Millions In India, Thousands Abroad Mark International Yoga Day

Events were held in the morning hours in 192 countries, organised by the Indian missions and yoga centres.

As the sun rose on the globe, the yoga events began kicking off, with the eastern-most countries sending in their pictures.

India notched two world records on the inaugural IDY at Rajpath -- for the most number of participants in a yoga lesson with 35,985 at Rajpath -- and for the most number of nationalities attending a yoga lesson -- with people from 84 countries participating at Rajpath.

In an address at the United Nations, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said the IDY was viewed as a perfect platform to bring the world together in a spirit of unity and harmony.

She said yoga was not a religion and should not be seen as belonging to any particular religion. "It is a science, the science of well-being, the science of integrating body, mind and soul, the science of actualizing our true potential."

Among those doing yoga at Rajpath were US Ambassador Richard Verma, Nepal Ambassador Deep Kumar Upadhyay, Afghanistan's Shaida Mohammad Abdali and members of the foreign diplomatic corps and foreign nationals studying in India.
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