Ahmedabad citizens set up new world record for Yoga

As many as 54,522 Ahmedabad citizens set a new Guinness Book record of performing yoga at one single location. They broke the earlier record set by 35,985 Delhiites who led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had performed yoga in 2015.

The citizens of Ahmedabad had gathered at a local ground from 5.00 am to 7.30 am to perform yoga under the guidance of Yoga guru Baba Ramdev as part of the International Yoga Day.

They were joined in by Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) national president Amit Shah, Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, deputy chief minister Nitin Patel and several other ministers in Rupani ministry.

The event was monitored by a team from Guinness Book of Records, which later submitted a certificate of a new world record to the state chief minister in Gandhinagar, the state government said in its press statement.

Speaking at the event, Baba Ramdev said that his intent was to create a world record for highest number of people performing pranayam, yoga and meditation at one location at a given time and another world record for the highest number of people at multiple locations performing yoga in sync. He said that every person entering the venue was given a bar-coded identity card to keep the count.

The event was part of the International Yoga Day celebrations that debut in 2015 after a UN-backed the India-sponsored initiative supported by over 170 member states.

Praising Shah, who was seated next to him on the stage, Baba Ramdev said that while the BJP chief had gained "political weight”, Shah had worked real hard to reduce his weight. “He has aamla and aloe vera juice every morning and does not eat anything after 7 pm. He performs yoga every day,” Ramdev said.

Patanjali Yogpeeth, one of the organisers of the event, also claimed that over 22 other world records were also set during the event.