54,522 perform yoga on GMDC ground, Shah, Rupani join in to break Delhi’s 2016 record
As the first rays of the Wednesday Sun streamed over Ahmedabad, thousands were already up and about, warming up to own the International Yoga Day. And owned they did! At GMDC ground, 54,522 participants of different age and size stretched and twisted together, snatching Delhi's record for the maximum number of people simultaneously performing yoga at one place.
Guided by yoga guru Baba Ramdev, the crowd braved an early morning drizzle, which threatened to be a show spoiler, and performed asanas from 530am to 7.30am.
The office of the Guinness Book of World Records made arrangements to issue barcoded tickets at the entry points to every participant to keep records. Guinness Book officials later announced the record set by Ahmedabad and, in the afternoon, presented Chief Minister Vijay Rupani with a certificate at Gandhinagar.
The previous record held by Delhi saw the participation of 35,985 people at Rajpath, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the first International Yoda Day in 2016.
On Tuesday, the Gujarat government and Baba Ramdev had claimed that five lakh people would simultaneously perform yoga at various clusters created in and around the main venue of GMDC ground. However, sources said, on the D-day, a total of 1.5 lakh people participated in all the clusters put together.
Prominent personalities who attended the event included Gujarat Governor OP Kohli, spiritual discourser Ramesh Oza, Deputy CM Nitin Patel, former CM Anandiben Patel, ministers and senior officials in the state government.
Addressing the crowd, Shah said, "Within 42 days of our PM sending a proposal to the United Nations to mark June 21 as International Yoga Day, 117 nations came forward to support the same. Today the world is practising yoga without any religious bias."
Rupani said, "Yoga is India's greatest gift to the world. It is not only a lifestyle but a positive way to live a healthy and happy life. Yoga not only makes a person physically healthy but mentally strong as well."
Before starting the event, Ramdev told reporters, "This is a very special event for me as I'm expecting more than three lakh people will turn up for the event and we will create a world record impossible to break." His target, however, fell short by more than two lakh.
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