Yoga above religion and caste, says PM Modi

New Delhi: Millions of people across the globe, stretched, breathed in and breathed out as they practiced the ancient asanas of yoga with the world marking the fifth International Day of Yoga on Friday and Prime Minister Narendra Modi taking the lead in celebrations in the country by appealing to people to take yoga to all sections of society.

Amid chants of “Om” and “Shanti” in several global capitals and across towns and villages of the country, Mr Modi said yoga is above everything, as he performed asanas with 40,000 enthusiasts at the Prabhat Tara ground in Ranchi.

Appealing to people to make yoga an integral part of their lives, MrM odi said, “We should make efforts to take yoga from cities to villages and tribal areas. Yoga is above religion, caste, colour, gender and region, it is above everything.”

“It (yoga) is constant and evolving for centuries. The essence of yoga has been stable and remained the same — healthy body, stable mind and spirit of oneness. Yoga has provided a perfect blend of knowledge, karma and bhakti,” he said.

Expressing concern that young people are becoming vulnerable to heart ailments, Mr Modi said, “Yoga can play a huge role in tackling the issue and hence, this year’s theme is ‘Yoga for heart’.” “It is painful to read about alcoholism, substance abuse, diabetes and other things, adding yoga offers a solution to these problems,” he added.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution in 2014 declaring June 21 as International Day of Yoga on a proposal mooted by the Narendra Modi government.  While Mr Modi led the celebrations in Ranchi, his ministers spread out across the country with home minister Amit Shah participating in a function in Rohtak, defence minister Rajnath Singh at Rajpath in the national capital and transport minister Nitin Gadkari in Nagpur.

Mr Shah, who did yoga exercises along with Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, said it is due to the efforts of Mr Modi that the world is now not only observing Yoga Day but making it a part of their 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.

External affairs minister S. Jaishankar was at the Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra where 60 ambassadors as well as diplomats from various missions performed yoga.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla led the Yoga Day events in Parliament House where around 400 people, including newly-elected MPs, Union ministers and Parliament staffers, participated.

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.

Mr Naidu recommended making yoga part of the school curriculum and said doing so is necessary in the wake of changing lifestyles and the growing incidence of non-communicable diseases.

Scenes of mass yoga exercises in open grounds, parks and halls were mirrored in various parts of the country, even in the icy slopes of the Himalayas where Indian Army personnel put out their mats to perform exercises.

In Uttar Pradesh, governor Ram Naik and chief minister Yogi Adityanath attended the Yoga Day programme at Raj Bhavan in Lucknow.

In Tamil Nadu’s capital Chennai, governor Banwarilal Purohit led from the front.

In Patna, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar was conspicuous by his absence as governor Lalji Tandon led the celebrations at an event being seen as an occasion to demonstrate the cordiality between ruling coalition partners BJP and the JD(U).

In a first of its kind yoga celebration, the iconic UNGA hall reverberated with chants of “Om” and “Shanti” as UN officials and diplomats joined hundreds of others to commemorate the day.

Addressing the large gathering, deputy secretary-general Amina Mohammed said the essence of yoga is balance, “not only within us but also in our relationship with humanity”.

She added that by practising yoga, people can promote values that inspire peaceful, environmental stewardship for the betterment of society and the Earth.

The event ‘Yoga with the Gurus’ was originally scheduled to be held in the North Lawn in the UN Headquarters but the venue had to be shifted to inside the General Assembly hall due to rain.

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 to participate in Yoga Day.

Yoga has become immensely popular all over China in the past few decades and is emerging as a major fitness discipline.

Over 400 people performed asanas to mark the International Day of Yoga 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.

In the UK, yoga enthusiasts marked the day with a session at the iconic Durdle Door stone arch, a natural Unesco World Heritage Site on the south-western coast of England.