Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President JP Nadda issued instructions on Friday (June 16) to all Members of Parliament (MPs) and Members of Legislative Assemblies (MLAs) to organise large-scale events in their respective areas in honour of International Yoga Day 2023 (June 21). The party also announced that 250 prominent leaders would be sent to participate in the Yoga Day programme. While the Union Ministry of AYUSH is planning the main event in Goa, a significant gathering is also designed in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, where the country's Vice President will be present. Ayush Minister Sarbananda Sonowal will supervise the proceedings in Panaji, Goa.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also be leading a yoga session for the first time at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The International Day of Yoga aims to raise global awareness of the numerous benefits of yoga practise. Recognising its universal appeal, the United Nations declared June 21 as the International Day of Yoga in December 2014.
"On the occasion of the 9th International Day of Yoga, the Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations cordially invites you to join a Yoga session led by H. E. Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi," according to an event announcement.
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Nine years after Prime Minister Modi proposed from the UN General Assembly podium that International Yoga Day be celebrated annually, the Indian leader will be at the UN Headquarters for the first time to lead the yoga session in a historic commemoration of the day.
The Yoga session will take place on June 21 from 8 am to 9 am on the expansive North Lawn of the UN Headquarters, where a bust of Mahatma Gandhi, a gift from India to the UN, was installed last December during India's Presidency of the UN Security Council.
Top UN officials, ambassadors, envoys, delegates from Member States, and prominent members of the global and diaspora community are expected to attend the historic yoga session. The advisory encourages guests and attendees to dress in Yoga-friendly attire for the special session and mentions that Yoga mats will be provided.
The first International Day of Yoga was observed in 2015, and since then, several sessions and events have been held at the United Nations, Times Square, and other iconic locations around the world to highlight the benefits and universal appeal of Yoga.