The World Council of Hindus (UK) celebrated the International Day of Yoga at Ilford Hindu Centre on the 19th June 2020.The event was jointly held by Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Hindu Swayam Sevak Sangh and BAPS, Swami Narayan Chigwell. Over 120 people attended the event.
The idea of an International Day of Yoga was first proposed by the current Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, during his speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), on 27 September 2014. He stated:
“Yoga is an invaluable gift of India’s ancient tradition. It embodies unity of mind and body; thought and action; restraint and fulfilment; 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 wellbeing. Let us work towards adopting an International Yoga Day.— Narendra Modi, UN General Assembly
The event started with hoisting of the Saffron flag and chants of the prayers.
Srinivasa Alluri (Srini) i founder and President of a global charity” Manavata”, based in India, gave talk about Yoga and demonstrated the various “asanas” (yoga postures), via Zoom link for over 45 minutes. He went on to explain that Bhagwan Shiva is considered the originator of Yoga and HE is the Adiyogi (first yogi). June 21 is the longest day of the year and the summer solstice holds importance in the yogic culture as it is considered to be the beginning of the Yoga.
Hanumantha Rao, a software professional and a yoga practitioner for las 20 years put up brilliant display of yoga postures. Ms Shashi Dhabi, a yoga teacher of Patanjali Yoga Peeth demonstrated the “Pranayama” and explained its benefits.
L-R: Hanumantha Rao; Durga Prasad;Counc.Kumud Joshi;Ms Shashi Dhabi:Ravi Bhanot
Ravi Bhanot amused the audience by explaining and displaying Music/Dance Yoga, playing to the Bollywood songs.
(Written:Surinder Gautama;Photographs :Rikin Trivedi)
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Sorry , first sow the seed of humanity stop arguing and challenging the PM respect his decisions and then do yoga for humanity it will help more than doing yoga.
Brilliant event organised by VHP Ilford along with other Hindu organisations.
A great event for the our community in East London well attended. I salute the dedicated volunteers at the Ilford Hindu Centre to organise this unique event benefiting everyone and carry forward PM Modi’s vision of how India can lead the way as World Guru. We all can come together as already proven by supporting and encouraging such initiatives which takes us back to our rich heritage and culture and may they continue.