Students take part in yoga in southern districts

Collectors, policemen, students and persons from various walks of life celebrated the day by performing yoga at various places. Almost in all the schools yoga day was celebrated and students performed asanas. Students were also exhorted to continue this practice on a daily basis. At Madurai, members of Sixth Battalion along with their family members performed yoga early in the morning. 

More than 1,000 people participated in the programme. In the evening, Union minister Pon Radhakrishnan and music director Gangai Amaran  took part in a programme at the Government Polytechnic College in Madurai. Similarly, students of the Meenakshi Government College for Women joined in a yoga programme conducted in the college. At Thoothukudi, Collector M Ravi Kumar participated in a programme conducted at SDAT ground. Students of St. Lasalle Higher Secondary School at Thoothukudi too celebrated the yoga day. 

At Kovilpatti, students of Punitha Ohm Convent Matriculation school performed yoga in a novel manner. They performed asanas on eggs and created awareness. Also at Kovilpatti programmes were conducted at Gandhi ground, Ramasamydas Park and Police AR ground. At Ettayapuram in Thoothukudi, students of Tamil Baptist Primary School performed Padmasanam on eggs and did other asanas as part of yoga day celebrations. 

At Tirunelveli, Collector M Karunakaran joined in a programme at Anna stadium at Palayamkottai where more than 1,200 students, policemen and members of the public participated.

The famous Ramanathaswamy temple in Rameswaram where Pathanjali Maharishi, who introduced yoga to the world, is buried remained silent without participating in the International Yoga Day celebrations on Tuesday. District BJP president K Muralidaran said the state government did not allow the temple to take part in the national yoga day last year and this year. Ramanathapuram Hindu Munnani K Ramamurthy said the temple under the state government’s HR & CE department had  stopped the daily yoga classes some years ago. A lone devotee was seen sitting in front of the place where Pathanjali attained sammadhi in the temple premises.

The city-based Pyramid Spiritual Societies Movement ushered in the second International  Day of Yoga by bringing together more than 50,000 participants to perform Yoga on a single platform and enter the record books.

The event was held at the sprawling YMCA grounds at Nandanam in the city, in which more than 50,000 people, including 20,000 students and women, performed a mass yoga programme by  following the Department of Ayush, Government of India’s Common Yoga Protocol, to commemorate the occasion. The event was aimed at creating an ‘Online’ (name of an organisation like Limca Book) record.       

After 45 minutes of meditation, various asanas were performed by the participants. One of the organisers of this mega event, Jagadish, said yoga was an invaluable gift of ancient Indian tradition. It embodied unity of mind and body, thought and action, restraint and fulfilment, harmony between man and nature and a holistic approach to health and wellbeing. 

Yoga is the panacea that would not only set right one’s physical problems, but also cure the psychological illness as well. He said yoga also brings harmony in all walks of life and thus, is useful for disease prevention, health promotion and management of many lifestyle-related disorders.

A total of 600 army personnel and their families participated in the Yoga programme organised as part of second International Day of Yoga here. Lieutenant General Jagbir Singh, General Officer Commanding Dakshin Bharat Area graced the occasion. Trained instructors demonstrated the correct postures for various asanas and explained their benefits to soldiers and their families.  

The Indian Navy collaborated with various organisations wherein trained instructors have been regularly undertaking special sessions for naval personnel, families and children at various locations in Chennai, Arakkonam, Tirunelveli, Ramanathapuram and other locations where naval bases and naval detachments were located. ‘Centralised Yoga Sessions’ were held regularly at the Naval Base, INS Adyar’s parade ground, with two fully trained Yoga instructors from Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram.