Millions of people bend and twist their bodies for Yoga Day

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday hailed the first International Yoga Day as a “new era of peace”, moments before he surprised thousands in New Delhi by taking to a mat himself to celebrate the ancient Indian practice. Yoga-loving Modi (pictured) led more than 35,000 people, including bureaucrats, students and soldiers, performing poses such as the half camel and cobra in a 35-minute mass outdoor yoga session beginning at 7:00 am local time on a New Delhi boulevard. He thanked the United Nations and the 177 co-sponsoring countries for adopting his idea for a world Yoga Day. Thousands are expected to perform Yoga in London, New York and across the world.

We are not only celebrating a day but we are training the human mind to begin a new era of peace. This is a programme for human welfare, a tension-free world and a programme to spread the message of love, peace and goodwill.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaking to the crowd in New Delhi

Organisers are hoping the event in New Delhi qualifies for the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest yoga class at a single venue. People in 650 districts across India joined in, with pictures pouring in on Twitter from across the country. India will be joined by yoga enthusiasts in 192 other countries - including in Britain, where mats will be rolled out along the banks of the River Thames in London. 30,000 people are also expected to perform yoga in Times Square in New York. Thousands of people dressed in white sat on yellow mats under the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and similar events were held in Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, Beijing and Manila. Modi has made Yoga Day a key initiative of his Hindu nationalist government since he took office 13 months ago.

Yoga is the soft power of India and through that soft power the whole world can be one global village… (and) violence can be removed with this kind of peace.

India’s Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj

World yoga