Mysore/Mysuru: What can be more wonderful than International Day of Yoga (IDY) and World Music Day occurring on the same date? 

Mysureans including the VVIPs — MLAs S.A. Ramdas and L. Nagendra, Deputy Commissioner Dr. Bagadi Gautham, Superintendent of Police R. Chethan — began their day with yoga at their homes as there was no formal event organised by the District Administration coinciding with the themes of 2021 — ‘Yoga for Wellness’ and ‘Be with Yoga, Be at Home.’ 

Mysuru, a home for more than 500 yoga training schools, celebrated the sombre Yoga Day indoors for the second consecutive year owing to the pandemic. 

Yoga on terraces, inside ventilated halls of homes, training and mass demonstration yoga sessions on many virtual platforms marked the day today. There was maximum use of digital, virtual and electronic platforms rather than by organising events that require congregation of people. Almost all reputed yoga training schools of the city took to virtual way of celebrating the day. 

Yoga was performed from 7 am to 7.45 am that began with Prarthana, Chalana Kriya and Dhyana. Some of the asanas that were performed include Tadasana,Vrikshasana, Pada-hasthasana, Ardhachakrasana, Trikonasana, Bhadrasana, Ustrasana, Uttana Mandukasana and asanas in prone positions and supine positions. 

The District Administration in association with Zilla Panchayat, Mysuru City Corporation, Department of AYUSH, Government Nature Cure and Yoga College, Department of Public Health, Department of Youth Affairs and Sports and others organised the celebrations from the confines of homes. Joining hands with the administration were Patanjali Yoga Shikshana Samithi, GSS Yogic Research Foundation, Yoga Sports Federation and Yoga Federation of Mysore.

Over 1,200 yoga enthusiasts had registered with the District Administration to perform yoga on virtual platforms. They need to WhatsApp the photographs of their yoga session to 96115-91119 or e-mail to: [email protected] before 11 pm of June 22. E-certificates will be issued to all participants.

Along with yoga at homes, the District Administration had organised full-fledged yoga sessions for all inmates of COVID Care Centres at KSOU Bhavan in Mandakalli, Varakodu in Mysuru Taluk and at Maleyuru and Mahadevanagar in Nanjangud Taluk. 

Today, June 21, also marked the mega ‘Lasika Mela’ launched by the State Government to vaccinate seven lakh people. Also, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi announcing free vaccines for beneficiaries of 18 to 44 categories from today to coincide with Yoga Day, a combination of yoga, music and vaccine provided a recipe for good health. 

Though both World Yoga Day and World Music Day are meant for different purposes, considering the therapeutic effects of music and yoga, celebrating Music Day and Yoga Day on the same day is a healthy concoction. Nothing is more beneficial than doing yoga along with some soothing music. 

In New Delhi, the International Yoga Day event scheduled at Red Fort — which has reopened this week after January 26 violence and pandemic-related lockdowns — included a 45-minute yoga session followed by a 30-minute cultural programme, to be performed by awardees from the Sangeet Natak Akademi or Zonal Cultural Centres. The event was live-streamed on all digital platforms/ pages of the Ministry of Culture for selected 30 sites out of the total 75.