On Yoga Day, India eyes world record

Terming the participation of thousands of people during the first International Yoga Day at Rajpath as "overwhelming", a representative of the Guinness Book of World Records hoped that the event will set a world record.

The mega event witnessed participation of more than 35,000 people including school children, National Cadet Corps cadets, army personnel and officials.

The ministry of AYUSH, the coordinating ministry, had set sights on registering the event in Guinness Book of World Records for "largest yoga demonstration or class at a single venue and largest number of people of various nationalities performing yoga at one place".

The representative said various parameters like tickets and video recordings would be reviewed before finalising whether the event made it to the world records.

A senior AYUSH ministry official said although the target was 35,000, the Ministry had provided about 37,000 mats for the event and all were occupied. "I was told by an official that there were more participants who were lined up for the event but could not do so," the official said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with officials of various ministries also practised yoga 'asanas' during the event at Rajpath.

Celebrations were held in the national capital after the United Nations had in December declared June 21 as International Yoga Day, with 177 countries voting in favour of the resolution.

The proposal had been mooted by the Prime Minister during his first address to the UN General Assembly in September last year.