Union Govt rolls out multiple activities for International Day of Yoga
As the 7th International Day of Yoga (IDY) is fast approaching, the government has started unfolding various activities to mark the day on June 21. With plans to celebrate IDY in a big way, the ministry of culture is all set to organize a special drive “Yoga and Indian Heritage” all across the country.
The drive will be a part of a campaign titled as “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav”. It will be organized at 75 cultural heritage locations. However, considering the pandemic situation, the number of participants at each site has been restricted to 20 and the events will witness various prominent people taking part in them.
The Indian Post, on the other hand, has planned to release a special cancelation stamp on IDY. The Department of Post will issue this stamp through 810 head offices all across the country. The special pictorial cancellation stamp will be put across all delivery/non-delivery head post offices and it will have an inked marking or impression with a graphical design and IDY 2021 written on it. All delivery and non-delivery head post offices will put this special cancellation on all mail booked in the office on 21st June 2021.
Organised virtually considering the situation created by COVID-19 pandemic, the events will also promote this year’s theme, “Be with Yoga, Be at Home”. This massive postal celebration activity organized across 810 centres will also open up huge philatelic opportunity, besides re-igniting philatelic activities across the country.
Moreover, the Parktown Head post office in Chennai has lined up various activities to celebrate IDY. The post office will display a common Yoga protocol AV from Ayush website to impart the importance of Yoga. It will also display different yoga asanas on LED TV for the promotion of Yoga among the people. Even the officials doing regular yogic activities at their homes will send their images performing yogic asanas to motivate other officials to include these practices in their daily life. The officials will be further motivated to take online pledge on Ayush Website.
Meanwhile, the IDY this year carries the much relevant theme “Yoga for Wellness”, considering that our society is still in the process of recovering from the impact of COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has turned out to be a crisis in all forms. It has also left adverse impact on our mental health. Many individuals are currently going through anxiety, depression and psychological suffering due to the restrictions and loss due to the pandemic. In this crisis situation, Ministry of AYUSH and Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga (MDNIY) are emphasising that
Yoga can come to the immense help of people. According to them, providing mental, physical and spiritual happiness, Yoga has taken the centrestage in everyone’s life and in the current scenario its vital to promote its importance on a larger platform. Yoga’s proven role in physical, mental and spiritual happiness is being globally acknowledged. The IDY celebrates the intangible cultural heritage of humanity for the whole world making it imperative to disseminate and promote its importance on a larger platform.
The lead event on 21 June includes address by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Minister of State for Ayush Kiren Rijiju and a live Yoga demonstration by the Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga, headed by Dr. Ishwar V. Basavaraddi, the institute’s Director.
