Hundreds perform Surya Namaskara on Rathasaptami

Hundreds of yoga enthusiasts gathered near Kote Anjaneya Swamy temple, Mysuru Palace, even before the break of the dawn, for mass Surya Namaskara, held as part of Rathasaptami in Mysuru on Friday.

A large number of people, both young and old, carrying yoga mats, gathered in large numbers and demonstrated 108 mass Surya Namaskara.

The event was organised by Mysuru Yoga Federation, as part of Rathasaptami, Surya Yajna and the 20th anniversary. Rathasaptami, also known as Surya Jayanti, is the festival dedicated to the Sun God. The festival is celebrated on Saptami tithi, Shukla Paksha, Maagha masa.

The participants, attired in white, started doing 108 salutations to the Sun God, even before the sun rose above the horizon.

Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, member of the erstwhile royal family, inaugurated the programme and explained about the importance of yoga.

“Yoga is very much required for life,” he said and shared that his ancestor Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar brought yoga exponent Krishnamachari from Benaras to Mysuru region, to popularise the ancient science.

He participated in the Surya Yajna held at Chandramouleshwari Swamy temple and offered obeisance to the procession idol of Kote Anjaneyaswamy. All yoga participants were distributed certificates. Federation’s honourary president A S Chandrashekar, B P Murthy, T Jalendrakumar and M S Ramesh Kumar were present.

The temples on the premises of Mysuru Palace had organised procession of their respective idols as part of Rathasaptami.