Yoga: Delhi to UN

Courtesy : www.dailypioneer.com
Monday, 22 June 2015 | PTI/IANS | New York/ Melbourne/London


It was an unprecedented demonstration of India’s soft power as tens of thousands across the world, besides millions in India, performed yoga on Sunday to mark the inaugural International Yoga Day (IYD). As a record-breaking 37,000 people, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, took part in the main early morning event at Rajpath in the heart of New Delhi, yoga was performed at events across the world, from New York to Trinidad and Tobago, from the Maldives to Australia and from Tel Aviv to Moscow. 

Millions of yoga enthusiasts in 192 countries and 250 cities across the world took to mats and stretched, bent and twisted their bodies in multiple complex postures as they marked the inaugural International Day of Yoga, celebrating the ancient Indian spiritual practice.June 21 was declared as the International Day of Yoga by the UN General Assembly in December, 2014. 177 nations, out of 193 member states of the UN joined as co-sponsors, creating a new record for the highest number of co-sponsoring countries ever for an UNGA Resolution of such nature.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed his excitement at the first International Day of Yoga during his meeting with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in New York, saying the day has garnered “unprecedented” enthusiasm around the world.Accompanying Swaraj were India’s ambassador to the UN Asoke Mukerji, deputy permanent representative Bhagwant Bishnoi and other senior Indian officials.

Ban, accompanied by senior UN officials, congratulated Swaraj on the commemoration of the first International Day of Yoga. The UN chief told her that the world body had been observing many international days on various themes but the excitement and enthusiasm for the yoga day is unprecedented.

“(There is) a lot of enthusiasm. We have been observing many international days on something but this one (yoga day) is unprecedented, most exciting,” he said.

Swaraj informed Ban that 192 countries, with the only exception of Yemen, were commemorating yoga day.Swaraj who witnessed yoga practice at Times Square described the day as “historic” and thanked the people for their participation and making the day a grand success.

The iconic Times Square turned into a Yoga Square as some 30,000 enthusiastic people in colourful dresses performed yoga.“I congratulate you. It is a historic moment and you have made it doubly historic with your large presence,” she said in her remarks on the occasion.“You are all now Ambassadors of Yoga,” she told the young yogis, recalling that first time there were just 300 performers and now it’s 30,000 people who have joined here.

The spiritual group Art of Living said some 50 million people across 132 countries did yoga with it on Sunday. “From India to New York to Australia, yoga enthusiasts created a wave of unity and harmony along with a message of the universal essence of yoga,” it said.Paris added a unique twist to the day by practising yoga on boats across the river Seine, Art of Living said.

Nepal rose with the world to yoga in front of the iconic Pashupatinath temple. China joined in with over 500 students exploring yoga at Peking University. 

Many countries like Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Germany, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Japan, Kuwait, Jordan and Sri Lanka contributed with their enthusiastic participation, it said.

“Multiple cities in Russia, South America, Europe, Africa and Asia took to celebrating the day with a lot of zeal and passion.”

In Australia, more than a thousand people took part in several events across the country to mark the day, with Prime Minister Tony Abbott appreciating Yoga’s universal appeal.

“For thousands of years, yoga has provided its followers with a guide to bringing their mind, body and spirit into balance,” Abbott said.

Melbourne saw over 500 people gathered at the Springers Leisure Centre to kick off the day with ‘Surya Namaskar’ and bending and twisting their bodies in complex postures.

Several MPs including Victoria’s speaker Telmo Languiller, Inga Peulich, Anthony Byrne attended the ceremony by lighting the lamp in the presence of Indian consul-general in Melbourne Manika Jain.Yoga events were also held at Sydney’s popular Bondi beach and in the Australian capital Canberra.

In the UK, hundreds gathered across cities to celebrate the day with the main event on the bank of the river Thames in London. It was held at Bernie-Spain Garden, on the South Bank of Thames.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said in his message: “The UK is pleased to support International Yoga Day. We were one of 177 countries to vote in favour of Prime Minister Modi’s proposal and we are pleased to see the enthusiasm with which it is being embraced, both in UK and around the world.”

 In China, events were organised at the prestigious Peking University and Geely University. People from different walks of life took part in the exercise.

About a week ahead of the International Yoga Day, the India-China Yoga college was inaugurated at Yunnan Minzu University in Kunming, the first such college in the country.

Nepal also participated despite heavy rains, with over 800 enthusiasts taking part in a yoga session, also attended by noted Bollywood actress Manisha Koirala. The event was organised by the Indian embassy to mark the first International Yoga Day on June 21 in the presence of Vice President Parmananda Jha.

Yoga Sandesh published by the Indian mission in Kathmandu was released by Jha and Indian Ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae. Diplomats, journalists, students and various professionals were also present on the occasion.

More than 4,000 people participated in a two-hour programme held at 50 centres across Singapore. The event was led by High Commissioner Vijay Thakur Singh and Singapore’s Minister in The Prime Minister’s Office, Grace Fu.“We have an overwhelming response to the first International Yoga day in Singapore, people from diplomatic corps, business executives and Singaporeans from all walks of life participated,” Singh said.

In Thailand, an open field at a Bangkok university was turned into a “yoga studio” as thousands of Thais, Indians and other expatriates gathered to celebrate the day.More than 7,400 people were on the grounds at Chulalongkorn University to participate in the event organised by the Indian Embassy.

Yoga experts from India gave a demonstration followed by common Yoga Protocol to all participants for 33 minutes. Similar events were also held at Chiangmai, Phuket and Pattaya.

“The whole event was superb, the participation was extraordinary from schools and universities in Thailand,” India’s Ambassador to Thailand Harsh Vardan Shringla said.Thailand’s Minister of Tourism and Sports Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul was the chief guest at the event attended by ambassadors, representatives from the UN and Indian associations.

In Vietnam, hundreds took part in the celebrations at Hanoi’s Quan Ngua Sports Palace, and in Ho Chi Minh city and seven other provinces.

“The response was amazing, way beyond our expectations,” Preeti Saran, India’s ambassador to Vietnam said.

In Hanoi, at least 4,000 spectators watched 800 people perform yoga asanas. In Ho Chi Minh, there was a turnout of 3,000 people who watched 500 people do yoga.The International Day for Yoga was also held across Japan. India’s Ambassador to Japan Deepa Wadhwa said Tokyo itself had several events on the Yoga Day.

Wadhwa flagged off at the premises of a Japanese school where around 500 yoga enthusiasts were attending.A similar event was held in Paris, where people dressed in white sat on mats under the Eiffel Tower and practiced yoga.Other ASEAN nations such as Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines, also joined the world in celebrating the ancient Indian spiritual practice.