International Yoga Day
June 21 will be celebrated worldwide as International Day of Yoga, the result of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts to highlight yoga as India's signature cultural export. An regular practitioner of the discipline himself, Modi set up a new ministry for yoga last year and persuaded the United Nations to celebrate this day internationally. "After the number zero this is India's biggest contribution to society," joint secretary Anil Ganeriwala told Reuters.
India is preparing for the first ever International Yoga Day which will be celebrated on Sunday. India has taken the lead among the 192 countries that are participating.
Thousands have been preparing for Sunday's main event, where 35,000 people will practise yoga at Rajpath (King's Avenue), in the capital Delhi. The Indian government believes it will be the largest yoga gathering in history and expects the event to find a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Foraying into Myanmar and snuffing out militants to avenge the death of Army men killed on Indian soil is one aspect of the Narendra Modi government which has its clutch of takers. While special forces of the Army fight the nation’s battle, the Union Human Resource Development Ministry, Culture Ministry, Information and Broadcasting Ministry and Health Ministry are waging a different battle for the minds, leading to what some historians say is a situation where an entire population could be lulled into thinking and acting on similar lines.
It also said 'surya namaskar' was never a part of the yoga 'asanas' to be performed during the June 21 event.
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not perform yoga at the mega event on Rajpath to mark the 'International Yoga Day' on June 21, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Tuesday. Ms Swaraj, who was briefing the reporters on the arrangements to mark the Day, said "he (Modi) will grace the occasion and address the gathering but he will not perform yoga."
On June 21, the world will observe International Day of Yoga for the first time ever. A United Nations resolution to this effect that India moved in the General Assembly last year was co-sponsored by an unprecedented 170 countries.
![Image by Ramnath Bhat courtesy of Flickr](https://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/sites/default/files/styles/275x168/public/uploads/rsz_1yoga_mariko_bhakti_hirakawa_at_veerupaksha_temple_india.jpg?itok=t0kXVzIf)
Is India taking full advantage of yoga's soft power potential?