Countries across the world gear up to celebrate Yoga Day

Across the world, several countries are gearing up to celebrate the third International Yoga Day.

In commemoration of the third International Day of Yoga, the UN headquarters in New York was lit up with the word ‘Yoga’ on Monday. Renowned actor Anupam Kher switched on the illumination lights.

United Nations Building in New York lit up with Yoga symbol, on June 19, 2017, ahead of International Day of Yoga.(IANS)

“Yoga lights up @UN...Here’s a sneak peek of the iconic UN Headquarters building being lit up like never before for International Day of Yoga,” India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin tweeted.

Kher also tweeted, “Great honour to illuminate the #UnitedNation building, NY in preparation of #InternationalDayofYoga.”

India’s permanent representative at the UN Syed Akbaruddin with Anupam Kher. (Photo tweeted by Syed Akbaruddin)

It is the second year in a row that the UN headquarters have been specially illuminated on the occasion of International Yoga Day.

Several events have been planned by India’s Permanent Mission to the UN as well as the Indian Consulate to mark the day. The Consulate will hold its flagship Yoga event ‘Recharge at Battery Park’ in the city on Monday during which several Yoga sessions will be conducted by leading practitioners.

The Permanent Mission of India will organise a ‘Yoga Session with Yoga Masters’ at the world body’s headquarters on June 20 that will be led by Swami Chidanand Saraswati and Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati of Parmarth Niketan Ashram, India and Swami Sivadasananda of Sivananda Yoga Retreat, Austria.

Photo of the UN headquarters tweeted by Syed Akbaruddin.

This year, the United Nations will also issue special stamps commemorating Yoga Day. The UN postal agency, UN Postal Administration (UNPA) will issue the new special event sheet to commemorate the day that has been marked annually since 2015. The special sheet consists of stamps with images of the sacred Indian sound ‘Om’ and various yogic asanas.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Modi will lead a crowd of over 55,000 people, including students, teachers, yoga practitioners, officials, differently abled, policemen, politicians, ministers and other dignitaries, in Lucknow.

Across the world, several countries are gearing up to celebrate the day.

Indian Peacekeepers in Lebanon.

Egypt has several events lined up across the country, with celebrations expanding to Alexandria and Ismailia in addition to Cairo.

On Sunday, the largest ever yoga event in the Netherlands was held in Hague with the participation of nearly 1,000 people to mark International Day of Yoga.

Hundreds of people take part in a yoga session at the amphitheatre lawns at North Beach on June 18 in Durban, South Africa, ahead of the International Day of Yoga on June 21, 2017. (AFP)

In China, scores of events have been lined up to organise the second biggest celebrations of the day in the world after India.

Yoga enthusiasts participate in an event to celebrate 3rd International Day of Yoga in Wenzhou, China on June 18, 2017. (PTI)

Yoga celebrations would be held across 12 cities in eastern China from June 17 to 25.

(With agency inputs)