A world record was set when 18,473 school children recited 18 'shlokas' (hymns) from the Bhagavad Gita during the ongoing International Gita Mahotsav here, the Haryana government on Wednesday said.

"After the Ashtashloki Gita Path, students performed yoga pose 'Surya Namaskar'. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar congratulated them and announced an award of Rs 5 lakh for them," a Haryana government spokesman said.

In his address, Khattar exhorted people not to confine themselves to reading the holy book but also adopt its teachings in their lives and thus contribute to the development of society and the country.

Kurukshetra, the land of the Mahabharata, is the place where Lord Krishna is believed to have delivered a sermon on 'Bhagavad Gita' to Pandava prince Arjun.

It's not the first time as in September 2016, more than 8,500 school children set a world record for mass Bhagavad Gita reading.

Talking about records when it comes to Bhagavad Gita, Sandeep Kumar Bhatt of Ambala, Haryana, had hand written a Bhagavad Gita consisting 320 pages, in the year 2001.