International Yoga Day LIVE: PM Modi begins the day with a yoga session in Lucknow

 BT Online   New Delhi     Last Updated: June 21, 2017  | 10:33 IST
International Yoga Day LIVE: PM Modi begins the day with a yoga session in Lucknow

Indian and the rest of the world are today celebrating the third International Yoga Day with many events taking place in top cities such as New Delhi, London, New York.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the crowd which had gathered at a yoga day event in Lucknow in the early hours to emphasise on the health benefits of doing yoga.

PM Modi said he was pleased to see so many yoga institutions crop up in the country in recent times. He also said the demand for yoga teachers had increased as more people take up the traditional exercise.

PM Modi also joined the yoga practitioners, which included many students, to do yoga at the event.  

INTERNATIONAL YOGA DAY: MAIN HIGHLIGHTS

  1. "From Lucknow I convey my greetings to all those joining the Yoga Day 2017 celebrations all over India," Modi said, urging people to make yoga a part of their lives.
  2. He also said that the growing popularity of yoga had helped India connect with the rest of the world. He also highlighted that yoga was not expensive to practice. Yoga is about health assurance, he said. He went on to add: "Apart from fitness, wellness is important. Yoga is a medium to achieve wellness".
  3. A total of 55,000 yoga enthusiasts were believed to have been present at the event that started really early in the day.  UP Governor Ram Naik and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath were also present.
  4. Meanwhile, the government has also launched a mobile app - Celebrating Yoga - to help people find the closest yoga venue on International Yoga Day.
  5. Many other leaders from the BJP are expected to practice yoga at events in differents parts of the country. Also, the BJP's presidential nominee, Ram Nath Kovind, will perform yoga at New Delhi's Connaught Place.

INTERNATIONAL YOGA DAY CELEBRATIONS

Sand artist and Padma Shri Awardee Suddarshan Patnaik made a sand art of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Puri beach in Odisha.

 

 

Sri Sri Ravi Shakar from The Art of Living tweeted pics from a yoga event in South Africa .

 

Ravi Shankar Prasad, Law & Justice, Information Technology Minister of India, tweeted a pic from a yoga event in Patna, Bihar

 

 


Venkaiah Naid, Union Minister for Urban Development, Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation, participated at a yoga event organized by New Delhi Municipal Council

 

 


Dr Mahesh Sharma, Union Minister of State for Culture & Tourism, was present at a yoga centre in Coimbatore

 

 


Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan was spotted doing yoga at an event in Bhubaneswar

 

 

 

India's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN Syed Akbaruddin took part in at a yoga day event in New York

 


INDIAN FORCES CELEBRATE YOGA DAY

 

Yoga Day was also marked by Indian security forces located in difficult terrain and border areas. ITBP jawans did yoga early in the morning at about 18000 feet in Ladakh where the temperature is a freezing -25 degrees.

 

 

Yoga Day event also took place above Indian military carrier INS Vikramaditya