Mysuru may not host Yoga Day mega event

Mysuru:  After figuring in the list of cities shortlisted to host the International Yoga Day, Mysuru may miss out the chance of hosting the mega event where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate. If sources from the Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga in New Delhi are to be believed, this year, the venue of the Yoga Day will be at Dehradun.

Earlier, the Centre had shortlisted four cities — Mysuru, Jaipur, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad — for holding the main function of International Yoga Day this year. These four names were to be sent to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) which will select one city and then finalise the venue of the main function of International Yoga Day to be held on June 21.

Now sources say that Dehradun will host the event, even as the Mysuru District Administration and other voluntary organisations were preparing for the event.

Officials were awaiting an official communication from Delhi to launch the website and registration for the event.

Master trainers were also readied so that they can prepare students for the celebration. This shift of venue to Dehradun will disappoint them.

Not only this, even the State-level celebration will not be held in Mysuru as planned earlier but will instead be held in Bengaluru’s Sree Kanteerava Stadium.

Last year, the main event of International Yoga Day was held in Lucknow in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated. The first International Yoga Day celebration was organised at Rajpath in New Delhi on June 21, 2015, in which representatives of 191 countries took part. In 2016, the main function was held in Chandigarh.

Mysuru record

Mysuru holds the Guinness World Record in the largest yoga lesson category. With 55,506 participants, the city officially entered the record book for the largest gathering at a single venue on June 21, 2017 on the occasion of International Yoga Day.

The District Administration had organised the largest yoga lesson at the spacious 139.30-acre Mysore Race Course premises where 55,506 participants, including foreigners, school and college students, elderly people, took part.