PM to lead Yoga Day celebrations in Lucknow

The city of Nawabs, Lucknow, is all set to host the main function of the third edition of the International Day of Yoga (IDY) on Tuesday. PM Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath along with 51,000 yoga enthusiasts will attend the programme at Ramabhai Ambedkar Sabha Sthal. According to the Ayush Ministry, the programme will start at 6 am. UP CM Adityanath and Governor Ram Naik have already inspected the location on Monday.

Besides Yoga enthusiasts, several dignitaries, politicians and bureaucrats will gather at the main event of IDY. To make the programme successful, various organisations, NGOs and Yoga gurus have held camps and practice sessions.

The first International Yoga Day function held on June 21, 2015, at Rajpath in the national capital witnessed Narendra Modi performing Yoga along with over 200 million people across the country and over 37,000 people in Delhi alone.

With the help of the union government, a group of 53 international guests comprising of tour operators will also attend the main IDY celebration in Lucknow. Journalists and photographers, Yoga gurus and opinion makers from across the globe have been invited to attend the main IDY functions in Lucknow. The dignitaries will visit various Yoga institutions and Wellness Centres across the country in order to have a firsthand knowledge and to promote India as a destination for Yoga in their own countries.

The Ministry of Tourism has also started celebrating IDY through various initiatives from June 14. A thirty-second Radio Spot on the evolution of Yoga is airing on 17 AIR FM stations. A sixty-second television commercial that promotes India as a land of Yoga has been developed. Also, a month-long TV campaign promoting Yoga has been launched on Doordarshan network on Tuesday. The United Nations declared June 21 as the International Day of Yoga on December 11, 2014.

The overseas India tourism offices are also organising and playing a prominent role in organising IDY celebrations in different countries under their respective jurisdictions. A 72 -member student delegation of the City Montessori School in Lucknow will represent India in New York at the third IDY festivities on June 21.

To mark the day, Indian missions in the Netherlands, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States, among other countries, will hold programmes on Yoga with participants from various sections of the society.

On Tuesday, a large number of Chinese yoga enthusiasts participated in a colourful yoga event at China's iconic Great Wall on the eve of IDY which is being celebrated all over the Communist nation. MoS for External Affairs V K Singh took part in the event and practised various yoga postures.

The event was jointly organised by Embassy of India, Beijing, Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) and Yogi Yoga, a popular yoga school.

Indian Air Force also issued directions on Tuesday to all its Air Force bases to hold befitting celebrations on Tuesday for promoting 'Knowledge and Practice' of Yoga. Mass Yoga demonstration and practice is planned at Air Force Station New Delhi and Vayu Sena Vatika at Gurugram for IAF personnel and families of Air Headquarters and nearby Units.

CISF will also celebrate IDY on 21 June from 7 am to 7.45 am at all its 336 units, Training institutions, Reserve Battalions, Zonal, Sector and Force headquarters across the country.