States gear up to mark Yoga Day, PM Modi to lead celebrations | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
close_game
close_game

States gear up to mark Yoga Day, PM Modi to lead celebrations

Hindustan Times | ByHT Correspondents
Jun 21, 2018 06:13 AM IST

States across the country are preparing for International Day of Yoga on June 21, with Kota hoping to set the new Guinness World Record for organising a yoga event with the maximum participants.

Thousands of people across the country are gearing up to celebrate the fourth edition of the International Yoga Day on Thursday with mass sessions of exercise and meditation.

A college student gets her face painted during an event to commemorate International Day of Yoga 2018, in Chennai on June 20, 2018.(PTI)
A college student gets her face painted during an event to commemorate International Day of Yoga 2018, in Chennai on June 20, 2018.(PTI)

Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the celebrations at Ramabai Ambedkar Sabha Sthal in Uttar Pradesh’s capital Lucknow as thousands of people across the country struck various poses and talked about the benefits of the ancient physical and spiritual discipline during events to celebrate the day.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

The United Nations declared June 21 as the International Day of Yoga in 2014 after Modi called for the day to be adopted as a global celebration of yoga, an ancient practice that began in India more than 5,000 years ago.

Here’s how the states are planning to mark the day:

Uttarakhand

Modi will lead the main event at the sprawling campus of the Forest Research Institute in Dehradun, capital of the hill state Uttarakhand, in which over 50,000 citizens are expected to participate.

The state’s minister of higher education Dhan Singh Rawat claimed the government has received registrations “more than expected”. Students of government schools, colleges and private institutes in Dehradun will also participate in the event.

The gate of FRI will be opened from 12am to ensure smooth movement of the participants and their entry will be closed at 5am for the programme from 6.30am.

The Prime Minister is scheduled to spend more than an hour at the venue.

Telangana

The main event in Telangana is being organised by the state government in coordination with the Union ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH).

The GMC Balayogi Stadium at Gachibowli is the main venue in Hyderabad, where around 4,000 yoga enthusiasts are expected to take part from 6.30am to 8pm.

State AYUSH commissioner Dr Rajendra Reddy said similar events would be organised in all the districts of Telangana.

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s state unit will also conduct International Yoga Day celebrations at the Amberpet Municipal Grounds in Hyderabad.

Bharatiya Prani Mitra Sangh, along with Jeevraksha Trust and other animal welfare organisations, will hold yoga sessions from 8am to 9am for around 2,000 school students and other health enthusiasts at Exhibition Grounds in the city.

Rajasthan

Kota, known as the coaching hub of the country, is eyeing to make a Guinness World Record for organising yoga event with maximum participants on International Yoga Day on June 21.

Around 200,000 people are expected to attend the main event at RAC ground in Kota, which will be led by spiritual guru Ramdev. The event has already started on Tuesday.

There will be smaller events in other districts of the desert state. The South Western Command of the Indian Army is also hosting an event at Cavalry Ground in Jaipur.

Bihar

Around one lakh people are expected to participate in Bihar. Governor Satya Pal Malik and deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi will also attend the event, which is being organised in collaboration with the state government at Patliputra Sports Complex, Kankarbagh, in Patna.

This will be the first time that the state government would organise the function. Earlier, when the JD(U) was part of the Grand Alliance, no functions were organised by the state government.

Swami Vaishampayan, a Yoga expert, has been invited to conduct the session.

Gujarat

At least 12.5 million people in over 43,000 centres across the state are expected to participate to mark the celebration of yoga.

In Ahmedabad’s Sardar Patel Stadium, nearly 1,000 disabled children will attempt a new record as they will perform “silent yoga”. They will be instructed through Bluetooth-enabled headphones in the event to be attended by state ministers and governor OP Kohli.

The participants would include 4,082 pregnant women and 8,732 disabled children.

The event is being organised by Ahmedabad District Collectorate in association with the Patanjali Yog Sansthan.

Besides Patanjali Yog Sansthan, other NGOs like Sri Sri Ravishankar’s Art of Living, Prajapita Brahmakumari Vishwa Vidyalaya, Swaminarayan Sampradaya and others are also part of the events.

Haryana

The state’s minister of sports Anil Vij has said nearly about 120,000 people are expected to participate in events across Haryana.

The main venues in the state are Panchkula and Jhajjar where governor Kaptan Singh Solanki and chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar are the chief guests respectively

In Chandigarh, Nearly 5,000 people are expected to gather at Sector 17’s Plaza to attend the event by Union AYUSH ministry. Union minister Smriti Irani will be guest of honour and UT administrator VP Singh Badnore will be the chief guest.

