Politicians and celebrities joined thousands across West Bengal on Sunday to perform yoga to mark inaugural International Yoga Day.
Indian Army personnel, politicians and celebrities enthusiastically demonstrated a variety of asanas and set the stage for the public to follow.
Union ministers Harsh Vardhan and Ravi Shankar Prasad led the demonstrations to mark the maiden Yoga Day in this non-BJP ruled state.
Prasad, the communications and IT minister, launched the celebrations at the Sports Authority of India complex in Kolkata's suburban Salt Lake in sync with the main event at Rajpath in New Delhi.
Vardhan, the science & technology, earth sciences minister, headlined the event at Kharagpur.
Union Minister of State for Urban Development Babul Supriyo performed yoga asanas in Asansol with residents and party members.
The singer-turned-politician said it was India's pride to have shown the way in celebrating the discipline globally.
An event organised by the Eastern Command of the Indian Army saw a large turnout of yoga enthusiasts which included officers, junior commissioned officers and jawans. Around 2,000 soldiers took part in the event.
Leading Bengali actor Prosenjit Chatterjee advocated yoga's benefits.
"Good morning friends enjoy Sunday and celebrate World Yoga day... good health gives us spirit and enthusiasm and peace of mind," the actor tweeted.
Veteran actress Moon Moon Sen's daughter, Riya uploaded pictures of herself engaged in an intense yoga workout.
Yoga mats were rolled out across various educational establishments with the young and the old, suitably attired in tracksuits, joining in with pride.
Faculty and students at the Indian Institute of Technology - Kharagpur performed yoga at the institute's gymkhana.
At the Birla Industrial and Technological Museum, a yoga demonstration was conducted by World Yoga Society early morning where school-goers, parents and staffers participated.
The District Science Centre in Purulia and the Digha Science Centre and National Science Camp under the National Council of Science Museums conducted live yoga performances and talks by gurus.
At the Indian Museum, under the guidance of teachers from Art of Living, staffers and yoga buffs joined in a 30 minute session.
A lot of flexing was seen on the corporate front with the Confederation of Indian Industry yoga session at the Suresh Neotia Centre of Excellence for Leadership at Salt Lake.
A number of representatives of Indian industry, including CEOs and senior executives, were present during a two-hour programme.
In north Bengal's Siliguri, Coochbehar and Hooghly, men and women eagerly joined in the mass observance of yoga.
Members of local recreation clubs, residents of housing societies and morning walkers had an energetic start to the day with their own yoga sessions. Parks across the eastern metropolis were dotted with people doing yoga exercises.
