Prime Minister attends mass Yoga demonstration programme at Lucknow

Third International Day of Yoga celebrated across the country

New Delhi, June 22, 2017 : The Third International Day of Yoga was celebrated with great enthusiasm across the country with mass yoga demonstrations taking place in various places. The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, participated in the mass Yoga demonstration event in Lucknow where he was joined by a huge number of people.

Addressing the gathering at the iconic Ramabai Ambdekar Maidan in Lucknow today, the Prime Minister reached out to people in all parts of the country connected through Yoga. He said, Yoga is a practise that binds humanity together and is helping countries across the world to be connected with India. Yoga is a medium to achieve wellness and it has the power to provide health assurance at zero cost, he said.

The event at Lucknow was attended by Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Ministry of AYUSH Shri Shripad Yesso Naik; Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Shri Yogi Adityanath; Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Shri Keshav Prasad Maurya; Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Dr. Dinesh Sharma; State Minister (Independent Charge) Ministry of Ayush, Dr. Dharam Singh Saini.

On the occasion of International Day of Yoga, the Ministry of AYUSH organised mass yoga programmes in Delhi in association with NDMC, DDA and eminent Yoga organisations. In Connaught Place, New Delhi, NDMC used drone cameras for aerial photography and videography of the Yoga demonstrations. Many partnership organistations like, Art of Living, Patanjali Yoga Samiti, Vivekanand Yogashram Hospital, Brhamkumari, Isha Foundation and Gayatri Parivar participated in the Yoga day celebrations in various places in Delhi. Union Minister for Urban Development, Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation and Information & Broadcasting, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu participated in mass Yoga demonstration in Delhi. Other Union Ministers participated in mass Yoga demonstrations in various states of the country.

The Ministry of Home Affairs celebrated the International Day of Yoga across the country including yoga celebrations by BSF, CRPF, CAPF, units of ITBP to mark the occasion. ITBP personnel performed yoga at 19000 feet in Ladhak and at 11600 feet at the Bank of Indus River in Ladhak. Approximately 2000 CAPFs personnel participated in the main event at Ramabai Ambdekar Maidan in Lucknow (U.P.).

The Ministry of Human Recourse Development announced the winners of the ‘Yoga Olympiad’ held in Delhi from 18 to 20 June, 2017 to promote the awareness of yoga and to build up a network of schools, teachers and yoga practitioners at the national level. The awards were given in four categories which included one award each for Upper Primary – Girls and Boys; Secondary -­Girls and Boys.

The Ministry of Defence organised Yoga sessions across the country with troops of The Indian Army, the Indian Air Force, and the Indian Navy conducted at Pahalgam, Srinagar, Kargil. Sriganganagar, Nagpur, Leh, Bidar, Chennai, Bengaluru, Mangalore, Dibrugarh, Dehradun, Kolkata, Ahmednagar to name of few. The Indian Navy did Yoga session on board INS Vikramaditya, Shivalik, Kamorta, Jyoti, INS Jalashwa & INS Kirch in the Indian Ocean & the Bay of Bengal and the Coast Guard on board ICGS Sarathi, ICGS Samrat. Cadets of National Cadet Corps (NCC) participated in Yoga Day function at DG NCC Camp, Delhi Cantt.

The Ministry of External Affairs, through it Indian embassies abroad, celebrated the International Day of Yoga at iconic locations like, at the Abraham Lincoln Monument, Sylvan Theater Washington DC, La Villette Paris, France, at the backdrop of Sheikh Zahid Mosque in Abu Dhabi. Yoga gurus conducted seminars and discussions on Yoga in many countries across the world.