South Africa marks International Day of Yoga with events at UNESCO sites

Johannesburg: A month-long series of yoga events held across South Africa culminated in International Day of Yoga celebrations at iconic UNESCO landmarks in four major cities in the country on Sunday.

“The support from the South African communities at the International Day of Yoga (IDY) events hosted by us here in Pretoria and by our Consulates in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town over the past month at various venues across the country was very gratifying,” said Indian High Commissioner Prabhat Kumar.

He was speaking after an IDY event on the lawns of the Union Buildings, seat of the South African government in Pretoria.

“After the events at the four UNESCO sites here over the weekend, South Africa is now firmly established as one of the many countries all over the world which has adopted the IDY as an annual highlight. Especially so amid the growing understanding by thousands of enthusiasts here that yoga is an ancient discipline for exercise and well-being,” Kumar said.

One local Indian and three expatriate performers joined choreographer Saswati Das to enthral participants there with Yoga Nrity, a fusion of yoga and music that combines the physical and spiritual aspects of both disciplines.

“This involved performing yoga asanas (poses) in a flowing, rhythmic manner, synchronised with music, to create a dynamic and expressive practice. This blend aims to enhance physical fitness, mental well-being, and spiritual harmony,” Das explained.

In Cape Town on Saturday, Indian Consul General Ruby Jaspreet organised an IDY event in the scenic Kirstenbosch National Botanic Gardens, situated on the slopes of Table Mountain, one of the new seven natural wonders of the world. The Gardens is also a UNESCO Heritage site.

Chief Guest at Kirstenbosch, Mireille Wenger Minister of Health and Wellness in the Western Cape Province of which Cape Town is the capital, thanked the Indian mission for bringing IDY to Kirstenbosch.

“This is an opportunity to understand the benefits of yoga for our mental, physical and spiritual well-being,” Wenger said.

Also on Saturday, Indian Consul General in Johannesburg Mahesh Kumar was joined by scores of youths at the Cradle of Mankind, another UNESCO Heritage site, in Gauteng province.

Reflecting on how last year’s IDY celebration at the historic Wanderers Cricket Stadium in Johannesburg had attracted over 8,000 yoga participants, Kumar said although the number at Saturday’s venue was much smaller, the events of the past month together, including an event at Gandhi’s erstwhile commune in Johannesburg, Tolstoy Farm, had almost equalled that number in total.

“We took a conscious decision to take IDY to communities in different areas to make it more accessible to them,” Kumar said.

Kumar’s counterpart in Durban, Thelma David, opted to team up with the Ezemvelo Wildlife of KwaZulu-Natal province and other local partners, hosting almost 300 participants at the Drakensberg Amphitheatre at Royal National Park within the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park, a UNESCO Heritage site.

Earlier the mission had also organised events elsewhere in the province and also in neighbouring provinces of Free State and Eastern Cape.

The Durban Consulate also partnered with the Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre in Durban to have yoga sessions at the iconic Pietermaritzburg Railway Station, where Gandhi was unceremoniously booted off a train, spiking his path to becoming the Mahatma as he started his fight against discrimination and oppression. The station is a National Heritage site.

A separate IDY event on the Durban beachfront on Saturday saw local leaders lauding the organiser, Ishwar Ramlutchman, President of the Sivananda World Peace Foundation.

The yoga on the beach was opened for the second consecutive year by the Premier of the KwaZulu-Natal province, Thami Ntuli.

“Yoga unites us, fosters peace and harmony, and inspires us to live in balance with ourselves and nature,” Ntuli said.