Hundreds wake up to yoga sessions in city

At daybreak on Wednesday, Kanteerava Stadium witnessed more than 11,000 people participating in the International Yoga Day.

The event, which was organised by Health department and Ayush in association with Shwasa Foundation, was inaugurated by Minister of Health and Family Welfare K R Ramesh Kumar while Union Minister Ananth Kumar and other state representatives attended the function. “This is for the first time that we have such a big crowd performing yoga,” said deputy director of Yoga and Naturopathy, Ayush, Dr V P Satish.

The event was marked by a mass suryanamaskara followed by a 33-minute common yoga protocol. Yoga enthusiasts from around he world were also invited for the event. Tao Porchaon Lynch (98) from New York and 97-year-old Nanammal from Tamil Nadu were the attractions.

Social activist Anna Hazare, Pilot Baba from Kayakalpa Ashram and Yogi Mata Kiko Ikova, Founder of Ikova Yoga Foundation from Japan also participated in the programme.

In another event, Karnataka State Yoga Academy, in association with S-VYASA University celebrated International Yoga Day at PES University where 3,000 people took part. Governor Vajubhai Vala inaugurated the event. The International Yoga Committee organised yoga at around 300 locations across the state under the slogan “Vriksha Kranthi Yoga Shanti”.

Around 8,000 people gathered to perform yoga on the GKVK premises. More than 30,000 BMTC workers performed yoga at 40 different BMTC depots across the city.

Yoga events were also held at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (Nimhans), South Western Railway and institutions like Bangalore University, BNM Institute of Technology and Akshar Power Yoga Academy.