#InternationalYogaDay2018 : Yoga fervor in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan climbs high

NewsBharati    21-Jun-2018
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New Delhi, June 21: Celebrating the fourth International Yoga Day today, thousands of yogis including men, women, differently-abled all came together and laid down their mats and performed various ‘Yoga Aasanas’ at different venues across the country.

 

Notably, Yoga is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which provide peace, harmony etc. However, it is only India who promoted Yoga on the international platform and is being praised globally.

Maharashtra

Thousands of Yogis in Maharashtra including Chief Minister Devendra Fadanvis, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu and various cabinet ministers performed various Yogasanas and celebrated International Yoga Day at Yoga Park, Bandra Reclamation in Mumbai. Yoga camps were set at different venues across the state. BMC schools, BMC officials and Maharashtra Police also participated to perform Yoga with great enthusiasm.

CMO Maharashtra in a tweet said, “Hon Vice President @MVenkaiahNaidu , CM @Dev_Fadnavis, Union Minister @SuPriyoBabul performs Yoga at Yoga Park, Bandra Reclamation In Mumbai and celebrates #InternationalYogaDay2018 this morning.”


“#InternationalDayOfYoga2018 celebrations in Mumbai were largely attended by BMC & Mumbai Police officials & employees. MP Poonam Mahajan, MLA Ashish Shelar, BMC Commissioner & Mumbai CP were present,” CMO Maharashtra tweeted.


Speaking on the occasion, CM Devendra Fadnavis termed Yoga as an ancient therapy and has become essential today and is the best remedy for ill effects of modern lifestyle. “It is also useful to make our mind and body strong and thus practiced by large number of people,” he added.


Vice President Venkaiah Naidu said that Yoga is a holistic approach towards health and well-being with physical, emotional and spiritual dimensions to it. Quoting Sage Patanjali who compiled the first yoga philosophy, the Vice President said that Yoga helps a person to control his or her own random thoughts and allows achieving stillness, a calmness that creates inner harmony.


He further stated that Yoga has nothing to do with religion and it is a holistic science embodying the basic principle of organic, interconnectedness of different facets of life. “It is unfortunate that some people attribute religious overtones to this ancient scientific system, he added.”

Rajasthan

Over 2 Lakh Yogis including students, men, women and differently-abled gathered in Kota to practice Yog under the leadership of Baba Ramdev and Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. Thousands of other participants also trooped to the various venues of Rajasthan and performed ‘Yogasanas’ to not only celebrate World Yoga Day but also to remain fit.

Taking to a twitter, Swami Ramdev said, “2 Lac+ Yogis have gathered in Kota to practice Yog on #InternationalDayofYoga2018. Yoga is the best way for the students to de-stress themselves. Thousands of students, have joined #YogainKota, the education capital of Rajasthan.”


“#YogainKota with 2 lakh Yogis along with CM @VasundharaBJP and @Ach_Balkrishna for the 4th #InternationalDayofYoga,” he said in another tweet.


Meanwhile, Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje in a tweet said, “Joining @yogrishiramdev ji for a refreshing #Yoga session to mark the #4thYogaDay in #Kota. Join me in celebrating and creating a record in the #GuinnessBookofWorldRecords this #InternationalYogaDay for the largest group of people to practise #Yoga together.”


Gujarat

Like last year, Gujarat has hosted one of the biggest Yoga events on the fourth International Yoga Day today. Around 1.25 crore people, including over 8,000 differently-abled and over 4,000 pregnant women, took part in the International Yoga Day events to be organized across Gujarat.

Ahmedabad district administration has broken the world record of a maximum number of differently-abled people doing ‘silent Yoga’ together. At least 1,200 differently-abled people performed ‘silent Yoga’ by wearing headphones connected to Bluetooth and broke the previously-held world record of 350 participants.

The state-level Yoga Day programme was also held in Ahmedabad. Along with Union Minister of State for Law and Justice P P Chaudhary, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Governor O P Kohli, Gujarat High Court Chief Justice R Subhash Reddy, senior judge M R Shah, Rajasthan High Court Justice K S Jhaveri performed Yoga.

The state-level programme was steered by Patanjali Yogpeeth. Various organizations like The Art of Living, Prajapita Brahmakumari and Swaminarayan also participated. Yoga programmes were held at total 43,377 centres across the state today.

In a tweet, Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani said, “It was such a blissful experience to participate & perform Yoga along with thousands of people in the morning of #InternationalYogaDay2018 at Ahmedabad.”


Other states including Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar etc today celebrated International Yoga Day with great enthusiasm and vowed to remain fit forever.

BACKGROUND

The United Nations declared June 21 as International Day of Yoga in 2014 after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, himself a yogi, called for the day to be declared as a global celebration of yoga, an ancient practice that originated in India more than 5,000 years ago, that has now become a worldwide phenomenon.