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Across India, jawans, politicians and citizens came together on Friday, 21 June, to perform yoga and celebrate the fifth edition of International Yoga Day.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had kicked off the celebrations, performed yoga with around 40,000 enthusiasts at the Prabhat Tara ground in Ranchi, to mark the occasion.
Setting off the celebrations, PM Modi said, “Peace and harmony have always been associated with yoga. Yoga can further unity and can heal several challenges the world faces.”
In Delhi, celebrations played out at several venues — from the sprawling Rajpath and the lawns of Red Fort to municipal parks, hospitals, gardens and offices with thousands of enthusiastic Delhiites performing asanas.
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Thousands of people on Sunday, 16 June, participated in Yoga Day celebrations in Washington DC, news agency ANI said.
The fifth Yoga Day celebrations were also addressed by the Indian Ambassador Harsh Vardhan Shringla, who said that yoga has been taken up by the American people, citing a 2016 study that showed about 36.7 million people in the US performing yoga means that America is becoming a kind of second home for yoga.
The programme in the US also started with an audio-video message from PM Modi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Thursday 20 June, continued with his ritual of tweeting animated videos of himself, teaching people a new yoga pose everyday.
On Thursday, the prime minister tweeted two new videos that teach meditation or Pranayama.
In one of the tweets, PM Modi said that meditation is an integral part of performing yoga, while in the other, he listed out the benefits of Nadi Shodana or alternate nostril breathing.
PM Modi has been tweeting these animated video of himself teaching Yoga poses everyday in the run-up to the fifth International Yoga Day on 21 June.
Preparations are in full swing ahead of the International Yoga Day event in Ranchi on Friday, 21 June.
Over 35,000 people are expected to participate in the main event, which will be attended by several state dignitaries, besides the yoga organisations and yoga gurus.
All the Indian missions across the world has been asked to celebrate the International Day of Yoga in a grand manner and a video message of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been sent to all embassies for screening at the beginning of the yoga protocol, the External Affairs Ministry said Thursday.
MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar told reporters that it is the fifth year of the International Day of Yoga celebrations and there is huge participation from people around the world that has helped take yoga to different parts of the world.
He said all the missions have been asked to celebrate it in a grand manner.
(Source: PTI)
Meenu Choudhary, Joint CP, Traffic on International Day of Yoga in Delhi said, “We have two venues where gathering will be very high - Rajpath & Red Fort. We've advised public to avoid connecting roads. They may take alternate routes. Restrictions or diversions may happen from 5 am to 10 am.”
(Source: ANI)
“Yoga Day celebrations have given an opportunity to demonstrate the strong friendship and close understanding that exists between India and UAE,” said UAE Minister of Tolerance Sheikh Nahayan Bin Mubarak Al Nahayan.
(Source: DD News)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has arrived in Ranchi, Jharkhand. He was received by Chief Minister Raghubar Das. He will perform yoga at Prabhat Tara ground on the occasion of International Day of Yoga tomorrow.
ITBP troops of ATS Lohitpur, perform yoga with their dogs and horses on International Yoga Day.
Yoga guru Baba Ramdev performs yoga along with his followers in Nanded along with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
ITBP personnel perform yoga at 14,000 ft near Rohtang Pass at minus 10 Degrees Celsius.
PM Narendra Modi is leading the International Yoga Day celebrations from Jharkhand’s Ranchi. Stressing on the benefits of yoga in maintaining good health, Modi said, “Yoga is a great way to shield oneself from illness.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while commencing the celebrations for the fifth International Yoga Day, addressed the gathering in Ranchi, stating the importance of yoga and urging people to make it a part of their daily routine.
While performing yoga at Prabhat Tara ground in Ranchi, PM Modi said, “I thank people across the world for joining in with International Day of Yoga celebrations. World over, the first rays of the sun are being welcomed by dedicated yoga practitioners, it's a beautiful sight. I urge you all to embrace yoga and make it integral part of your daily routine.”
Yoga is being performed on-board INS Viraat (Decommissioned) at Western Naval Dockyard in Mumbai.
“Peace and harmony have always been associated with yoga and yoga can further unity and can heal several challenges the world faces,” PM Modi said.