“The budget for the event will be Rs 40 lakh, which will be spent on yoga mats, T-shirts, eight LED screens, drinking water, 16 loudspeakers, stage decorations, 10 single-seater VIP sofas and carpeting at the Plaza,” an officer said.

“Last year, we had spent Rs 30 lakh on the event,” the officer added.

West Bengal

The main event in the state will be held at Esplanade, at the heart of Kolkata, where a gathering of more than 3,000 people is expected. Union minister of state for tourism and culture Mahesh Sharma and state BJP president Dilip Ghosh are slated to attend it.

The event is being organised by Krida Bharti, the sports wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The organisation will hold events in 10 other districts of the state as well. Several hundred students are expected to participate in events in Hooghly, East Midnapore and Howrah.

The BJP has asked each and every mandal unit to observe the day, while RSS will celebrate the day at all of its nearly 1,100 shakhas in south Bengal.

The state earlier witnessed a controversy after governor KN Tripathi wrote to the vice-chancellors of all state-run universities, asking them to observe the event.

State education minister Partha Chatterjee accused Tripathi of bypassing the government.

Assam

Chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal will lead the World Yoga Day event in Assam. The programme expected to be attended by more than 6,000 people will start at the Nurul Amin Stadium in Nagaon district at 6am.

Union minister of state for railways Rajen Gohain, state ministers Himanta Biswa Sarma and Pijush Hazarika are expected to take part in the event.

Union minister of state for parliamentary affairs Vijay Goel, expected to join Sonowal in Nagaon, would take part in another event in Guwahati.

According to state officials, the International Yoga Day will be observed in all districts, blocks and panchayats of the state.

Arunachal Pradesh

Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu will join an event at the police headquarters in Itanagar.

“#Yoga is the way to experience the reality just the way it is. Come join me in celebrating,” he tweeted.

According to state officials, as many as 1,000 people are likely to take part in the event at the police headquarters. More such events are planned in Itanagar and other district headquarters across the state.

“We are observing World Yoga Day in a big way,” a senior official at the chief minister’s office said.

Chhattisgarh

The Chhattisgarh government is aiming for the Guinness Book of World Record on International Yoga day by ensuring the participation of 10 million people across the state between 7am to 8am.

Chief Minister Raman Singh will be present during a mass yoga demonstration at Balbir Singh Juneja Indoor Stadium in Raipur. It will be presided by Union minister of state for electricity, new and renewable energy (independent in-charge) RK Singh and member of Lok Sabha from Raipur Ramesh Bais.

The departments of social welfare and school education are organising the event.

The chairperson of the yoga commission Sanjay Agrawal has appealed to the people of the state to take part in the event. Agarwal told reporters that yoga will be performed in around 50,000 places and more than 10 million people will take part in the event.

Chhattisgarh is the only state which has a yoga commission, which was formed in 2017.

Jharkhand

The state government, public sector enterprises, universities, colleges, schools and yoga centres will mark the day by doing asanas and pranayamas. Several private organisations and societies too will join the bandwagon separately.

The main event will be held at 6:15am in Prabhat Tara Maidan in state capital Ranchi where chief minister Raghubar Das, local members of Parliament, ministers and government officers will perform yoga for “harmony and peace”. It will be telecast live till the end at 7:45am.

A seminar on “yoga and its importance” was also organised on Wednesday.

Kerala

Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the state-level yoga day celebrations at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Kochi on Thursday. At least 1,000 trained instructors will participate in the hour-long demonstration.

Yoga master trainers from 22 countries, a part of a week-long tour of the state, will also hold a session in Fort Kochi. The yoga ambassadors’ tour was organised by the Union AYUSH ministry, Kerala Tourism and Association of Indian Trade Organisations.

Governor P Sathasivam will observe the day along with employees and their families in the Raj Bhawan in Thiruvananthapuram.

Unveiling 'Elections 2024: The Big Picture', a fresh segment in HT's talk show 'The Interview with Kumkum Chadha', where leaders across the political spectrum discuss the upcoming general elections. Watch now!

Get Current Updates on India News, Bihar Board 12th Result Live along with Latest News and Top Headlines from India and around the world.
SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Share this article
SHARE
Story Saved
Live Score
OPEN APP
Saved Articles
Following
My Reads
Sign out
New Delhi 0C
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Start 14 Days Free Trial Subscribe Now
Follow Us On