Acrobatic asanas were the order of the day on Thursday as events marking the fourth International Yoga Day were organised in many countries around the world. From soldiers striking yoga poses in the Himalayan snow to religious leaders standing on their heads, the global event offered several picture-worthy moments.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi led Yoga Day celebrations at Forest Research Institute in Dehradun, where he performed asanas with an estimated 50,000 people. He said yoga is inspiring people everywhere “from Dehradun to Dublin and Jakarta to Johannesburg”.
“Yoga Day has become one of the mass movements for good health and well-being,” Modi said at the event. He asserted that yoga was the “perfect solution” to all the problems people face every day. “Yoga binds together a person’s body, brain and soul, hence making one experience a feeling of peace,” Modi added.
In 2015, the central government held Yoga Day celebrations for the first time on June 21. India had proposed naming the day International Yoga Day at the United Nations, which was taken up by 177 nations.
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