International Yoga Day 2023: Yoga Day event in Surat sets new Guinness World Record

The Yoga Day event organised in Surat city of Gujarat on Wednesday has set a new Guinness World Record for the largest gathering for a yoga session at one place with 1.53 lakh people joining the program, officials said. According to news agency PTI, representatives of the Guinness World Records have confirmed that 1.53 lakh people participated in the Yoga session in Surat, they said.

The previous world record was set in 2018 in Kota city of Rajasthan when 1,00,984 people participated in a Yoga Day session in one place.

PM Narendra Modi-led Yoga session at UN creates Guinness World Record for participation of people of most nationalities, said Officials

Stage set for International Yoga Day celebrations at the North Lawn of UN headquarters in New York, which will be led by PM Modi later today.

Yoga is an art of science for healthy living that focusses on bringing harmony between the mind and body, Andhra Pradesh Governor S Abdul Nazeer said on Wednesday marking the ninth International Yoga Day. The Governor participated in the celebrations held at Raj Bhavan and noted that yoga reduces stress. "Yoga focusses on bringing harmony between the mind and body, keeps the body fit and helps in reducing stress,” said Nazeer in a press release issued by Raj Bhavan. 

According to Nazeer, yoga offers immense benefits such as boosting immunity, increasing inner energy and endowing physical and mental health benefits for people of all ages. The Governor, special chief secretary to Governor Anil Kumar Singhal, joint secretary P S Suryaprakash and other officials performed yoga postures. Ch Ramanand and Ch Pravallika from AYUSH department demonstrated various postures and explained the health benefits of each of them.

President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday urged everyone to adopt yoga in their daily lives and experience its transformative power. The president greeted everyone on the International Day of Yoga and said yoga is India's great gift to the rest of the world. 

"Greetings to all on the International Day of Yoga! Yoga is one of our civilisation's great accomplishments and India's great gift to the rest of the world. Yoga brings together the body and the mind and it is a holistic approach to life," she said in a tweet and shared pictures of her doing yoga. "Yoga helps us all to be in a better position to meet the increasing challenges around us. On this day, I urge everyone to adopt yoga in their daily lives and experience its transformative power," Murmu said in her tweet.

The UNWTO supports Prime Minister Narendra Modi's efforts to promote tourism in India, a country rich in culture with a "huge potential" to attract more investment in the sector, a top official of the global organisation said in Goa. World Tourism Organization Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili spoke to PTI on the eve of the G20 Tourism Ministerial Meeting and the International Day of Yoga and expressed his delight over the coincidence. 

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is a specialised agency of the United Nations with a mandate to promote responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism. G20 delegates from several countries on Wednesday performed yoga 'asanas' on the premises of the Raj Bhavan in Goa to mark the day. Goa Governor PS Shreedharan Pillai, Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy and Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt joined the delegates in performing the 'asanas', hours before the scheduled crucial ministerial meeting here. According to the schedule for the opening session of the afternoon meeting, a video message from Modi will be screened.

The ninth International Yoga Day was celebrated with great fanfare in many parts of Karnataka. Thousands of people took part in the event aimed at promoting good health with sound mind. The theme of Yoga Day this year is ‘Yoga – Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’. The main event took place on the grand steps of the imposing Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru where Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, Karnataka Assembly Speaker U T Khader and Health and Family Welfare Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao took part.

Swami Vachanananda, who is famed as 'Shwasa Guru', guided the gathering to perform yoga. A large number of government employees, students and social activists took part in the morning programme. Speaking on the occasion, Gehlot said yoga that originated in the country has been the part of Indian tradition for a very long time. The popularity of yoga could be assessed from the fact that people across the globe are adopting it for better health.

Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi on Wednesday led the International Yoga Day celebrations in the state, performing the 'asanas' with his spouse at Chidambaram. Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian, BJP state president K Annamalai and scores of yoga enthusiasts participated in events held in different parts of the state. 

"Governor Ravi and Laxmi Ravi performed Yoga along with youth and yoga practitioners at Annamalai University on International Yoga Day2023. The artists put up a scintillating yoga performance showcasing various forms of yoga," a Raj Bhavan official tweet said.

People performed water Yoga in Rajkot on the occasion of International Yoga Day.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said India has always nurtured traditions that unite, adopt and embrace, and made a fervent appeal to eliminate contradictions, hurdles and resistances through Yoga. In a video message on the occasion of International Day of Yoga, Modi said Indians have welcomed new ideas and conserved them and celebrated the country's rich diversity.

“Yoga strengthens such feelings, expands the inner vision, and connects us with that consciousness which makes us feel the unity of the living being giving a basis of love for the living being,” the prime minister said.

The prime minister is on an official visit to the US and will lead the International Day of Yoga celebrations at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on Wednesday. "We have to eliminate our contradictions, blockages and resistances through Yoga. We have to present the spirit of ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat’ as an example to the world,” Modi said. Modi said the International Day of Yoga was special this year as researchers at India's research stations in the Arctic and Antarctica too were participating in the celebrations.

Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis perform Yoga, in Mumbai to mark International Yoga Day.

Former President of India Ram Nath Kovind performs Yoga in Delhi to mark the 9thInternational Yoga Day.

Indian Army personnel perform Yoga in Sikkim to mark the 9th International Yoga Day.

BJP national president JP Nadda performed Yoga at Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Gurugram, Haryana on 9th International Yoga Day.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said yoga day for him would be the day when free yoga classes will be started in the city again. Hitting out at Kejriwal for his remarks, Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva said yoga classes were stopped because of non-payment of salaries to yoga teachers. He claimed that making "controversial statements" on auspicious occasions has become a daily routine of the Delhi chief minister. In a tweet in Hindi, Kejriwal said, "Tomorrow is International Day of Yoga. This day inspires us to do yoga. Two years ago, the Delhi government started free yoga classes for the people of Delhi. About 17,000 people started doing yoga every day."

With an aim to promote tribal products, 34,000 yoga mats sourced exclusively from tribal artisans in the country will be used at government events to mark the International Yoga Day on Wednesday. Tribal Affairs Ministry's Tribal Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (TRIFED), a national-level cooperative body mandated to bring about socio-economic development of tribals of the country, has procured the yoga mats adorned with designs and motifs representative of various tribal communities. The Ministry of Ayush will employ these mats for a range of events, workshops, and training programmes organized on the International Yoga Day, according to a statement released by the ministry.

Union Minister Anurag Thakur performed Yoga in Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh to mark the 9th International Yoga Day.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead a unique yoga session on Wednesday in a historic celebration to commemorate the 9th International Day of Yoga at the UN Headquarters here that will see participation from top UN officials, envoys from across and the world and prominent individuals. "Landed in New York City. Looking forward to the programmes here including interaction with thought leaders and the Yoga Day programme tomorrow, 21st June," Prime Minister Modi tweeted. Modi is here on the first leg of his first state visit to the US at the invitation of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. Nine years after Prime Minister Modi first proposed from the United Nations General Assembly podium to mark International Yoga Day as an annual commemoration, the Indian leader will for the first time be at the UN Headquarters to lead the yoga session in a historic commemoration of the day.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pre-recorded International Yoga Day message was aired on Wednesday morning. It became a global movement, asserted PM Modi.