Yoga is all about uniting body, mind, and soul and leading a blissful life. Yoga is a 5,000-year-old practice that originated in India and then spread its wings in other parts of the world. Back in the year 2014, it was December 11 when the United Nations General Assembly declared June 21 as the International Day of Yoga.
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This big and extremely significant decision came when the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi expressed his desire to assign a special day for yoga in his speech addressing the UNGA on September 27, 2014. Prior to Narendra Modi’s efforts, Indian yoga gurus like Swami Ramdev and many others also had tried to propose the idea of celebrating Yoga Day.
Significance of June 21
Of course, now everybody knows the significance of this date, i.e. it is the International Yoga Day. However, there is something more to this day, as it is the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere at this time of the year. Summer Solstice marks the transition to Dakshinayana, which is a great time for people who are trying to pursue spiritual practices, through the natural support they get on this day.
Yoga schedule in India on June 21
Although it took a very long time to mark a day for the significance of yoga, Indians are excited for the first ever Yoga day celebrations. The Yoga day will be observed by 192 nations across the globe including India. With such a massive number of countries that are supporting it and are all set to observe this day, this event is going to be the biggest event ever. The government has also applied this event in the Guinness World Records.
Modi himself is an avid yoga practitioner who keeps encouraging others also to become regular yoga practitioners so that utter health and happiness can prevail in their lives. Although every Indian state is set to celebrate and observe the International Yoga Day with zeal and pride, the capital Delhi has the biggest plans to unfurl.
The Ministry of Ayush has great plans to attempt and set a world record for “the largest yoga demonstration/class at a single venue.” The venue is going to be the Rajpath and approximately 35,000 people are going to participate in the mass yoga demonstration.
As for other celebrations, 650 districts across the nation have all the preparations to perform yoga the grand way in order to observe the auspicious occasion of the yoga day. About nine hundred thousand members of the Armed Police Forces and more than a million NCC cadets will perform protocol yoga in their respective field units.
To commemorate the International Yoga Day, Indian government will be releasing special edition coins of Rs 100 and Rs 10 denomination. In 192 nations out of the 193 UN member nations except for Yemen, there will be events organized by the Indian government. New York’s Times Square is also up for witnessing a big yoga event wherein swathes of people will do yoga under the guidance of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
International Yoga Day – A noble idea
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The idea to celebrate International Yoga Day is a noble idea that will help make yoga and its sublime benefits all the more popular. Yoga is for all ages, which means anybody and everybody can benefit by practicing yoga. Swami Vivekananda introduced yoga in the West; Swami Ramdev made yoga popular in the modern times, and now the prime minister of India who has made Indians and all the avid yoga practitioners proud by officiating something like the “International Yoga Day.”
