Welcome to Day 5 of Rediff's week-long celebration of Yoga ahead of the International Day of Yoga. Today, learn about Prasarita Padottanasana, The Wide-Legged Forward Fold.
Do you agree with the minorities' viewpoint that that the government is enforcing 'Hindu practices' on them forcefully?
Some of the big names who decided to roll out the yoga mat
While Congress criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government for being "insensitive", saying yoga, a great discipline of ancient India, does not belong to the saffron party, Janata Dal-United termed it as yet another attempt to "impose the communal agenda" on Indian masses.
Fitness and yoga is a big part of Bollywood and, on International Yoga Day, film folk show off their best asanas.
A high-level meeting of the Committee of Secretaries decided that the celebrations must be participated by at least 1,000 central paramilitary force personnel at each locations in ensuring the 'grandeur' of the event across the country.
Ahead of the event, Shripad Naik, the Union minister of state (independent charge) for Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy, which is coordinating yoga day, speaks to Upasna Pandey.
"I have supported yoga but opposed Surya Namaskar. Muslims cannot perform Surya Namaskar. Surya Namaskar is an act within yoga. Every man and woman should do yoga. Yoga should be done in madrasas and mosques too. But Surya Namaskar is bowing to the sun, worshipping the sun. Islam forbids all these things."
Welcome to Day 4 of Rediff's week-long celebration of Yoga ahead of the International Day of Yoga. Today, learn about Phalakasana or the Plank Pose.
Ahead of the Yoga day, the prime minister posted a video on his Twitter handle giving a message that yoga is a 'passport' to health assurance.
Welcome to Day 2 of Rediff's week-long celebration of Yoga ahead of the International Day of Yoga. Today, learn about Virabhadrasana II or the Warrior II Pose.
The Yoga celebration led by Prime Minister Modi at the UN headquarters created the Guinness World Record for participation of people of most nationalities, officials said.
Today, learn about Utthita Trikonasana or the Extended Triangle Pose.
Billionaire Gautam Adani on Tuesday did an hour-long session of yoga exercises in the open air as he led corporate India to join the International Day of Yoga celebrations. Several public and private sector companies held yoga sessions at their offices to promote the adoption of exercise in daily routines to stay fit and healthy. Adani, chairman of logistics-to-energy conglomerate Adani Group, and his wife Priti, who heads the Adani Foundation, "participated with more than 1,000 members of the Adani Parivaar team to celebrate health, mindfulness and meditation," the group said in a statement. The session was held at a football ground at Adani Shantigram in Ahmedabad. Several other business leaders tweeted pictures of their yoga sessions.
Manisha Verma, a yoga therapist at GRIID, says the participants are looking forward to the event with a lot of enthusiasm. "These students are very excited about the event and they want to give their best performance. They also talk about getting a selfie with the prime minister," Manisha Verma said.
Indian Army soldiers perform asanas to mark Yoga Day in the Rajasthan desert.
BSF, CISF and NCC personnel performed yoga along with students at the Gateway of India.
National broadcaster Doordarshan has made elaborate arrangements for the live telecast of International Yoga Day from Rajpath.
India needs to build its Grand Narrative, and its cultural power, which conquered all of ASEAN (then known as Indo-China), needs to be forcefully projected while simultaneously hard economic and military power are also emphasised, says Rajeev Srinivasan.
Indian Army personnel on Wednesday conducted yoga sessions at more than 100 locations along the country's land and maritime borders, forming a 'Bharatmala' on the occasion of the International Day of Yoga.
Shripad Naik said Madhav has withdrawn his statement and added it may have happened by mistake.
Less than three months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed the idea, the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday adopted an India-led resolution declaring June 21 as 'International Day of Yoga', recognising that 'Yoga provides a holistic approach to health and well-being'.
On Sunday, Ram Madhav posted a tweet trying to shame Ansari for not attending the yoga day celebrations at Rajpath.
This year's theme is 'Yoga at Home and Yoga with Family' and people will be able to join the celebrations virtually at 7 am on June 21. The Indian missions abroad are trying to reach out to the people through digital media as well as through the network of institutions which support yoga, officials said.
Archis Mohan tells us how the event came to be celebrated on June 21
Stars celebrate International Yoga Day.
Thousands of young and old people across the country united to observe the fifth International Day of Yoga on Friday with great enthusiasm and zeal. The first International Day of Yoga was observed all on June 21, 2015, and the idea was first proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his speech at the United Nations General Assembly in 2014.
Tagging the Congress' tweet, Tharoor said, 'Indeed! We should also acknowledge all those who revived and popularised yoga, including our government, @PMOIndia & @MEAIndia, for internationalising International Yoga Day through the @UN.'
Thousands of Yoga enthusiasts and practitioners assembled at the iconic Times Square in New York for day-long sessions of the ancient Indian practice on the eve of the commemoration of the International Day of Yoga.
The Consulate General of India, New York in partnership with Times Square Alliance hosted the 7th International Day of Yoga celebrations.
Here are some of the glimpses of the celebrations.
Bharatiya Janata Party General Secretary Ram Madhav, who had criticised Vice President Hamid Ansari for not attending the main yoga day celebrations here on June 21, called on him on Wednesday.
In a proud moment for India, the United Nations General Assembly will declare June 21 as International Day of Yoga.
The party is slated to organise yoga events in 403 madrasas of UP on International Yoga Day (June 21).
A large group of enthusiasts of Yoga and ancient Chinese martial art Tai-Chi took part in a 'Jugalbandi' exercises at the iconic Great Wall.
Also, as part of the IDY celebrations, entry to all ASI sites will be "free of cost" for the public on June 21, the ministry of culture said in a statement on Friday.
Rediff.com brings you the government's Yoga Day photo album.
British lawmakers led by prominent Indian-origin entrepreneur Karan Bilimoria performed yoga in the United Kingdom parliament, celebrating the first International Yoga Day.
'I want to say to my Muslim friends that if they want to free Islam from the curse of terrorism, they have to embrace spirituality and yoga helps that. Yoga promotes serenity.'