He also said that the yoga should be part of everyone’s daily routine and that the benefits of yoga should extend to the poor as well.
ITBP personnel deployed in the Naxal-affected area of Kondagaon, Chhattisgarh are performing yoga on International Day of Yoga.
Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel in Jammu and Kashmir’s Leh are participating in a yoga practice session on the occasion of International Day of Yoga.
People are performing yoga at the Gateway of India in Mumbai. Actor Shilpa Shetty is also present.
Home Minister and BJP National President Amit Shah is performing yoga at the International Day of Yoga programme in Rohtak, Haryana. He is accompanied by Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar.
Yoga is being performed at the French embassy in Delhi today.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, dressed in a white track suit, led yoga day celebrations at Parliament premises on Friday.
Along with staffers, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi, BJP MPs Locket Chatterjee, Poonamben Maadam and Bhupendra Yadav, and former aviation minister Suresh Prabhu were among those who participated in the celebrations at the Parliament premises.
More than 400 people participated in the event which was conducted by two trainers from 7 am to 8 am.
Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel of the 26th BN are practicing yoga at Baddhowal, Ludhiana in Punjab.
Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel performed yoga on Friday at an altitude of 18000 feet in northern Ladakh, where the temperature is minus 20 degrees Celsius.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with people after performing yoga at Prabhat Tara ground in Ranchi.
BJP National Working President JP Nadda and National General Secretary (Organisation) Ram Lal performed yoga at Deen Dayal Upadhayay Park in Delhi on Friday.
Navy personnel performed Yoga on submarine INS Sindhudhvaj on Friday.
President Ram Nath Kovind expressed his happiness at International Yoga day being celebrated at Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi.
“International Day of Yoga is being celebrated at Rashtrapati Bhavan since 2015. I'm happy that like previous years, this year too we're celebrating Yoga Day here. It's not just an event, it's a way to make yoga an integral part of our life,” he said.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Minister Prakash Javadekar performed yoga at Rajpath in Delhi on Friday.
Rajnath Singh also tweeted, urging everyone to make yoga an integral part of their lives.
DRDO Chief Dr G Satheesh Reddy on Friday performed yoga at the DRDO facility in Delhi.
Security forces personnel in Srinagar performed yoga on Friday on the occasion of International Yoga Day.
Syed Akbaruddin, India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, spoke at the body’s headquarters in New York, stressing the importance of the UN in the growth of yoga.
“UN has a special place in the remarkable growth of Yoga in our own lifetimes. It was here that ancient practice of Yoga was transformed into an annual global observance,” Akbaruddin said.
“I hope this indoor yoga session in the General Assembly hall, the first of its kind, will reinforce values of cleaner, greener and a more sustainable future,” he added.
Indian Army personnel deputed at several posts in the Himalayas performed yoga to mark the occasion.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari led the International Day of Yoga celebrations in Maharashtra's Nagpur on Friday.
Gadkari said yoga is a symbol of India's ancient culture, history and heritage and it is practised with great enthusiasm across the world.
Speaking to the media, Gadkari said, “Yoga Shastra is a symbol of India's culture, history and heritage. It is being recognised and celebrated with much enthusiasm across the world.”
"This way yoga will reach the last man in the society and help in living a healthy life,” Gadkari added.
Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel deputed on Amarnath Yatra security duty in Jammu performed yoga on Friday.
Soldiers of Indian Army and Royal Bhutan Army performed yoga on Friday.
Union Minister Piyush Goyal tweeted on Friday stressing the importance of yoga in his life, adding pictures of himself performing yoga on International Yoga Day.
Troops of Assam Rifles, CRPF, Police and civilians performed yoga at the Indo-Myanmar border despite bad weather and rain on Friday.
Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel performed yoga at Rohtang Pass on the occasion of International Yoga Day.
Vice President of India Venkaiah Naidu tweeted photos from Yoga Day celebrations, writing that yoga is widely recognised as a means to achieve and maintain physical fitness and health.
He also added that he was pleasantly surprised to see that yoga has become popular across the world.
Border Security Force personnel performed yoga in Amritsar on Friday.
Union Minister Smriti Irani performed yoga in Dwarka on Friday, to mark the 5th International Day of Yoga.
