PM Narendra Modi to lead 3rd International Yoga Day celebrations with UP CM, 51,000 participants in Lucknow

To make the third edition of International Yoga Day a grand success, PM Narendra Modi, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and 51,000 participants will perform various yoga 'asanas' in Lucknow on Wednesday.

File photo/PTI

New Delhi/Lucknow: To make the third edition of International Yoga Day a grand success, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and 51,000 yoga enthusiasts will perform various yoga 'asanas' in Lucknow on Wednesday.

The main event of the celebration will be in Lucknow`s sprawling Ramabai Ambedkar Ground under a partly overcast sky. 

The Met Office, however, has forecast chances of rain are low.

Some 51,000 persons, including several dignitaries, politicians and bureaucrats, are expected to take part in the mass yoga demonstration in the Uttar Pradesh capital, where rehearsals have been going on for over a month.

CM Yogi Adityanath and Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik inspected the overall preparations, including the security arrangements, for the mega event, and attended full-dress rehearsals at the spruced up ground. 

Interestingly, PM Modi reached Lucknow on Tuesday afternoon.

According to private weather forecaster Accuweather, the sky will be "partly cloudy" and the mercury will hover between 28 and 30 degrees Celsius in Lucknow on Wednesday morning. 

The chances of rain are less as precipitation level will go down from 28 percent to 20 percent from 6 am to 8 am, but humidity will be around 80 to 90 per cent.

An ardent advocate of yoga, Modi during his monthly radio talk "Mann Ki Baat" had asked three generations of the families to do yoga together on the International Yoga Day -- observed globally on June 21. 

The United Nations declared it on December 11, 2014, following a resolution moved by India and co-sponsored by a large number of nations.

The first International Yoga Day celebration was organised at Rajpath in New Delhi in 2015.

Yoga day events will also be organised in all states with the Union Human Resource Development Ministry directing universities and educational institutions to ensure elaborate arrangements to mark the event.

Modi`s ministers will also perform yoga asanas across the country.

While Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari will head the events in Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra respectively, Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar will preside over the celebrations in Manipur.

Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu is scheduled to lead the event at the national capital where at least seven main events are being organised by civic bodies and yoga organisations. 

In Delhi, the main event will be held at the Cannaught Place. All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) will also hold an event to mark the day with faculty members and students performing yoga.

To familiarise citizens with yoga and its asanas, the Ayush Ministry had started one-month free yoga camp through the Central Council for Research in Yoga and Naturopathy in almost every district of the country. The training programme started on May 21.

The central government has also launched a mobile application to enable people to share their day`s experience with the ancient Indian practice of physical, mental and spiritual union.

Union Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan launched the `Celebrating Yoga` app that also provides information to users about studies conducted on yoga by the ministry.

However, Wednesday being a working day, some may not be able to attend the mass yoga participation programmes.

Crediting the Modi government for popularising the practice across the globe, Yogoda Satsanga Society of India (YSSI) opined that the day should be celebrated on a Sunday instead of a working day.

The day will also be celebrated across the globe at Indian missions and other places. Some countries have already observed the day while others plan the celebrations in coming days as Wednesday is a working day.

Some 1,000 Chinese yoga practitioners are expected to celebrate the day in Beijing, following a week of events across the country.

India`s Permanent Mission to the UN as well as the Indian Consulate have also planned several events to mark the day.

A "Yoga Session with Yoga Masters" is planned for Tuesday at the UN with mass participation of diplomats, staff and visitors.

New York`s Times Square, billed as the crossroads of the world, is holding the annual "Mind over Madness Yoga" celebrations on Wednesday, which is the Summer Solstice in the northern hemisphere.

In Israel, a yoga event will be held at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv. Thousands are expected to join in. 

The Indian High Commission in Trinidad and Tobago has already announced 12-day activities to mark the International Yoga Day, which includes 108 Surya Namaskars among others.

With IANS inputs