A yoga village in the making

25,000 villagers in Kunnamthanam grama panchayat trained in yoga

The Kunnamthanam grama panchayat, near Mallappally, that has launched an intensive yoga campaign to achieve the goal of becoming the country’s first complete yoga village has crossed half-way in its much ambitious ‘Yoga for All’ project execution.

According to panchayat president K.K. Radhakrishna Kurup and yoga instructor M.G. Dileep, the local body has conducted 200 free yoga training sessions in different parts of the panchayat till Thursday. They said not less than 25,000 people had been trained at these classes.

“The participants include children to elderly persons and we have taken special care to organise classes at halls nearby churches, temples, and so on, so as to involve maximum people in the training sessions,” they said.

The training is held as part of My Village, Healthy Village project.

One in each family

District panchayat member S.V. Subin told

The Hindu that the first phase of the campaign would end on May 20 and, by then, each household would be having at least one member trained in yoga.

Mr. Kurup said a permanent yoga centre would start functioning at the panchayat community hall from May 21.

Mr. Subin and Mr. Dileep said the panchayat would organise special yoga training classes for the large number of migrant workers staying in different parts of the panchayat and others who were yet to receive training.

For a healthy life

They said the panchayat would be declared complete yoga village on the World Yoga Day on June 21 and from then all schools in the local body limits would carry out a brief yoga session and meditation prior to the beginning of classes.

“Our aim is to make yoga an integral part of the villagers’ lifestyle and make them lead a healthy life,” says Mr. Kurup.

The project was receiving very good public response, above all religio-political considerations, Mr. Dileep said. The panchayat has been organising yoga training camps at various church halls, monasteries, temple devaswom halls, and community centres, they said.

Mr. Dileep said the panchayat and Pranavam Yoga Centre would be jointly hosting a mega yoga show, parading maximum number of trained villagers at Kunnamthanam on the World Yoga Day.