Yoga is being performed by Indian Navy and Central Industrial Security Force personnel at Chennai’s Marina Beach.
The Indian Army’s Dog Unit also joined in on the Yoga Day celebrations, practising yoga.
BJP National General Secretary Ram Madhav performed yoga at an event in Trivandrum on Friday.
“Yoga is one such practice that teaches the world how to control ourselves. PM gave a call to the world, 'Come let us practice yoga' so that we can overcome all conflicts and the world will be a beautiful place,”Madhav said.
International Day of Yoga is being celebrated in the Ladakh region on Friday.
Union Minister Prakash Javadekar joined the Yoga Day celebrations at Delhi’s Rajpath.
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal performed yoga on the occasion of 5th International Yoga Day in Guwahati.
Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat led Yoga Day 2019 celebrations in Dehradun on Friday.
Border Security Force's equestrian team performed yoga on Friday on horsebacks at the BSF camp in Gurugram.
Yoga is being performed at the Embassy of the United States of America in Delhi.
Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel performed yoga on International Yoga Day at Indo-China border in Kinnaur district.
In Delhi, the celebrations played out at several venues — from the sprawling Rajpath and the lawns of Red Fort to municipal parks, hospitals, gardens and offices with thousands of enthusiastic Delhiites performing asanas.
Rajnath Singh along with Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar and senior BJP leader Meenakshi Lekhi rolled out mats and took part in the celebrations by performing asanas at the majestic Rajpath.
Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad led celebrations at Hauz Khas, Piyush Goyal in Lodhi Garden, Harsh Vardhan at Kudesia Garden in Civil Lines, Smriti Irani at Dada Dev Ground in Raj Nagar and Thawarchand Gehlot in Sangam Vihar, among others.
Mats were also rolled out at the Nehru Park and Talkatora Garden under the aegis of the New Delhi Municipal Council. Besides, several yoga events were organised in various parks and office buildings in the city.
Several Union ministries also hosted events in their office premises for the government employees.
Indian Air Forces’ Western Air Command dedicated their yoga session on Friday to Climate Action on Yoga Day 2019. More than 500 IAF personnel along with their families came together to practice different Yoga asanas.
The 74th Battalion of the CRPF performed yoga in the Naxal-affected Dornapal area in Sukma on the occasion of 5th International Yoga Day.
The French Ambassador to India, Alexandre Ziegler said that yoga was becoming popular among the French.
“We had more than 100 yoga practitioners this morning. We have Yoga lessons almost everyday at the Embassy. Yoga is becoming popular among the French people now. It helps to stay fit both physically and mentally,” Ziegler said.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that none of the postures being performed as part of yoga have any connection with any religion and that anyone could do it.
“Lifestyle diseases are affecting us. Yoga is providing us all kind of exercises for our body. Any one can practice yoga; everyone irrespective of religion and caste should practice this,” Pinarayi Vijayan said.
Crediting PM Modi for taking yoga to the world, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said the ancient Indian practice has become ambassador of the country's culture around the globe.
Shah praised Modi's efforts towards promoting Yoga and said it was due to the prime minister's initiatives that yoga has got international recognition and that 21 June is now celebrated as the International Day of Yoga.
“Modi ji has helped take Yoga to the world. It has also helped promote our culture. Yoga today has become ambassador of our culture to the world and has helped attract millions across the world to our culture...it has played a key role in promoting our culture,” Shah said, while attending Yoga Day celebrations in Rohtak, Haryana.
Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath performed yoga on Friday during an event organised to mark the 5th International Day of Yoga, at Raj Bhawan in Lucknow.
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev was present at a yoga event organised on Indian Navy Floating Dock in Port Blair on Friday.
“The word Yoga itself means union and inclusiveness, to live a life in an inclusive manner. Becoming a human being means the longing to expand and include. Yoga is only harnessing that innate longing in every human being to include everything,” he said.
Indian Army troops and their families perform yoga in Bhuj, Gujarat to celebrate International Day of Yoga.
Navy personnel performed yoga on Friday on board INS Ranvir which is stationed in the Bay of Bengal.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi put out a cryptic tweet on Yoga Day with the words, ‘New India’ and two pictures of dogs and trainers of an Army Dog Unit.