PM Modi leads International Yoga Day celebrations, says it is ‘more than just physical fitness’

In pics: When the world embraced International Yoga Day with Modi

The Prime Minister, who was expected to only address the gathering, surprised everyone by participating in the yoga exercises along with thousands of people, including children.

Yoga guru Ramdev shared the dais with Modi along with heads of some other religious and yoga institutions. Modi
later joined the participants on the ground as he practised the ‘asanas’ during the 30-minute programme.

Kicking off the event, the Prime Minister said the programme is aimed at benefiting the people by making them both physically and mentally healthy.

It seeks to make a tension-free world and spread the message of ‘Sadbhavana’ (harmony), the Prime Minister said, adding that yoga is “more than just physical fitness”.

“For most of the people, yoga is just a physical exercise. This is the biggest mistake…. Had this been the case, children working in circuses could have been called ‘yogis’. Hence yoga is not only about making the body flexible,” he said, while addressing the participants.

The Prime Minister expressed hope that the atmosphere built in favour of yoga in the country will continue in future as well.

He also said that it is not important for him where this ancient technique originated and where all it has reached.

“We are not only celebrating a day but we are training the human mind to begin a new era of peace – Sadbhavana….
This is a programme for the benefit of mankind, a tension-free world and a programme to spread the message of Sadbhavana,” Modi said.

The Prime Minister expressed joy over the large gathering at Rajpath noting, “Did anyone imagine this Rajpath will
become a Yogpath?”

Later, the Prime Minister interacted with the children who had converged for the event.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Lt Governor Najeeb Jung and diplomats from a number of foreign missions also joined the yoga demonstration here.

India led 191 countries to mark the day with nearly 35,000 people taking part in the yoga demonstration at Rajpath while a number of programmes were being held across the nation.

The armed forces also joined the celebrations with the men in uniform practising yoga at Siachen, the world’s highest battlefield, and on board warships.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was in New York to participate in the Yoga Day celebrations at the United Nations. Indian Missions abroad were also organising special programmes for the day.

In his welcome address, Minister of AYUSH, Shripad Naik said that the world is embracing Yoga in a big way.

The United Nations had in December last year declared June 21 as International Yoga Day, with 177 countries voting in favour. The proposal had been mooted by the Prime Minister during his first address to the UN General Assembly in September last year.

The Prime Minister, who has been under attack from the opposition for “usurping” yoga to “highlight” himself, insisted that the programme is only intended to benefit the humankind and spread the message of love and well being.

He also said that the support for yoga that has been built in the country will be taken forward in future as well. Noting that new revolutions are happening in the field of technology in the world, Modi said that they will not serve any purpose if human development remains stagnant.

“This mismatch will also become a crisis for humankind. That is why it is necessary that internal development of man should also take place simultaneously,” Modi said adding that this can be done through yoga.

Hailing the contributions of yoga gurus and exponents of various traditions in the world, the Prime Minister noted that sometimes some deformities creep in every tradition due to ignorance.

Maintaining that the ‘asanas’ are just a beginning of the larger picture of yoga, he compared it with the fine tuning of various music instruments at the beginning of a music show.

With the world observing the first International Yoga Day, the sun will not set on this form of art and the world has to take note of it, he said.

21 yoga ‘asanas’ were performed by 35,000 people for 35 minutes at the event.

Given the large participation, the Ministry of AYUSH which was coordinating the event, was aiming at registering the event in the Guinness World Records for the “largest yoga demonstration or class at a single venue and largest number of people of various nationalities performing yoga at one place”.

Government had set up 2,000 huge digital ‘cinema screens’ across Rajpath for people to witness the live streaming of the performance of yoga asanas.

There was controversy in the run up to the event with a section of minority groups opposing it. The government did not include ‘Suryanamaskar’ in the yoga protocol for the event after some Muslim groups claimed that it was against their religion.

A large number of children of foreign diplomats also participated in the event today. Several people donning skull caps were also seen taking part in the event.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had on June 9 had said that Modi “will grace the occasion and address the gathering but he will not perform yoga.”

But the Prime Minister, wearing a white attire and tricolour patka, today joined the participants in the demonstration.