Yoga Day event at 7 places in Delhi

New Delhi, June 17: International Yoga Day will be celebrated at seven different locations in the national capital, including Connaught Place, which will host the largest gathering of approximately 10,000 people.

Diplomats and bureaucrats are likely to take part in events at Nehru Park and Lodhi Garden. NDMC is in-charge of preparations at four venues, which include Connaught Place, Lodhi Garden, Nehru Park and Talkatora Stadium.

Yoga day celebrations at three other locations, Swarn Jayanti Park in Rohini, District Park in Dwarka and Yamuna Sports Complex in Surajmal Vihar will be managed by DDA. Apart from this, approximately 100 RWAs have also been roped in.

"NDMC is co-ordinating with various organisations like Art of Living, Patanjali Yogpeeth, Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga and Raahgiri group to ensure volunteers turn up in large numbers at Connaught Place," said Anil Ganeriwal, Joint Secretary of AYUSH Ministry.

Minister of Science and Technology Harshvardhan will be the Chief Guest at the Connaught Place event.

Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung and BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi will be the Guests of Honour. Members of Delhi Government have also been invited for the function.

"The gala event in Delhi will start at 5:30 AM and will have talks on yoga, and musical performances. Special yoga performances by two differently-abled groups will also be displayed, including yoga on wheelchair," a senior NDMC official said.

The yoga performance will follow the 45-minute common protocol developed by AYUSH ministry. Several ambassadors of different diplomatic missions are also expected to participate at Lodhi Garden and Nehru Park.

"We had organised a training camp in Nehru Park and had also written to all the missions in Delhi informing them about these camps in case they wanted some training in Yoga," Secretary AYUSH Ministry Ajit Sharan said.

Ahead of the Yoga Day on June 21, a mini marathon will be flagged off by flying Sikh Milkha Singh tomorrow and a National Yoga Olympiad will also be organised from June 18 to June 20 by NCERT and AYUSH Ministry.

The AYUSH ministry will also organise a two-day international conference on 'Yoga for Body and Beyond' at Vigyan Bhawan from Jun 22 to 23 in which eminent experts from across the globe will participate.

PTI