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India gears up to celebrate Int'l Yoga Day

Xinhua, June 20, 2016 Adjust font size:

Indian authorities have geared up to celebrate the International Day of Yoga, officials said on Monday.

The day would be celebrated on Tuesday across India and abroad.

The main event of Yoga celebration will take place in Chandigarh, a city 240 km north of New Delhi, where Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead the program.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead the second International Day of Yoga celebrations in the country and across the globe by participating in a mass Yoga demonstration of common Yoga protocol at the Capitol Complex in Chandigarh on the morning of June 21," the government said in a statement.

The function, according to officials, would begin at 6:30 a.m. local time and will include 45 minutes of Yoga protocol demonstration.

"Over 35,000 people are expected to participate in the event at Capitol Complex, Chandigarh, while 10,000 more will perform at 100 different venues in the city of Chandigarh."

In New Delhi, the main events would take place at Connaught Place, Lodhi Garden, Nehru Park, Talkatora Garden, Dwarka, Rohini and Yamuna Sports Complex.

Over 100,000 Yoga programs and 10 mega events will be hosted by major cities of Varanasi, Imphal, Jammu, Vadodara, Lucknow, Bengaluru, Vijayawada, Bhubaneshwar, Shimla and Hoshiarpur.

"More than 100,000 Yoga programs will be held across the country," Jitendra Singh, a junior minister said.

Singh said the Yoga day programs will also be held in 391 universities, 16,000 colleges and 12,000 schools across the country.

The rehearsals for the day have been going on in full swung on all the designated places.

India's official broadcaster All India Radio (AIR) said hundreds of thousands of Yoga lovers from Britain to Australia rolled out mats on Sunday to practice complex Yoga postures.

Likewise, according to the broadcaster, Indian classical dances and demonstration of popular Yoga asanas on the lawns of U.S. Congress were being practiced as part of the week-long International Day of Yoga celebrations.

Yoga includes stretching and bending of body besides doing breathing exercises aimed at transforming body and mind. Proponents of the exercise say it is a 5,000-year-old physical, mental and spiritual practice with origins in India.

The United Nations declared June 21 as the International Day of Yoga after Modi, a Yoga enthusiast lobbied for the ancient Indian art. Endit