Government to conduct special events at 75 heritage, iconic sites on International Yoga Day: Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal

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The government plans to organise special events at 75 heritage and iconic sites on International Day of Yoga, Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal said on Thursday as thousands of people performed yoga exercises at the Red Fort to mark the 75-day countdown to the June 21 event.

The Yoga Utsav, held as part of the World Health Day, also saw the participation of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, parliamentarians, ambassadors of various countries and Yoga exponents as they performed the Common Yoga Protocol.

The Ayush ministry ministry has planned to conduct yoga at 75 heritage and iconic sites with prominent India branding and has also planned to relay programmes of the event across the world "with the movement of the Sun", Minister of Ayush Sarbananda Sonowal said on the occassion.

"This is linked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'One Sun, One Earth' campaign," he said.

Speaker Birla, the chief guest of the event, thanked Modi for "taking yoga to the world" and outlined its importance.

Thanking the participants at the Thursday's event, he said, "In the coming days, I request all the stakeholders to make joint efforts in mission mode to maximise public involvement and participation."

Officials from Embassies and High Commissions of several countries, including Sweden, Hungary, Vietnam, Madagascar, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, Togo, Peru, Kyrgyzstan and Zimbabwe participated in the Yoga Utsav, ensuring global presence at the event.

A live demonstration of the Common Yoga Protocol, involving about 3,000 people, was performed by the experts from Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga under the leadership of its director Ishwar V Basavaraddi.

Common Yoga Protocol is designed with inputs from experts as it comprises day-to-day yoga asanas and it intends to popularise exercises such as Yoga Nidra, Pranayama and Dhyan among others.

The government has also been operating 'Yoga Portal', to help people embrace, practice, and enjoy the exercises on a daily basis.

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