Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday led a unique yoga session at the United Nations headquarters in New York on the occasion of the 9th International Yoga Day with participation from 135 nations, creating a Guinness World Record for people of most nationalities coming together for yoga.
Clad in a white t-shirt and trousers, and a shawl wrapped around his neck, Modi led thousands of people at the lawns of the UN headquarters in performing yoga.
Thousands of yellow mats were laid on the ground on which participants from about 135 countries, including diplomats and yoga enthusiasts, took part as giant screens delivered messages about the cultural traditions of India.
The certificate for the Guinness Record was handed over to Modi at a specially erected stage after the event. The theme for this year’s International Yoga Day is ‘Yoga for Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ (One Earth, One Family, One Future). The event was attended by several notable dignitaries and prominent personalities from all walks of life, including New York Mayor Eric Adams. Modi, in his address at the event, said yoga is universal and that it is free from copyrights, patents, and royalty payments.
“Yoga is portable; you can do it at home, at work or in transit. Yoga is flexible; you can practise it alone or in group. It is unifying and it is for everyone, for all ethnicities, for all faiths, for all cultures. Yoga is truly universal,” Modi told the gathering.
Talking about yoga further, Modi said the old tradition comes from India, and it is also living and dynamic like all ancient traditions.
Referring to the participants from almost every nationality, Modi said yoga means to unite people, and called their coming together as expression of another form of yoga.
He also spoke about his 2015 visit to the UN.
Before the yoga session, Modi paid floral tributes at the bust of Mahatma Gandhi, which was inaugurated in December 2022. Thereafter, the Prime Minister paid tributes at a Peacekeeping Memorial.
(The writer is in the US for a study tour on Countering Disinformation sponsored by the U.S. Department of State)
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