Thousands flock to Rajpath to rehearse 'asanas' for International Yoga Day

New Delhi: Thousands of participants on Friday descended on Rajpath to perform various ‘asanas’ during a rehearsal for the International Yoga Day on Sunday. Officials of AYUSH Ministry which is the coordinating ministry for the event said that around 12,000 participants, comprising students from various schools, NCC cadets and others performed yoga asanas as per the common yoga protocol. [caption id=“attachment_2293766” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] The rehearsal started at 7 AM and concluded at 7.33 AM, which was also the schedule for the 21 June event. 23 giant LED screens had been put up at the Rajpath for the participants to see the asanas. “The Minister of State for AYUSH Shripad Naik and various senior officials of the Ministry were also present on the occasion and they also reviewed the preparedness during the rehearsals,” a senior AYUSH Ministry official said. A proper security drill was also conducted by security agencies on the occasion. The 21 June mega event is expected to see participation of more than 35,000 people including government officials, NCC cadets, diplomats and others. The yoga celebrations are being held in the national capital after the United Nations had in December last year declared 21 June as International Yoga Day, with 177 countries voting in favour. The proposal had been mooted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his first address to the UN General Assembly in September last year. PTI