Practising yoga, meditation, and spreading awareness of yoga marked the International Day of Yoga in Dindigul and Theni districts on Sunday.
About 1,800 NCC cadets from 16 schools and seven colleges in Dindigul, Theni and part of Madurai district, covered under 14 Tamil Nadu Battalion NCC, practised yoga on G.T.N. Arts College campus in the morning.
They practised pranayamam and other simple yogas.
Approximately 2,000 persons, including, men, women and students from various places, participated in a yoga event organised at the District Sports Complex.
The basic principles of yoga and the importance of meditation were explained to the participants.
Southern Railway staff too celebrated the event by performing yoga at Dindigul railway station.
Theni
School and college students participated in the yoga sessions organised by various educational institutions on their campuses.
Ramanathapuram
Devotees performed meditation at the ‘samadhi’ of Patanjali Munivar, the yoga maharishi at Sri Ramanathaswamy Temple in Rameswaram, and schools students took out rallies and participated in mass yoga events in Ramanathapuram and Sivaganga districts.
A large number of devotees who visited the temple offered worship at the samadhi, performed meditation.
In Ramanathapuram, the Art of Living members organised an awareness rally on the goodness of practising yoga. Indian Coast Guard (ICG) Mandapam Station Commander H.H. More flagged off the rally, in which NSS volunteers, ICG personnel and members of NGOs, Rotary and Lions clubs participated.
The rally culminated at D Block Ground, where hundreds of students and general public, including women, performed yoga for about 15 minutes taught by Balu, a yoga exponent.
Film music director Gangai Amaran, who recently joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Mr. More among others practised yoga.
Addressing the function, Mr. Amaran said music and yoga were interlinked and a flawless singing was possible only if the singers practised pranayama.
He was happy that the International Yoga Day coincided with Music Day and Father’s Day.
He said that local channels should telecast yoga practise for about half an hour a day.
Nehru Yuva Kendra, Tamil Nadu Yoga Federation, ISCON, Isha Yoga, Indian Red Cross Bharatiya Yuva Morcha and students of various schools performed yoga in schools and public places in the two districts.
