Chandigarh to host this year's International Yoga Day

 Chandigarh will host this year’s International Yoga Day celebrations on June 21, with the Centre deciding to shift the venue from the Rajpath.

"We have decided to celebrate it in a big way. We cannot accommodate more people on Rajpath. We have chosen Chandigarh and all other states will celebrate in their own regions," Ayush Minister Shripad Yesso Naik said.

He was addressing a gathering after inaugurating a three-day International Yoga Fest, organised by the Ayush Ministry in association with Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga as part of preparatory exercise for the upcoming International Yoga Day celebrations.

“The state governments will be organising their own events and programmes on a grand scale,” a Ministry official clarified.

The Ministry has decided to shift the venue of the event from Delhi this year, as a steep increase in the number of participants to the mass Yoga event is being expected this year. “It's going to be a much more bigger event than what we witnessed last year,” an official said.

The Ministry had approached many states including Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan for organising the national-level programme on International Yoga Day. "Chandigarh was the first one to respond," the Ministry official said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had participated in the first International Yoga Day event organised on the Rajpath last year.

On whether Modi will be attending the event planned to be held in Chandigarh this year, officials remained tightlipped. “Details are being worked out,” a Ministry official said.

Secretary of AYUSH Ajit Sharan gave the highlights of the three-day fest, saying there will be many such events culminating into the International Yoga Day on June 21.

“One such event is the Yoga Olympiad being organised by NCERT in view of the need to popularise Yoga among the youth,” he added.Prime Minister's yoga coach H R Nagendra was present on the occasion.