Picture Collections of International Yoga Day

International Day of Yoga, or commonly and unofficially referred to as Yoga Day, is celebrated annually on 21 June since its inception in 2015. An international day for yoga was declared unanimously by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). Yoga is a physical, mental and spiritual practice attributed mostly to India. The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his UN address suggested the date of 21 June, as it is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and shares special significance in many parts of the world.

Yoga is an invaluable gift of India's ancient tradition. It embodies unity of mind and body; thought and action; restraint and fulfillment; harmony between man and nature; a holistic approach to health and well-being. It is not about exercise but to discover the sense of oneness with yourself, the world and the nature. By changing our lifestyle and creating consciousness, it can help in well being. Let us work towards adopting an International Yoga Day.

— Narendra Modi, UN General Assembly

The origins of yoga are shrouded in mystery and mythology while some historians find many clues in the practices of Himalayan Shamans as still be seen in Tibet and Nepal. The Lord considered the father of ancient yoga while some historian claims that Patanjaliis the father of modern yoga.

By the 5th century, BC yoga was becoming well known and begun to appear in Vedic Scripture. The word Yoga is a Sanskrit word and it comes from the root word Yuja which basically means to bind to align to hold.

The first International Day of Yoga was observed all over the world on 21 June 2015. The Ministry of AYUSH made the necessary arrangements in India. 35,985 people, including Narendra Modi and a large number of dignitaries from 84 nations, performed 21 yoga asanas (postures) for 35 minutes at Rajpath in New Delhi. The day devoted to yoga was observed by millions across the world. NCC cadets entered the Limca Book of Records for the "largest yoga performance simultaneously by a single uniformed youth organisation" by performing at multiple venues.

A senior government official said, "The government of India has decided to take forward the momentum created by International Day of Yoga, 2015 with greater and more active participation of youth during the current year celebrations."^[ The ministry organized an event titled "The National Event of Mass Yoga Demonstration" at Chandigarh, which was to be attended by the Indian Prime Minister.

In Lucknow, the Indian prime minister Narendra Modi participated in the event and practiced yoga along with 51,000 participants. Many business leaders in India also took part in the event. In New York, thousands of participants gathered to practice yoga on Times Square. Japan created a Parliamentary League for the promotion of yoga just prior to the event, in April 2017. In China, the largest gathering was 10,000 participants in the city of Wuxi. In Athens, the event took place on June 25 as part of the Greek Open Yoga Day and in Kyiv, the event happened on June 18 and gathered a few hundred participants. In Ireland, participants met in the round room of the City Hall in Dublin.

In Dehradun, the Indian prime minister Narendra Modi is going to participate in the 2018 edition being organised in FRI Dehradun. Dehradun is one of the most refreshing and highly educated city as per Dehradun's biggest twitter account Dehradun Live. The event will witness a gathering of around 60000 people. Registration to the event is free. Dehradun Tourism is known for valleys and pleasant climate. Festival tourism is quite unexplored in India but online travel companies like Travelwhistle is promoting Indian Festivals worldwide. Prime Minister has been taking very keen interest right from the time when the first International Yoga Day took place and the PM participated in it at Rajpath.