Ranchi to host main event of International Yoga Day

The main event of International Yoga Day on June 21 this year will be held in Ranchi with Prime Minister Narendra Modi attending it, official sources said.

It will be the government's first mega public event after Modi became prime minister for a second term.

Five cities -- Delhi, Shimla, Mysore, Ahmedabad and Ranchi -- were shortlisted by the Ayush ministry and sent to the Prime Minister's Office for final selection.

"The PMO finalised Ranchi as the venue for the main function of International Yoga Day to be held on June 21," an official sources said.

A senior AYUSH ministry official said, "We have already started the preparations and the event will be organised in a large scale."

In the lead-up to the event, a two-day yoga mahotsav is being organised in Delhi by the Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga from Saturday. It is expected that about 10,000 people, including yoga teachers, professionals, enthusiasts among others will attend the event.

"The aim is to build an atmosphere of yoga in the lead-up to the main event and sensitise the people about the June 21 function," the official said.

The United Nations declared June 21 as the International Day of Yoga in 2014 after Modi called for the day to be adopted as a global celebration of yoga, an ancient practice that began in India more than 5,000 years ago.

Last year, the main event of International Day of Yoga was held at the ground of Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated.

The first International Yoga Day celebration was organised at Rajpath in New Delhi on June 21, 2015, in which representatives of 191 countries took part. In 2016, the main function was held in Chandigarh and in 2017 it was held in Lucknow.