The beautiful Indonesian city of Yogyakarta, famed for its two historical temples, Borobudur and Prambanan, newly renamed as World Heritage sites by UNESCO, attracted more than 1000 participants at various yoga events organised here on Sunday.
"The management of the World Heritage Site of Prambanan has distributed more than 1000 tickets. There is a company owned by an Indian in Indonesia which is also bringing more than 400 participants. We are looking forward to a minimum participation of not less than 1500 people this year at the fifth international day of yoga at the Prambanan Hindu Temple," Makran Shukla, Director of Jawaharlal Nehru Indian Culture Centre in Jakarta told ANI.
"Since the very first event, hosted four years ago, we kept on pursuing and spreading the message of yoga and its idea for harmony and peace led by our Prime Minister Narendra Modi across the globe. Indonesia in itself has adapted and adopted yoga so automatically and organically that this year we found hundreds of private yoga events taking place across Indonesia," Shukla added when asked how has yoga influenced the lives of people in Indonesia.
He also stressed that trained yoga masters have come from India to lead the events and participants in Yogyakarta.
Meanwhile, Jeevita, a yoga teacher at the Cultural Centre in the Embassy of India in Jakarta told ANI, "Yoga is very popular in Indonesia. Indonesians do not relate yoga to any particular religion but they have a likeness for the Indian traditions and culture. It makes you a better person, physically and mentally."
At the same time, ambassador of India to Indonesia, Pradeep Kumar Rawat will distribute signed certificates to every participant at the yoga event here on Sunday.
Simultaneously, celebrations are being held in Surabaya, Medan and Makassar.
The two temples in Yogyakarta were once covered in volcanic ash and have now been abandoned with minimal scope for restoration. Archaeologists, officials from UNESCO as well as the government are still conducting a series of restoration measures in order to bring the structure back to its original form. It is believed that Prambanan is still reeling under the impact of the earthquake and partly the 2010 eruption of Merapi.
This year also marks the completion of 70 years of bilateral relations between India and Indonesia.
Speaking to ANI, Ambassador Rawat said tourism has seen a major hike over the past years, owing to the multitude of measures taken by both governments. He further proposed for India to begin institutionalised training courses with degrees in order to create educational tourism opportunities and provide an overall boost to tourism.
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