In Pics: Thousands perform asanas on Yoga Day, farmers strike own poses in protest
The International Yoga Day saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi perform yoga in Lucknow, while disgruntled farmers took to asanas to protest on the Lucknow-Barabaki highway.
Uttar Pradesh
Incessant rainfall failed to dampen spirits of thousands of people who joined Prime Minister Narendra Modi to perform yoga at the sprawling Ramabai Ambedkar ground in Lucknow on the International Yoga Day on Wednesday.
The PM did not let them down. Modi left behind his security cordon to join students at the main arena.
In Bareilly, giant screens displayed the visuals of Prime Minister Narendra Modi performing asanas in Lucknow. Over 10,000 more people performed yoga in unison at around 200 different venues in Bareilly region.
Samajwadi Party leaders cycled in batches statewide for ‘health and environment’ around the same time when yoga sessions were held between 6am and 9am.
Karnataka
Guinness World record holder Tao Porchon-Lynch, the oldest yoga trainer in the world, shared the stage with India’s oldest trainer Amma Nanammal -- both are 98 years old -- at a yoga programme held at the Kanteerava Stadium.
The trainers performed asanas with 500 yoga enthusiasts at the venue.
Porchon-Lynch, of Indian-French descent, said she had participated in the Indian freedom struggle. Nanammal hails from Coimbatore in India.
Japanese Yoga instructor Keiko Aikawa, Union chemicals and fertilisers minister Ananth Kumar were also present at the programme.
Bihar
The Bihar government did not organise any official programme on the International Yoga Day. However, Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and state BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi participated in a yoga session organised by the party at Shivaji park in Kankerbagh locality, Patna.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar had on Monday said that he was not against practising yoga, but against politicising it.
Slum children and students participated in yoga sessions organised at the Rainbow field in Kankerbagh and Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) among other places.
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan performed yoga with 5,000 people at Lal Parade Ground in Bhopal.
Before performing Yoga, Chouhan said: “Yoga is necessary for students to keep themselves mentally and physically fit.”. Congress workers performed ‘sabasana’ to protest against the killing of farmers in Mandsaur police firing.
Rajasthan
Chief minister Vasundhara Raje, ministers and bureaucrats gathered at the main ground of Sawai Man Sigh Stadium in Jaipur on Wednesday morning to perform yoga on the International Yoga Day.
Thousands sat in neat geometry, some clicking selfies, and performed yoga, an ancient Indian practice involving bodily postures, breath control and meditation, done for health and relaxation purposes. Yoga sessions were conducted at a number of public parks too in the city on the occasion.
Maharashtra
Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis celebrated International Yoga Day with 600 children from farmers’ families and from the tribal districts of the state at National Sports Club of India ground in Worli on Wednesday. Bollywood star Jackie Shroff, yoga expert Vicky Mehta, social activist Shantilal Mutha joined the session.
Amruta Fadnavis, wife of CM Fadnavis, local BJP MLA Mangal Prabhat Lodha, industrialist Vallabh Bhansali too participated in the session organized by Divyaj Foundation.
More than 5,000 people from across Mumbai participated in yoga sessions organised at the Cidco exhibition centre in Vashi on Wednesday morning. Around 500 personnel from Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) were also among them.
Indian Naval Cadets performed yoga on the deck of INS Virat in Mumbai.
Kerala
In Communist-ruled Kerala, International Yoga Day celebration was a low-key affair. Though chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan attended the main function at the central stadium in the state capital, he did not do any asana/exercise. The chief minister criticised alleged attempts to give a religious colour to yoga.
“Yoga is nothing to do with religion. One has to perform the ancient exercise with a secular mind. The government will introduce yoga classes in schools,” he said. Governor P Sathasivam conducted a session at the Raj Bhawan.
Jharkhand
Thousands of yoga enthusiasts, Jharkhand ministers, political leaders and officials performed a blend of asanas in the third edition of International Yoga Day at Ranchi’s Morahbadi ground on Wednesday.
Scattered rainfall for around two hours in Ranchi on Tuesday night drenched the floor carpet but it failed to dampen the spirit of participants.
Jharkhand chief minister Raghubar Das performed different asanas as told by experts along with around 5,000 people at the ground. However, some of the asanas such as Vrikshasana (tree pose), Ustrasana (camel pose) and Vakrasana (twisted pose) made chief minister uncomfortable.
