Prime Minister Narendra Modi today led the first International Yoga Day celebrations in the country, defining yoga as a means to train the human mind to begin a new era of peace and harmony.
The Prime Minister, who practised 'asanas' along with nearly 35,000 participants during a mega event at Rajpath here, also thanked the United Nations and the countries which backed the resolution by India to mark June 21 as International Yoga Day.
The Prime Minister, who was expected to only address the gathering, surprised everyone by participating in the yoga exercises along with thousands of people, including children.
Yoga guru Ramdev shared the dais with Modi along with heads of some other religious and yoga institutions. Modi later joined the participants on the ground as he practised the 'asanas' during the 30-minute programme.
Kicking off the event, the Prime Minister said the programme is aimed at benefiting the people by making them both physically and mentally healthy.
It seeks to make a tension-free world and spread the message of 'Sadbhavana' (harmony), the Prime Minister said, adding that yoga is "more than only physical fitness".
"For most of the people, yoga is just a physical exercise. This is the biggest mistake.... Had this been the case, children working in circuses could have been called 'yogis'. Hence yoga is not only about making the body flexible," he said, while addressing the participants.
The Prime Minister expressed hope that the atmosphere built in favour of yoga in the country will continue in future as well.
He also said that it is not important for him where this ancient technique originated and where all it has reached.
"We are not only celebrating a day but we are training the human mind to begin a new era of peace - Sadbhavana.... This is a programme for the benefit of mankind, a tension-free world and a programme to spread the message of Sadbhavana," Modi said.
The Prime Minister expressed joy over the large gathering at Rajpath noting, "Did anyone imagine this Rajpath will become a Yogpath?.
He also greeted people on International Yoga Day asking for a pledge to make it an integral part of life.
Minutes before the mega event commenced at Rajpath, the Prime Minister tweeted:
Greetings to people around the world on 1st International Day of Yoga! Lets pledge to make Yoga an integral part of our daily lives #YogaDay
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 21, 2015Later, the Prime Minister interacted with the children who had converged for the event.
