india

Updated: Jun 22, 2019 00:03 IST

From China’s famed Shaolin Temple to Britain’s iconic St. Paul’s Cathedral and India’s Parliament premises to the Himalayas, leaders and commoners rolled out their yoga mats on the occasion of the fifth International Yoga day even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the ancient practice for wellness was above religion, caste, colour, gender and region.

In India, Modi led the celebrations in Jharkhand capital Ranchi where he performed various “asanas” along with 40,000 people at the Prabhat Tara ground.

“We should make efforts to take yoga from cities to villages and tribal areas...It (yoga) is constant and evolving for centuries. The essence of yoga has been stable and remained the same healthy body, stable mind, spirit of oneness. Yoga has provided a perfect blend of knowledge, karma and bhakti,” he told the gathering.

Central ministers spread out across the country on the occasion, with home minister Amit Shah participating in a function in Rohtak. Defence minister Rajnath Singh was in the national capital and transport minister Nitin Gadkari in Nagpur.

Shah, who did yoga exercises along with Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, said it was due to the efforts of Modi that the world was observing Yoga Day and making the practice a part of everyday lives. “Yoga is the symbol of India’s ancient history and diversity which is showing the world the way towards a healthy life,” he tweeted after the event.

Gadkari said yoga was a symbol of India’s ancient culture, history and heritage, and it was practised with great enthusiasm across the world.

External affairs minister S Jaishankar was at the Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra where 60 ambassadors as well as diplomats from various missions performed yoga exercises. Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla led the Yoga Day events at Parliament House where around 400 people, including newly elected MPs, Union ministers and Parliament staffers, participated in practising the asanas. While President Ram Nath Kovind was part of Yoga Day at Rashtrapati Bhavan’s Ceremonial Hall, vice president M Venkaiah Naidu participated at an event at the historic Red Fort where thousands of men and women, all in white, performed yoga exercises.

A 24-member team of the Indo-Tibet Border Police performed Yoga exercises at a height of 14000 feet near Rohtang Pass.

In a first-of-its kind yoga celebration, the iconic United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) hall reverberated with chants of “Om” and “Shanti” as United Nations officials and diplomats joined the celebrations.

In Beijing, the celebrations were led by India’s envoy to China, Vikram Misri, who, along with a large number of Chinese yoga enthusiasts rolled out their mats. Over 400 people performed asanas at the picturesque Hatachana compound in Tel Aviv, Israel, with India’s envoy to Israel Pavan Kapoor asking the government to consider making it a part of the annual calendar of events.

Later in the day, Prime Minister Modi thanked leaders of various countries for their participation on the occasion. President of the Republic of Korea Moon Jae-in tweeted that he finds himself “reflecting once again on the spirit and meaning of yoga today”.

Reciprocating his gesture, Modi said he was overjoyed to read his message. Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena posted his video of doing yoga on Twitter with a message complimenting Modi for his efforts at “bringing our common heritage of Yoga to the international stage. I urge all to practice yoga like me.”