Leading the first International Yoga Day celebrations in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said it marks the dawn of a “new era” to bring peace and harmony in the world.
A yoga enthusiast himself, the Prime Minister surprised everyone as he joined over 35,000 people, including leaders, officials, soldiers and students, in a yoga demonstration at the historic Rajpath this morning.
“Did anyone imagine this Rajpath will become Yogpath?
“We are not celebrating a day but we are training the human mind to begin a new era of peace and harmony,” Modi said from the dais, adding that it was a programme for human welfare and to spread the message of goodwill.
64-year-old Modi, who was expected to only address the event, later sat on the ground with other participants practising most of the 21 ‘asanas’.
The 30-minute mega event began around 7 AM at the Rajpath which was dotted with white as participants sat on their mats for the yoga demonstration.
The Prime Minister, attired in white with a tricolour ‘patka’, along with other participants followed the instructions in English and Hindi with images on giant screens too helping them.
-PTI