Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Tuesday said it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who explained to the United Nations General Assembly the importance of yoga and appealed to the world to adopt it.
This year the world celebrated the fifth International Yoga Day on June 21. The yoga day is being observed since 2015
Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Tuesday said it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who explained to the United Nations General Assembly the importance of yoga and appealed to the world to adopt it.
"On his call, all the countries of the world adopted yoga and resolved to celebrate the International Yoga Day every year on June 21. This is a big achievement for India," the minister for information and broadcasting said during a yoga practice session at Katoch Palace in Sujanpur here.
People are often seen performing yoga in corporate houses, offices, shopping malls and airports, Thakur said, adding 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav' is being celebrated with the theme "Yoga for Humanity" at 75 famous historical heritage sites across the country.
Thakur, also the minister for youth affairs and sports, stressed on the importance of yoga, saying it is instrumental in creating a healthy society and a healthy nation.
Hence, yoga is also being promoted along with Fit India Movement and Khelo India Campaign among other initiatives, he said.
As the country celebrates the 75th year of Independence, Thakur called upon the people to take a pledge to make India a world guru in the next 25 years and do everything possible at an individual level to accelerate development in every sector.
Along with yoga, Thakur said India is also the birthplace of chess and the country will be hosting the Chess Olympiad this year. Athletes from around 188 countries will participate in the event, which is slated to begin on July 28, he added.
The prime minister had on Sunday flagged off the first-ever torch relay for the Chess Olympiad ahead of the 44th edition of the event. The torch relay will begin from India every year, Thakur said.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal performed yoga asanas along with hundreds of people at the Thyagaraj Stadium here on the occasion of International Yoga Day on Tuesday, and said his government aims to teach it to schoolchildren.
Kejriwal was joined by members of 'Dilli Ki Yogshala' along with his deputy Manish Sisodia at the stadium for the yoga session. Addressing participants at the event, Kejriwal said the Delhi government's aim is to ensure that every Delhiite practices yoga daily.
"If the habit (of practising yoga) is inculcated among children, they will be associated with it throughout their lives. It is our objective to teach yoga to children and see how it can be started in schools," he said.
The Delhi government has improved the health infrastructure in the city but with yoga part of their daily lives, people will not need to go to hospitals, he added.
Speaking about the 'Dilli ki Yogshala' programme, Kejriwal said he learnt yoga free of cost and it will be free for Delhiites too. "We have to take yoga from the stage where thousands are practising it to one where lakhs practice it. Some people criticise me for free yoga classes. I learnt it (yoga) for free in Class 8, so it will be free for the people as every essential thing in life, like air, is free," he said.
Over 17,000 Delhiites including men, women, rich and poor, practice yoga daily at 546 places across the city as part of free classes under 'Dilli ki Yogshala', the chief minister said. During the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, the Kejriwal government launched free online yoga classes for Covid-19 patients in home isolation. More than 4,700 such patients participated in online yoga sessions conducted by trained instructors, he said.
In a series of tweets, Kejriwal urged people to practice yoga every day for a healthy life. Groups of Delhi residents willing to practice yoga are provided trained instructors by the Delhi government under the 'Dilli Ki Yogshala' programme
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Tuesday performed yoga asanas at an event on the banks of the Dal Lake here as he led the International Yoga Day celebrations in the union territory and urged all to embrace the ancient practice.
Union Minister of State for Panchayati Raj Kapil Patil, Chief Secretary A K Mehta and Srinagar Municipal Corporation Mayor Junaid Mattu, among others, participated in the event.
"Greetings on #InternationalDayofYoga. Participated in #YogaDay2022 along with Hon'ble Union MoS Shri @KapilPatil_ and hundreds of people at Dal Lake in Srinagar. I urged all to embrace Yoga as an integral part of life for holistic approach to health & well-being," Sinha tweeted.
"This invaluable gift to humanity is being used as a therapeutic intervention for various disorders & bringing equilibrium of body, mind and intellect," he said.
Sinha said the theme for this year's International Yoga Day, 'Yoga For Humanity', underlines the message of universal brotherhood in trying times.
Yoga brings peace to our universe, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, as he led the main event of the International Day of Yoga in the backdrop of the iconic Mysuru Palace on Tuesday. Thousands of people joined the Prime Minister in the mass Yoga demonstration here.
"This whole universe starts from our own body and soul. The universe starts from us", Modi said. "And, Yoga makes us conscious of everything within us and builds a sense of awareness".
"Yoga brings peace for us. The peace from yoga is not merely for individuals. Yoga brings peace to our society. Yoga brings peace to our nations and the world. And, Yoga brings peace to our universe", the Prime Minister said.
Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Union AYUSH Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Mysuru royal scion Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar and "Rajmata" Pramoda Devi, were among those present.
Since 2015, the International Day of Yoga is celebrated worldwide on 21st June every year. The theme for this year’s Yoga day is "Yoga for Humanity".
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan celebrated the International Yoga Day with some school children and dignitaries here on Tuesday and expressed happiness that the ancient Indian practice of yoga has now spread across the world. He said the people's priority in life should be to stay healthy.
Chouhan rolled out a mat and performed yoga exercises along with students and some dignitaries at his official residence in Bhopal.
The main programme was earlier scheduled at the Lal Parade Ground here in the presence of school children, but rains on Monday evening forced the organisers to cancel the event there.
Addressing the gathering at his residence, Chouhan thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for spreading the importance of yoga in the entire world.
The International Yoga Day is now being celebrated in 177 countries across the world, he said.
“Earlier, only people in India used to practice the yoga to remain fit and healthy, but now the entire world is doing it,” Chouhan said stressed that people's priority in life should be to remain healthy.
He also appealed to the children and youth to do yoga everyday to remain fit and healthy and to have a sharp mind. Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar participated in a yoga programme at Bateshwar in Morena, which is also his parliamentary constituency. Besides, various yoga events were also held at divisional, district, tehsil, block and village levels across the state.
(with inputs from PTI)