The mood was buoyant among the sea of humanity that poured in through the seven gates of the expansive Mysore racecourse (MRC) here on Wednesday morning to attempt a Guinness World Record for the largest mass yoga session in a single venue on the International Day of Yoga.
Schoolchildren and students, kitted in white and carrying yoga mats, were eager to be part of the ‘historic’ day.
A large number of volunteers from yoga schools were at the venue to assist participants. The police were left with the challenging task of managing traffic. The yoga demonstration got off to a start at around 7.30 a.m. covering 19 asanas, pranayama, and dhyana under the instructions of yoga gurus.
Retired IFS officer A.C. Lakshman, senior official from RBI Mysuru, H.S. Thakur Desai, and chief auditor Kumar Pal were the key Guinness witnesses for the event. The trio acknowledged the 47 stewards with each of them counting 1,200 participants under their cluster by raising flags, and confirming the attendance. Bar-coded tickets had been issued, after scanning, to each participant at the time of entry at all seven gates, with an instruction to return the ticket after the event for counting.
Minister in-charge of Mysuru district H.C. Mahadevappa described the show “as a record of sorts”.
After the event, Deputy Commissioner D. Randeep, who was instrumental in organising the event, said he was extremely happy about the turnout, which, according to him, was around 54,101 (number is based on tickets issued).
Whether Mysuru has created a Guinness World Record will be ascertained in 10 days, he said. We are hopeful of breaking the previous record set at New Delhi in 2015 Yoga Day where 35,985 people did yoga,” he explained.
Drone cameras have captured the proceedings and the images will be sent to the Guinness World Records’ office as proof, the organisers said.
More than 500 foreign nationals were also part of the record-breaking attempt.
Union Minister for Statistics and Programme Implementation D.V. Sadananda Gowda; Minister in-charge of Mysuru district H.C. Mahadevappa; Pratap Simha, Mysuru MP; Mayor M.J. Ravi Kumar; scion of the erstwhile Mysuru royal family Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar; and other dignitaries performed yoga on the dais. Novelist S.L. Bhyrappa, officials from the MRC, and elected representatives were present. The participants included students from schools, colleges and yoga schools, government staff, and others.
