Over 10,000 people participate in Yoga Day celebrations in front of Mysuru Palace

Mysuru: From 6-year-old Avanija to 67-year-old Jayamma - over 10,000 Mysureans performed yoga at the 10th International Yoga Day event held in front of the Mysuru Palace in the city on Friday morning.

The theme of the session was "Yoga for Self and Society". The President of Yoga Sports Foundation Ganesh Kumar led the celebrations.

The programme began at 6.40 am with Mysuru DC Dr K V Rajendra highlighting the contribution of Mysuru for yoga. He said there are plans to further promote yoga tourism and hold a mega yoga event to set yet another Guinness Book of World Record for the largest participation of people performing yoga during Dasara this year.

Mysuru had entered the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest yoga session in a single venue with 55,506 participants on the Yoga Day in 2017.

Mysuru in-charge minister H C Mahadevappa on Friday said that yoga helps one maintain good mental and physical health, and lead a disciplined life. This in turn helps in building a healthy society, he added. Mysore-Kodagu MP Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar said that Yoga Day is an opportunity to create awareness on the importance of modern yoga. "Mummadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar began the promotion of yoga practice, Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar boosted it through T Krishnamachar by introduction of yoga lessons at Sanskritha Paatashala. Yoga experts Pattabhi Jois, BKS Iyengar and others further introduced it to the world,'' he said.

Yoga session in front of the Mysuru Palace.

MLA T S Srivatsa said that there are plans to gather over a lakh people for Yoga Dasara this year.

The yoga session on Friday began with "Shanka Naada" at 7.27 am. As per the Yoga Day protocol, participants performed over 22 warm-up exercises and simple yoga exercises. It culminated with "Pranayama" and "Dhyana" at 8.22 am. Minister Mahadevappa, MP Yaduveer, DC Rajendra, Mysuru City Police Commissioner Ramesh Banoth, ADC P Shivaraju, Mysuru; District Ayush officer Dr Pushpa, Mysuru Palace Board Deputy Director T S Subramanya, MLA T S Srivatsa, MLC C N Manjegowda also performed yoga. ZP CEO K M Gayathri, President of Yoga Federation of Mysuru Srihari were also present on the occasion.

Yoga instructors and people learning yoga at over 500 yoga institutions of Mysuru, students from various government schools, government hostels of the social welfare department and government residential schools of Karnataka Residential Educational Institutions Society (KREIS), private schools led by (CBSE, ICSE and State Board Private School Managements Association) CISPMAM, NSS and Scouts and Guides cadets of various schools, patients and staff of Bharath Cancer Hospital also performed yoga.

The staff of Government Naturopathy and Yoga and Ayurveda colleges and hospitals, JSS Ayurvedic College and Hospital, people learning yoga at 20 Ayush Arogya Mandiras (Ayush Yoga and wellness centres) took part in the session.

Foreigners learning yoga in various institutions at Gokulam and Lakshmipuram were also part of the session. The event was held by Mysuru District Administration, Zilla Panchayat, Department of Ayush in association with the Yoga Federation of Mysuru, Mysuru Yoga Okkoota, Mysuru Yoga Association, Mysuru Yoga Sports Foundation, GSS Foundation, PYSS (Sri Pathanjali Yoga Shikshana Samsthe), Yoga Education and Research Center, Pathanjali Yoga Samithi and Bharath Swabhiman Trust, Mysuru District Committee.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in the Yoga Day event held at Palace premises in Mysuru in 2022.