate in International Yoga Day celebration: Sonowal

Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Saturday said that International Yoga Day has received a tremendous response from the public and at least 25 crore people are expected to join this year’s celebrations on June 21.

The global celebration of the Day will be led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, while the national celebration will be led by Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar at Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh, Sonowal told a press conference here.

It was Modi who urged the UN to celebrate June 21 as International Yoga Day of Yoga at the same venue in 2014, the union minister of ports, shipping and waterways and ayush said.

“As we move closer to the International Day of Yoga, we are taking the celebration of Yoga, one of the greatest gifts of India’s rich heritage to humanity, to another level this year,” Sonowal said.

The motto of the Day this year is “Yoga for Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (The world is one family)”, he said.

‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’, a phrase mentioned in the ancient scripture Maha Upanishad, has been the guiding light for the Indian heritage since time immemorial, the minister said.

“I sincerely hope through the practice of Yoga the global community is able to find solutions to various current health challenges,” he said here.

Dibrugarh in Assam hosted a massive yoga demonstration as part of 75 days to commemorate the International Day of Yoga on April 7.

This year, there will be several special events like ‘Ocean Ring of Yoga’, where Indian naval ships will be stationed at nine ports around the world. The Day will also be celebrated in North and South Pole regions in coordination with the Ministry of Earth Sciences at Indian research bases in the Arctic and Antarctica.

In ‘Yoga Bharatmala’, Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force along with ITBP, BSF and BRO will make a chain of Yoga demonstration in unison.

‘Yoga Sagarmala’ will witness yoga along the Indian coastline and there will be a yoga demonstration at the flight deck of INS Vikrant, Sonowal said.

The prime minister has written to all village heads, appealing to them to observe International Day of Yoga at their nearest Anganwadi, health and wellness centres, and schools.

In addition to that, around two lakh common service centres, Ayush Health and Wellness Centres will participate in the celebration.

Dhankhar will lead the mass yoga demonstration in the presence of Sonowal, Madhya Pradesh Governor Mangubhai Patel, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Union ministers Virendra Kumar, Prahalad Singh Patel, Munjpara Mahendrabhai, Faggan Singh Kulaste, and several ministers of the state.