Yoga Day

International Day of Yoga, or more commonly and unofficially referred to as Yoga Day, is celebrated annually on 21 June since its establishment on 2015. The international day for yoga was announced by the United Nations General Assembly(UNGA).

What is Yoga? Is it a religion, a philosophy, an ideology? Or is it something else entirely?

The word "yoga" literally means "union."Yogais a physical,mentalandspiritual practice originated inIndia.It essentially means, “That which brings you to reality.” Yoga is a physical, mental and spiritual practice that originated in ancient India. It became popular in the West in the 20th century. The word, yoga, comes from the Sanskrit word yuj, which translates to "samadhi" or "to yoke" and or "concentration."

The Indian Prime MinisterNarendra Modiin his UN address suggested the date of 21 June, as it is thelongest day of the yearin theNorthern Hemisphereand shares a special significance in many parts of the world.

On 11 December 2014, India's Permanent Representative Asoke Mukherji introduced the draft resolution in the United Nations General Assembly. The draft text received broad support from 177 Member States who sponsored the text, which was adopted without a vote. This initiative found support from many global leaders. A total of One hundred and seventy seven countries all across the world co-sponsored the resolution, which is the tallest number of co-sponsors ever recored for any UNGA resolution of such kind.

International Yoga Day Live Updates: On the fifth International Yoga Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the celebrations at a mega show in Ranchi. Meanwhile, Union ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and others also participated in events across the country. Several programmes associated with the International Day of Yoga are being organized with great enthusiasm in various countries. All Indian missions across the world have been asked to celebrate the International Day of Yoga in a grand manner.

Congress president mocked the whole event with tweeted a photo of Indian Army dogs and their handlers performing exercises on the occasion of International Yoga Day.

Rahul Gandhi captioned this tweet by subwriting "New India", it was a not-so-subtle sarcastic mention to one of the current government's favoured slogan.

Yoga Day has been successfully being celebrated for the last 5 years, in 2015 since its inception. Mr.Narendra Modiled a crowd of over 40,000 people, who attended this event there. Theme of this year's program was "Yoga for Heart".

At this event, the prime minister addressed the people of India, stressing upon the importance of Yoga for the overall health of body, mind, society, and even our climate, quoting "Yoga for peace, harmony, and progress". He said this was going to be the motto for this year's event.