Thousands celebrate yoga day in Delhi

Thousands of people performed asanas in the national capital on Tuesday to mark the second International Yoga Day.

Over 10,000 people gathered at Central Park in the heart of Connaught Place and the circular road around it, making it one of the largest yoga shows in the city.

School students, teachers, government employees, political leaders, police and paramilitary officials as well as volunteers from NGOs, all sporting white T-shirts and blue and white trousers, performed the yoga postures on red and blue mats rolled out on the lawns.

According to the organisers, those who took part included members of the Patanjali Yoga Peetha, Art of Living, Prajapita Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vidyalaya and Moraji Desai National Institute of Yoga.

The UN General Assembly declared June 21 as the International Day of Yoga.

The Delhi event, organised by the AYUSH Ministry and the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), started at 6 a.m. with performances by students. A Common Protocol Yoga followed for 45 minutes till 7.45 a.m.

Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu, Delhi Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung and BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi performed yoga asanas along with thousands on the occasion.

"Yoga brings several kinds of benefits. It's a great ancient powerful technique," Naidu said.

"Yoga in essence is the integration of body, mind and intellect with the self, individual with the family, the family with the society, society with the nation and the nation with the whole creation," he added.

The occasion started with a self defence demonstration by the Central Industrial Security Forces (CISF) women commandos on "Pekiti Tirsia Kali" -- a Filipino martial art technique.

A performance of "Yoga on Wheelchairs" by NGO Ability Unlimited also won applause.

Wrestler Sangram Singh and Femina Miss India 2014 Koyal Rana shared their experience of yoga and its benefits.

Apart from Connaught Place, yoga was also performed at Lodhi Garden, Nehru Park and Talkatora Stadium.

--IANS

rak/mr