NEW DELHI: Ahead of the International Yoga Day on June 21, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that he did not anticipate the enormous enthusiasm for the occasion from all corners of the world.
“When I outlined a vision for an International Day of Yoga in September 2014 at the United Nations General Assembly, even I did not anticipate the enormous enthusiasm for the occasion from all corners of the world,” he said in a video message. He said that the support and participation of the people last year and once again now redeems the commitment to nurture and promote this ancient discipline and reaffirms yoga as an exemplary manifestation of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ (the world as one family).
“I recall the iconic images from that momentous day last year. All the way from the Pacific Islands to Port of Spain, from Vladivostok to Vancouver and from Copenhagen to Cape Town, thousands gathered to unite their bodies and minds through yoga,” the Prime Minister said. The government is gearing up for mega events across the country and in Indian mission abroad on the day.
As many as 57 union ministers will take part in the Yoga Day celebrations across the country while the PM will be in Chandigarh. Maintaining that “Yoga is much more than a physical exercise”, Modi said, “It enables us to access a new dimension of the self, even while providing a holistic approach to preventive healthcare and well-being.”
He also thanked people across the world for their commitment to promote yoga.
Over one lakh events have been planned in the country on second International Yoga Day on Tuesday, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said. The Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS) will hold 1,00,260 yoga programmes across the country, he said.Of these, 10 regional-level mega events will be hosted in Varanasi, Imphal, Jammu, Vadodara, Lucknow, Bengaluru, Vijayawada, Bhubaneshwar, Shimla and Hoshiarpur. He said yoga day programmes will also be organised in 391 Universities, 16,000 colleges and 12,000 schools across the country.