“Yoga’s international acceptance is like acknowledging the dignity and glory of India. It is a symbol of positive change of the entire world towards India. This year’s theme for International Yoga Day ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’, also matches the theme of G-20 Summit being held in India i.e. ‘One Earth, One Future and One Family’,” said the Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar who along with Governor Mangubhai Patel and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouah, attended 9th International Yoga Day programme at Garrison Ground on Wednesday. Around 15,000 people performed yoga simultaneously in presence of Vice-President Dhankhar. The Vice President was quite overwhelmed on the opportunity to visit the land of Maa Narmada and Rani Durgavati and doing yoga here and mentioned it the most memorable moment of his life.

 

Dhankhar accredited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for putting Yoga on international stage and proudly shared that by 2047, India will become ‘Vishwaguru’ and by the end of this decade, our country will be the third largest power in the world. Governor Mangubhai Patel said that yoga provides physical, mental and intellectual health and aligns body, mind and soul. It helped Indians to overcome Covid pandemic. This is the reason why the United Nations has accepted it. Crediting Prime Minister Narendra Modi for popularising yoga across the globe and making yoga accessible to the masses, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that our concepts of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam and Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinaha being adopted since thousands of years gives the message that the whole world is our family. He informed about the State Government’s decision to make yoga education compulsory in all schools. Union AYUSH Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said that the Yoga Yatra, which started from year 2014, continues even today and has got a new identity at global-level. He said that this year’s International Yoga Day is unique in many ways including Ocean Ring, Yoga Bharatmala, Yoga Sagarmala. Yoga demonstrations will take place in the region from the Arctic to the Antarctic Ocean and in more than 40 countries along the Prime Meridian Line, falling on and around that line.

 

Union Minister of State for Steel and Rural Development, Faggan Singh Kulaste, Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti and Food Processing Industries, Prahlad Singh Patel, Union Minister for AYUSH and Women and Child Development, Dr Munjpara Mahendrabhai, Minister of State for AYUSH and Water Resources, Ramkishore ‘Nano’ Kavre, MP VD Sharma, MP Rakesh Singh, Member of Rajya Sabha Sumitra Valmiki, MLA Ajay Vishnoi and Ashok Rohani, President, Shri Ramchandra Mission Kamlesh Patel ‘Daji’ were also among distinguished guests. Initiated with national anthem at Garrison Ground, yoga was performed as per Common Yoga Protocol set by the Government of India. Mass yoga was held in all public places, open grounds, gardens, school-colleges and places of historical and archaeological importance across the State. People from all sections of the society, including school and college students, yoga practitioners, army jawans and home guards participated in the programme. Students with hearing and orthopaedic disabilities, transgenders and cancer and thalassemia cured patients also practiced yoga in groups.