BENGALURU: To expand the reach of yoga and integrate it into mainstream health care, the State Government will soon set up ‘yoga mandirs’ in all district and taluk hospitals, as well as community health centres, Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao announced on Saturday during the 11th International Day of Yoga celebrations held in Vidhana Soudha.
Rao also mentioned that Mysuru is being proposed as the country’s first “yoga district”, with the goal of ensuring that at least one person in every household regularly practices yoga. “A proposal to declare Mysuru a yoga district has already been submitted to the Centre. Ashtanga Yoga, which has deep roots in the state, will be given special emphasis,” he said.
This year’s state-wide Yoga Day celebrations, led by the Ayush department, saw more than five lakh people participate in mass demonstrations held at over 10,000 locations.
Governor Thaawar Chand Gehlot inaugurated the celebrations at Vidhana Soudha, where over 5,000 people performed yoga alongside other government officials.
Various programmes such as ‘yoga park’, ‘yoga dhanush’, ‘green yoga’, ‘yoga mahakumbha’, and ‘yoga sanyoga’ were held to mark the day. Under the Yoga Dhanush programme, five lakh people were trained in yoga protocols, and steps are being taken to implement these in 5,000 schools across Karnataka.