In the perfect setting of Chamundi Hills, scores of Mysureans on Wednesday attempted a Guinness world record for the largest mass yoga demonstration at the expansive Mysore Race Course (MRC) to mark the third edition of International Yoga Day.
All roads led to the venue on Lalitha Mahal Road since 5 a.m. for the ‘record-breaking’ yoga event (in a single venue).
The roads leading to and adjoining the MRC had been jammed with people wearing white clothes and carrying yoga mats coming in hordes in various modes of transportation to reach the venue to be part of the ‘historic’ day.
The mood was very buoyant as the young and the old were seen rushing to the venue from seven gates to demonstrate yoga. A large number of volunteers belonging to yoga schools had been deployed inside and outside the venue to assist the participants while the police had a challenging task of managing the traffic.
The Guinness record for the largest yoga demonstration by 35,985 people had been created at Rajpath in New Delhi in 2015.
The demonstration started at around 7.30 a.m. and went on for over an hour. The sea of humanity performing 19 ‘asanas’ in an impressive manner as directed by yoga gurus was a visual treat.
VIP presence
Union Minister for Statistics and Programme Implementation D.V. Sadananda Gowda, Minister in-charge of Mysuru district H.C. Mahadevappa, MP Pratap Simha, Mayor Ravi Kumar, scion of erstwhile Mysuru royal family Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar and others performed yoga on the dais. Novelist S.L. Bhyrappa, officials from the MRC and elected representatives were present.
Retired IFS officer A.C. Lakshman, senior official from BNMPL (RBI) H.S. Thakur Desai and Kumar Pal were the key Guinness witnesses for the event.
Bar-coded tickets had been issued to each participant at the time of their entry at special counters after scanning and with an instruction to give back the tickets after the event for counting purpose.
After the show, Deputy Commissioner D. Randeep, who was instrumental in putting the show ever in the ‘yoga capital’, said he was happy about the turnout, which, according to him, was around 45,000-plus. “The exact number will be known soon,” he added.
“Whether we make a record or not, we have made a good beginning since bringing together such large numbers in a short span of time was a challenge. We are hopeful of breaking the previous record set in New Delhi. It may take at least ten days to know the outcome,” he added.
Drones have captured the proceedings and the images will be sent to the Guinness records’ office as a proof.
Minister Mahadevappa said the turnout may have crossed 60,000 and described “it as a record of sorts”.
More than 500 foreign nationals were part of the record-breaking attempt.
Official corroboration of this number was awaited. The participants included school and college students, yoga students, government staff, and others.
