MYSURU: A crowd of 45,000 people, mainly school and college students, on Wednesday partook in a record breaking yoga demonstration on International Yoga Day here in a bid to enter the Guinness Book of World Records.
The city surpassed the previous 35,900 record held by Delhi but it is unclear whether the people of Mysuru will be able to secure that Guinness record. They face stiff competition from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh where over 50,000 people braved the rains and celebrated the occasion, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Yogi Adityanath.
WATCH VIDEO HERE: Mysuru attempts two Guinness records on International Yoga Day
Deputy commissioner D Randeep said it was unclear whether Lucknow had attempted a Guinness Record, but if they had, Mysuru may have missed its chance. Event organisers said that in some cases, the attempt to enter the record is kept a secret and not disclosed to the public in advance.
Randeep said they had made arrangements to accommodate around 60,000 people. "However, we expected around 40,000 going by the feedback we got on Tuesday evening," he said.
It was an impressive turnout as all roads from across the city led to the Mysore Race Course. Every participant was given a ticket with a barcode before entering, and received a participation certificate while leaving.
Hannah Kempt, a German who is in the city to learn yoga said she was overwhelmed to be part of such a big and historic occasion. Shailaja, a second PU student of Marimallappa student said that the event has inspired her to practice yoga daily.
Kumar Pal chief auditor for the nearly four hour event took the count in the beginning and end. He was assisted by witnesses, former IFS officer AC Lakshman and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and senior official Thakur Desai.