KATHMANDU, June 21: The International Yoga Day is being celebrated in Nepal on Sunday. The International Yoga Day is observed annually on June 21 since 2015 following its inception at the United Nations General Assembly in 2014.

Various organizations including The Art of Living-Nepal are hosting programs and activities to mark the day through social media platforms owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Yogathon: Surya Namaskar Challenge of 54 sets (108 rounds)" and "Sri Sri Yoga Course" are some of the programs which are being organized today by The Art of Living-Nepal.

According to a press statement issued by the organization, the Art of Living is organizing similar events in more than 150 countries with thousands from all across the world including Nepal joining the closing celebrations of International Day of Yoga 2020 for the Biggest Online Yoga Fest with yoga experts from different countries joined by Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

The online Yoga Fest will be LIVE from 6:15 pm to 8:15 pm via The Art of Living and Gurudev Sri Sri Ravishankar's social media platforms www.youtube.com/srisri and www.facebook.com/srisriravishankar among other platforms. The program is also being broadcast by television stations of several countries.

PM extends best wishes

PM Oli took to Twitter to extend his best wishes to the people on the occasion of the International Yoga Day. Oli urged all concerned to take his request to boost the immunity of the body seriously.

Attending a virtual program organized to mark the International Yoga Day here today, he said turmeric, ginger, fenugreek seeds that we use as spices have been proved to carry medicinal qualities, hence their use needs to be increased.

"I had talked about it in terms of increasing the immune capacity of our body, but some intellectuals made fun of it, fun of turmeric, fenugreek, pepper and ginger," he said.

"Ayurveda and Yoga are extraordinary medicine, and they should be promoted. Yoga that originated in Nepal has now become global, and this highlights Nepal's history, civilization and pride. Prime Minister Oli said good health was a prerequisite to realizing the national aspiration of ‘Prosperous Nepal, Happy Nepalis’. For this, the government has forwarded the Healthy Nepal campaign. As food habits, exercise and rest are interlinked, we need to promote Yoga and Ayurveda," Oli added. 

On the occasion, Prime Minister Oli also released a book on yoga published by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.

Speaking at the program, Education Minister Giriraj Mani Pokharel said the yoga practice and study has been initiated from the school level, and it needs to be widened so as to remain healthy. Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Yogesh Bhattarai expressed confidence that the book released today will help make Yoga a lifestyle of the people. Today is the 6th International Yoga Day. Nepal also observes a National Yoga Day on Magh 1 in the lunar calendar. (With inputs from RSS)

 
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