Kolkata readies for PM Modi’s Yoga Day celebrations, 600 Yoga teachers to ensure seamless event

Kolkata, June 11 (IANS) The city of joy is set to take global centrestage on June 21, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in Kolkata to lead the International Yoga Day celebrations. Besides large-scale preparations in the run-up to the mega event, hundreds of Yoga instructors have also been roped in to ensure its grand success.

Abhijit Ghosh, a yoga instructor and Director of VYASA Kolkata, told IANS that 600 yoga teachers and demonstrators have been selected for the successful conduct of the event. The selection process was recently completed at the Sports Authority of India complex. Online and offline practice sessions are now being held to ensure that all participants can follow a uniform yoga protocol on June 21.

Meanwhile, Yoga Day celebrations, to be held for the first time in Kolkata, are expected to be a major global spectacle, as the newly formed BJP government hopes to turn the event into a mass movement and aim for a Guinness World Record for the largest participation.

The state government has already directed the district administrations and departments to ensure the participation of people from all walks of society in the Yoga Day celebrations.

Abhijit Ghosh, anticipating the number of participants, said the event may see 30,000 to 40,000 people perform yoga together during the main event on June 21.

He said that the event would not be confined to Kolkata alone, as Yoga sessions have also been planned on boats on the River Ganga.

He noted that while the Guinness World Record for yoga on boats presently stands at 450, preparations are underway in Bengal to set a new record by linking 500 boats together. Yoga programs will be organised everywhere—from the banks of the Ganges and the Sundarbans to villages and city streets—to ensure the message reaches the last person in society.

–IANS

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