In pictures: Thousands of Indians prepare for Yoga Day
- Published
India is preparing for the first ever International Yoga Day which will be celebrated on Sunday. India has taken the lead among the 192 countries that are participating.
Thousands have been preparing for Sunday's main event, where 35,000 people will practise yoga at Rajpath (King's Avenue), in the capital Delhi. The Indian government believes it will be the largest yoga gathering in history and expects the event to find a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.
One of the camps will be led by popular Indian yoga guru Baba Ramdev. He participated in a rehearsal along with a Muslim cleric, Mufti Shamoon Qasmi on Sunday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will speak at Sunday's gathering, but will not perform yoga. Meanwhile, yoga enthusiasts have been attending camps to rehearse for Sunday's event.
Residents participate in a yoga workshop conducted by a local teacher in the western city of Ahmedabad, in the state of Gujarat.
There has been a surge in interest in yoga across the country. Here, enthusiasts perform the "surya namaskar" (sun salutation) near the southern city of Bangalore.
Entire families have turned up to perform exercises at yoga camps.
Reports say the government will organise yoga gatherings in 650 districts across the country.
India is also organising yoga gatherings in more than 190 countries except Yemen, where it had to recently shut its embassy because of the war.
Here Indians practise yoga in Bangalore - Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj has called yoga the "best soft power India has".
- Published12 December 2014
- Published21 August 2014
