Bhubaneswar: It was more than nine years ago on September 27, 2014, that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi took an initiative to propose the International Day of Yoga during his maiden speech to the UN General Assembly. The proposal received massive support and on 11 December 2014, the United Nations declared 21 June to be observed as International Yoga Day (IYD). The significance of the chosen date is that it is the longest day in the northern hemisphere which has cultural significance in various regions and countries in the world. The first International Yoga Day was celebrated in 2015.
The 9th International Yoga Day in 2023 was celebrated with enthusiasm and zeal. The theme for the International Day of Yoga 2023 was ‘Yoga for Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam‘ or ‘Yoga for the Welfare of All as One World-One Family.
President Droupadi Murmu performed yoga on the occasion of IYD 2023 and subsequently tweeted, “On this day, I urge everyone to adopt Yoga in their daily lives and experience its transformative power.”
Vice President Jagadeep Dhankhar, who was the chief guest at the IYD 2023, performed yoga with Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal at Jabalpur.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the IDY 2023 celebrations at the UN Headquarters in New York and remarked that Yoga has become a global movement with support from more than 180 countries.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh motivated the defence personnel onboard India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant, at Kochi by joining them in celebrating IDY 2023. Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari was at his home constituency Nagpur and joined a massive gathering at Yashwant Stadium in performing Yoga. Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan was at Savitribai Phule University Pune to mark occasion.
Movie celebrities like Malaika Arora, Shipla Shetty and Kareena Kapoor also shared their snippets and instagram reels performing Yoga on the occasion to motivate their fans and spread the message of benefits of Yoga.
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