Posted on 06/21/16
| News Source: VIN
Chandigarh, India - Millions of people twisted their bodies in complex positions in celebration of International Yoga Day on Tuesday.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined a crowd of 30,000 schoolchildren and other residents of the northern city of Chandigarh for a mass yoga session.
Before starting, Modi urged people to make yoga a part of their lives, saying the practice — which began in ancient India — doesn’t differentiate between the rich and poor, and is accessible to all.
“With zero budget, yoga provides health assurance and it does not discriminate between rich and poor,” Modi told participants at the event.
Similar yoga events were held in villages, towns and cities all over India. Last year, the United Nations proclaimed June 21 as International Day of Yoga.
At the United Nations in New York, various yoga poses were projected on a side wall of the U.N. headquarters building to highlight the role yoga can play in helping the U.N. achieve its sustainable development goals.
The day will be celebrated outside the U.N. building with a demonstration by Jaggi Vasudev, also known as Sadhguru, and a musical incantation.
Thousands of people had gathered in New York’s Times Square on Monday to celebrate the summer solstice by doing downward dogs.
Indians holds each others hands as they attempt to create a record of longest human yoga chain with more than 8000 participants at an event to celebrate International Yoga Day in Ahmadabad, India, Tuesday, June 21, 2016. Millions of yoga enthusiasts are bending their bodies in complex postures across India as they take part in a mass yoga program to mark the second International Yoga Day. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)