Dr HR Nagendra, Chancellor of Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana (S-VYASA Deemed University), Bengaluru is Chairman of the Experts Committee formed to organise the International Day of Yoga on June 21. After assuming the charge of the Committee, constituted by the Ministry of AYUSH, Dr Nagendra has mobilised scores of Yog experts from different schools of Yog for the event. In an exclusive interview to Organiser Senior Correspon-dent Pramod Kumar he shared the planning that has been made to make the event a hit. Excerpts:
The Government has taken all possible efforts to bring Yog to the forefront. The International Day of Yoga has been approved by 177 countries in UNO, which is a record in the whole history of the UNO. It is a big boost to our country, thanks to the efforts of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. He is very passionate to spread Yog throughout the world through this event. In the beginning when he found that the things are not moving as fast as he wanted, he called the Cabinet Secretary to expedite the preparations. Similarly, he told the Minister of External Affairs to mobilise people at the world level. The major challenge that we all had was to develop a ‘common protocol’. For it we consulted various Yog Gurus. Following their suggestions we decided to have only simple practices so that even the foreigners who do not know Yog at all can also do it easily. We also decided to make it comprehensive involving different asanas, loosing practice, Pranayam, meditation, etc. We consulted many of our traditional texts also for it. Based on all those consultations we have developed a common protocol—a 35 minute programme involving different components.
It contains first a prayer—Sangachchhadhavam…. Then five minutes of loosing practices. Then 15 minutes of yogic postures—simple asanas, which everybody can do easily. Then we have Pranayam for five minutes, then meditation for five minutes, then a sankalpa (resolve) to take care of our health, work for the nation, bring peace and harmony in the world, etc. In the end there will be a closing prayer—Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah… The material in the form of booklets in various languages, DVDs, films, etc has already been prepared in adequate quantity. Trainers have also been imparted training. Different sections of the society including the Army, BSF, NCC, schools, social organisations, etc. have been actively involved in it. The Ministry of Ayush has also involved various voluntary organisations at district level.
The main and biggest programme will be held at Rajpath in New Delhi in the morning of June 21—from 7.00 to 7.35 am. Prime Minister Shri Narenda Modi will come at 6.40 am. After preliminary introduction he will speak for a few minutes. Then at sharp 7.00 am the demonstrations will start. Around 37,000 people will join the function at both sides of Rajpath. Four experts will demonstrate Yog, which will be projected through 28 big screens. Similar functions will be organised all over the country at the same time. There are efforts that people in all the six lakh villages of Bharat practice Yog on that day. All our Yog institutions and Yogcharyas including Baba Ramdev, Sri Sri Ravishankar, etc have actively joined together to give it a big boost. About 30 crore people are going to practice Yog at the same time on that day. Baba Ramdev will join the main function at Rajpath on June 21.
The programmes will be organised in about 240 countries. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has requested 192 countries to organise it. In some countries, multiple programmes will be organised. For example, in United States of America, over 200 programmes will be organised. Similarly, in Japan there will be around 30 programmes. There is time flexibility in the programmes to be held outside India. The countries can organise them as per their convenience, because the time zones are different there. A big programme will be organised in New York on June 21. At the Time Square, programmes will go on from morning to night. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Sri Sri Ravishankar will attend the function at UNO Hall between 11.00 am and 12.00 pm. Another function will be organised in Lincoln’s Square, where apart from Sri Sri Ravishankar and Sushmaji, Shri BK Modi will join. Similarly, Washington DC, Chicago, San Francisco will also witness programmes at different time. In Muslim countries also like Pakistan, there will be programmes. A team of Ministry of External Affairs and the Experts Committee is monitoring all the events. We are ready to create history through Yog.
All over the world, 45 Muslim countries have extended support. We are not going to force anybody to do it. If they don’t do, that is fine. But we would request everybody to join it.
We started this project four years back and the results have been encouraging. Thousands of people have become normal. Now we want to spread it throughout the country. The RSS has extended full support to it. Over 2,000 week long camps will be organised all over the country from June 20 to 27. First day some measurements of the participants will be done. The practice will be done from 6 to 8 am daily. On last day also we will have measurements. We will ask them to continue practice. After one year the whole data will be collected. To generate awareness, we are also going to have Himalaya Yog Olympiad. Modiji says this should not merely remain a government activity it should become a mass movement.
We are engaged in research on Yog since 1986. We have maximum number of researches. Our 400 research papers have been published in best of the world’s research journals. About 75 per cent of the research on Yog has been done by us. We have developed a lab with one of the cutting edge technologies. We also have an Arogya Dham with 250 beds to treat different types of ailments. People come in critical conditions and return with smiles. For the last four years we have also started research in Ayurveda. So now Yog, Ayurveda, naturopathy, physiotherapy, acupuncture are all under one roof. We offer diploma courses to BSc, MSc, Ph.D in Yog. Today 150 students are doing Ph.D on Yog.
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