India celebrates 5th International Yoga Day

Appealing to people to take yoga to all sections of society, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said yoga is above everything, as he performed various asanas with around 40,000 enthusiasts at the Prabhat Tara ground here to mark the fifth International Day of Yoga.

Speaking on the occasion, Prime Minister stresses the need to integrate yoga with health schemes.Prime Minister Modi that in the last five years the Government has integrated yoga with health and wellness to make it a pillar of preventive health care.

Prime Minister Modi said, in today’s changing times the focus must be on wellness as well as protection from illness. He said, Yoga is discipline and dedication and it has to be obeyed throughout life. Prime Minister stressed on the need to take modern yoga to the Rural and Tribal land. He said yoga can make the poor come out of diseases and poverty.  Prime Minister Modi said yoga provides a perfect blend of knowledge, work and devotion. He also stressed on research related to yoga.

Minister for AYUSH Shripad Naik in his address said Government is committed to spreading the benefits of Yoga for health and wellness. He said, there is a need for more Yoga teachers to take Yoga to the masses. Naik said, his Ministry has created Yoga Certification Board which will certify trainers and training schools of Yoga. 

In the national capital, the main event was organised at Rajpath. Speaking on the occasion, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that yoga spreads the message of humanity and it can not be linked with any religion. He said, yoga is integrating the world and it has now become the lifestyle of people. 

In Gujarat, more than 1.51 crore people participated in the celebrations today. State level function was held at Sardar Patel Stadium of Ahmedabad in the presence of Governor of Gujarat O.P. Kohli and Chief Minister Vijay Rupani. Prime Minister also participated in the event through video conferencing early Friday morning.
In Tamil Nadu, several programs were organised by Central Government offices, Central and state Government schools and yoga groups. 

In Maharashtra, all 288 talukas of all the 36 districts have organised practical sessions of Yoga at open sports complexes especially to encourage youth. Around 5000 students from each talukas are participating in these sessions across the state where various yogasanas are being performed under the guidance of institutions teaching yoga in the state. 

Reports of yoga day celebrations are also pouring in from abroad.  In Nepal, hundreds of Yoga enthusiasts including Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli and Deputy Prime Minister Upendra Yadav participating in Yoga Day celebrations. 

International Day of Yoga is being celebrated with great enthusiasm in Dhaka. The Bangabandhu Stadium is filled this morning to the capacity with thousands of yoga enthusiasts participating in the programme. 

In UAE, nearly 4000 yoga enthusiasts of various nationalities participated the yoga demonstrations at Abu Dhabi.