Janjivan Bureau
New Delhi : Millions of Indian join the first International Yoga Day celebrations as Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke of the beginning of a new era of peace and goodwill as he led thousands in a mega event at Delhi’s Rajpath.Many big names of politics, top bureaucrats, diplomats, students and security personnel sat on mats to perform asanas at the event that was closely followed by officials of the Guinness World Records.
Enthusiasm was visible in states such as Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal, where people performed asanas as part of the government’s push to popularise the ancient discipline.
Showers in some parts of the country could not cast a pall on the celebrations as India sought to break the world record for the biggest yoga gathering with the event at Rajpath.
Modi kicked off the proceedings at the mega event at Rajpath, where he said: “Yoga is more than only physical fitness…We are not only celebrating a day but we are training the human mind to begin a new era of peace.”
In the crowd were Delhi’s lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung and chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who studiously avoided each other.
From ice-capped Siachen, the highest battlefield in the world, to the warships in the contentious South China Sea, Indian armed forces on Sunday joined the International Yoga Day celebrations.
Top defence officers led by Army Chief Dalbir Singh Suhag, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha and Navy’s Admiral R.K. Dhowan were present at the Rajpath doing yoga where Prime Minister Narendra Modi led a mega event to mark the day.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar was in Meerut for the yoga day celebrations. But perhaps the show—stealer were the soldiers doing yoga in full gear on the Siachen Glacier at a height of 18,800 feet above sea level.
Dressed in their special weather clothing, the soldiers practised yoga while sitting on mats placed over the snow.
At about 7 a.m., the temperature at Siachen was -4 degree Celsius. Yoga sessions were also carried out by the Army in various units across the country including Kargil, Ladakh.
Not to be left behind, the Navy held yoga sessions across its installations and on Indian Navy ships deployed overseas in South China Sea.