VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu asserted that the 11th International Yoga Day celebrations in Visakhapatnam should be conducted in a record-breaking manner.
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to participate in this year’s celebrations on June 21 in Visakhapatnam, the Chief Minister stressed that the event must be historic and unforgettable. Chairing a meeting with the officials at his residence in Undavalli on Friday, Naidu while noting that this year’s theme is “Yoga for One Earth, One Health”, and directed them to take every initiative for the grand success of the International Yoga Day.
“This is a prestigious event. The Prime Minister’s presence makes it even more special. It must be conducted spectacularly and mark the beginning of a widespread yoga movement across the state. Every citizen should be made a stakeholder. The programme must reach at least two crore people. The state-wide campaign should be launched under the theme ‘Yogandhra-2025,’” the Chief Minister said.
As a run-up to the event, a ‘Yoga Month’ will be observed from May 21 to June 21. During this period, yoga practice sessions will be conducted across the State. Yoga trainers, associations, and experts should be involved as partners. People should be offered both online and offline training for a month. Those who complete the training should be given certificates of recognition.
Registrations for Yoga Day participation should be facilitated through the village and ward secretariats. Students from schools and colleges should also be actively involved. Officials presented plans for the PM’s programme and crowd arrangements at RK Beach. They informed that yoga participants will be spread from RK Beach to Bheemili.
Everyone must consider yoga a fundamental responsibility: CM
“Everyone must consider yoga a fundamental responsibility. Even after Yoga Day, regular practice must continue across the state. For a month, there must be a widespread discussion on yoga everywhere. To enhance visibility and outreach, organizations like Isha Foundation and Art of Living should be involved. The International Yoga Day in AP should rewrite the history of yoga celebrations in the past decade,” Naidu said.
Arrangements are being made for approximately 2.5 lakh people to participate in yoga along this stretch. Sixty-eight locations have been identified for the event, including public spaces like RK Beach, Rushikonda, schools, cricket grounds, police and sports complexes, Navy premises, and other open grounds - altogether providing capacity for 2,58,948 participants.
The Chief Minister instructed that the Vizag event be held in the grandest possible manner. He suggested involving up to 5 lakh people by organizing yoga sessions across all suitable locations along the coastline, from RK Beach to Srikakulam.
It was at the initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the United Nations designated June 21 as International Yoga Day. On Yoga Day, yoga practice will be conducted from 7am to 8am.
The first such event was held in 2015, featuring 36,000 participants on a single stage, which earned a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records. In the inaugural year, yoga was held in 84 countries. Today, more than 170 countries observe International Yoga Day.
In 2023, Surat hosted another record-breaking yoga session with 1,53,000 participants at one location, setting a new Guinness World Record. The Andhra Pradesh government now plans to surpass that record with the Vizag event, modelled along similar lines.
The event will be conducted in coordination with the Health Department, AYUSH Ministry, and Central Government agencies.