There is considerable excitement as the world gears up to celebrate the International Day of Yoga (IDY) on June 21. The main event will be organised at Dehradun, the capital of the Indian State of Uttarakhand, which is going to witness an unprecedented conglomeration of people performing in the presence of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
On June 21, the world’s largest gathering of over 60,000 people will perform different asanas of Yoga in Dehradun. The programme will start from 7:00am and continue till 7:45am at Forest Research Institute grounds.
Trivendra Singh Rawat, Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, said, “The Prime Minister will participate in the national programmes to be organised in Dehradun to mark the Yoga Day which is a matter of immense pride for Uttarakhand. The Prime Minister has special feelings for the State.”
“It is a matter of pride for the hill state because it is famous as the place where the art and science of yoga found birth,” he added.
Two rehearsals for the event will be held on June 18-19. The Uttarakhand Police, the Army, para-military personnel, NCC, NSS, Scout guide, yog sansthan, school and college students, and representatives of different organisations will participate in the event.
IDY has been celebrated annually on June 21 since its inception in 2015. An international day for yoga was declared unanimously by the United Nations General Assembly. Since its inception, the main event has taken place in Delhi, Chandigarh and Lucknow.
Exuding confidence about considerable increase in the number of people participating in Yoga, Shripad Yesso Naik, Ayush minister, said, “As per our estimates, about 100 million people had participated last year across the globe. We are expecting nearly 100% increase this year.”
The Indian government also has plans to make use of satellite imagery to get a sense of the number of participants in the events for the International Day of Yoga.
In this connection, the Ayush (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) ministry has contacted Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) for the satellite imagery of the main event.
“We have written to the ISRO chief and asked him if he could help us in mapping the event participation between 7am and 8am from across the country using their satellite. He is yet to formally respond to our request but he has given us in principle approval,” said Rajesh Kotecha, special secretary, Ayush.
In addition to this, the Ministry has also developed a yoga protocol for 40 plus women in consultation with Indian Menopause Society (IMS).