'Historic day for yoga and India': Jayant Sinha

Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha, who participated in the International Yoga Day celebrations at the Rajpath here on Sunday, said that it is a historic day for yoga and India.

"Thrilled to do my daily yoga and dhyan with Hon'ble PM and 40,000 people on Rajpath. Historic day for yoga and India!," he tweeted.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had earlier urged all to take a pledge to practice yoga everyday for a better physical, mental and spiritual health on the occasion.

"Today on International Yoga Day let us all take a pledge to practice Yoga everyday for a better physical, mental and spiritual health," he tweeted.

Prime Minister Modi has dubbed the International Yoga Day as the beginning of a new era of peace and goodwill, thanking all those who have contributed to the development of the great discipline.

Dressed in all-white and a tricolour scarf, Prime Minister Modi performed a variety of poses, including the Vajrasan and Padmasan, at the Rajpath where an estimated 40,000 people participated in the celebrations. Nearly 2,000 digital cinema screens were set up across Rajpath for the people to witness the live streaming of the performance of yoga asanas.

Similar yoga events took place simultaneously across India, with Chief Ministers like Vasundhara Raje, Chandrababu Naidu, Devendra Fadnavis and Raghubar Das joining in.

The yoga celebrations are being organised after the United Nations had in December last year declared June 21 as International Yoga Day.

The idea of celebrating the International Yoga Day was pitched by Prime Minister Modi at the United Nations General Assembly last year.