Int’l Yoga Day: Rain may not play spoilsport, predicts IMD

Shrinivasa.M
Mysuru: In a big relief to the organisers of the International Day of Yoga (IDY) programme in the city, the IMD forecast for the next four weeks, which was released on Thursday, revealed that rain is unlikely to affect the yoga day celebrations.
Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre scientific officer Sunil Gavaskar informed that as per the forecast, the possibility of rainfall is very low. “Even if it rains, it will not be heavy,” he explained to TOI.
G Srinivas Reddy, senior consultant, Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) said, at that period, a dry spell was expected in this region. “Even if it rains, the intensity will be low,” he confirmed.
Krishnaraja MLA SA Ramadas said he is not expecting any rain threat to the mega event as well as on June 20 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with the beneficiaries of 200 Central government schemes like Ayushman Bharat, Ujwala scheme.
“In the event of heavy rainfall, yoga day will be celebrated either inside the palace or the Chamundi Vihar Stadium. But I am confident that there will not be any obstacles to the celebrations,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Ayush department officials are getting ready to celebrate the IDY in historical, heritage sites of the region on June 21. For instance, in Mandya, the main district-level event will be held at the historic Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangapatna. IDY will be celebrated at Dwaja Satyagraha fame Shivapura, and Sri Lakshmi Naryanaya Devesthana Hosaholalu in KR Pet.
In Hassan, the IDY will be observed in three heritage sites i.e. Halebeedu, Shravanabelagola, and Mahatma Gandhi Chitabhasma Samadhi in Arasikere. “I am performing yoga in Halebeedu,” Union minister Shobha Karandlaje told TOI.
In the Chamarajanagar district, the IDY will be celebrated at the MM Hills, Chamarajeshwara Temple, and Sri Lakshmi Varadaraja Swami Temple. “We are coordinating with various departments including NSS, NCC, health and family welfare, education, etc. We hope to host 500 persons in all these venues simultaneously,” explained district Ayush officer Dr Sujatha V.
Rehearsals begin
As a prelude to Yoga Day, a rehearsal for CSIR-CFTRI school children was conducted on the CFTRI campus. This event was organised by the CFTRI-Food Research Institute Gymkhana. NS Satyanarayana, vice-president, honorary principal of the Sri Pathanjali Yoga Study & Research Centre, and 10 members of his team trained the students.
CFTRI director Sridevi Annapurna Singh inaugurated the rehearsal. More than 350 schoolchildren and teachers and staff attended the event.
The rehearsals will continue up to June 20.