Asana unlocked: Karnataka celebrates yoga day

Mass practise at Kanteerava stadium. Credit: DH Photo/S K Dinesh 

Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and Health Minister K Sudhakar stretched and twisted into yoga positions at 7 am on Monday morning, even as thousands sweated out in virtual sessions and in stadia like Kanteerava.

Although much of the city unlocked on World Yoga Day on Monday, Sudhakar urged citizens to stay at home and avoid large gatherings to perform yoga in the wake of the pandemic.

Medical students pursuing any of the five streams of AYUSH had been asked to take part in the yoga day celebrations.

Among those who observed yoga day were 143 cadets at Christ University, ABVP-Bengaluru, Nehru Yuva Kendra, Nada Veda Adhyayana Kendra, CRPF, Karnataka Police Training Centre, Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana University, and the NSS Unit of KLE College of Pharmacy.

Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda performed a few yoga asanas as part of his daily morning routine, while Bangalore University vice-chancellor Prof Venugopal K R also performed some asanas.

‘India’s gift to the world’

Sudhakar said yoga is good for both individual and societal health. “Yoga is India’s gift to the world, and it is a matter of pride that the whole world is celebrating yoga day every year on June 21, ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed this at the UN General Assembly in September 2014,” he said.

Yoga helps us maintain a sound and balanced mind that works in sync with the body. Pranayama makes the lungs strong and healthy, besides strengthening immunity, the minister said.

Dr Manjunath Kanamadi, senior commercial manager-Mysuru Division, South Western Railway, said the division celebrated yoga day with the divisional railway manager outlining the benefits of yoga and exhorting railway employees and their families to regularly practise yoga.

In addition, the Mysuru division organised a photo competition among its staffers to determine the best yoga pose. The day was also observed in several stations and depots of the division.