The Capital’s commercial hub, Connaught Place, looked transformed on Tuesday morning, with thousands of people participating in the mass yoga demonstration organised on the occasion of the second annual International Day of Yoga.
The usual buzz of activity in Connaught Place’s Inner Circle and radial roads was replaced by chants of “Om.” Breathing exercises were performed by almost 10,000 participants between 7 a.m. to 7.45 a.m.
The event, organised by the Union AYUSH Ministry and the New Delhi Municipal Council, saw 9,500 participants from various social, religious and government organisations, said NDMC chairperson Naresh Kumar.
The programme was kicked off by students of the Jnanasindhu School for the Blind from Karnataka. The students, aged between four and 15 years, were taught different yoga poses through the “touch and feel method”, their teacher Sivanand N. Kelur later told The Hindu .
A unique demonstration of “yoga on wheelchairs” by students of the Ability Unlimited Foundation and a song about yoga by NDMC school students and speeches by wrestler Sangram Singh and former Miss India Koyal Rana were part of the programme.
Union Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu, Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung and New Delhi Member of Parliament Meenakshi Lekhi participated in the 45-minute mass yoga demonstration.
Addressing the crowd, Mr. Naidu said the global community had backed India’s United Nations resolution to designate June 21 International Day of Yoga, and that Western countries had adopted “yogic traditions to heal themselves.”
“I urge the people of India, more particularly my busy brothers and sisters, to make yoga a part of their lives and make it a people’s movement,” said Mr.Naidu.
Meanwhile, the demonstration started with a prayer, followed by some stretching exercises. After performing the poses as per the common yoga protocol, the participants were led by instructors from the Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga in mediation, before ending with another prayer.
While the NDMC had made arrangements for the general public to join, nearly all the participants were from the organisations that had volunteered to be a part of the event. Among the organisations were Patanjali Yogpeeth, the Art of Living, Prajapita Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vidyalaya and the Delhi Police.
Yoga demonstrations were also organised at Nehru Park, Lodi Garden and Talkatora Garden. At Nehru Park, about 200 staffers of missions and embassies as well as about 1,000 other participants turned up, said the NDMC chairperson.
He added that about 1,500 people and 750 people participated at Lodi Garden and Talkatora Garden respectively.
