Students of South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) schools started and ended their International Day of Yoga programme with a prayer, something which the demonstration at Rajpath did not include.
The voices of 400 students of primary schools reverberated through Tyagraj Stadium with chants of “Om” and the recitation of a shanti paath (peace prayer).
The SDMC did follow the Union AYUSH Ministry’s guidelines on what yoga poses to do, as prescribed in a booklet titled, Common Yoga Protocol, by not including the surya namaskar (sun salutation). The set of poses was excluded from the Ministry’s programme keeping religious beliefs in mind and to avoid controversy.
But, SDMC students were taught Hindu prayers during their yoga training, which began on May 29.
Though the instructor announced that reciting the prayers was optional, nearly all students participated in it.
Sadia (name changed), a Class V student, said, “I did not know the prayer before, but after we started training for the programme, I practised it every day at home.”
The Leader of the House in the BJP-led body , Ashish Sood, said there were no “religious connotations” to the event.
“These were just general recitations that accompany yoga practice. There were no instructions from the headquarters to include those in the programme. The yoga teachers must have taught those to the children,” said Mr. Sood.
Meanwhile, 4,000 SDMC students watched 400 of their schoolmates move from pose to pose at the beat of a drum. As the students moved swiftly through the drill of 21 asanas , an instructor explained the health benefits of each pose.
Dressed in white and seated on bright mats, the children were joined by BJP MPs Meenakshi Lekhi and Ramesh Bidhuri, and SDMC Mayor Subhash Arya, who also performed the poses.
Ms. Lekhi announced that the children would get to take the yoga mats they had been practising home. “I want each of you to teach two more children,” said Ms. Lekhi.
The Mayor said the world was taking to yoga, so “our children should not be left behind”.
An excited Sudanshu, a Class V student, said he would teach two boys in his neighbourhood. “It was a lot of fun, so I’m going to continue to do yoga every day,” he said.
The voices of 400 students reverberated through Tyagraj Stadium with chants of “Om” and the recitation of a shanti paath
