Old Goa and Fort Aguada to host Yoga Day

As part of the ongoing Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav (AKAM) celebration, the International Yoga Day (IYD) this year will be hosted at 75 iconic places in the country, which include the churches and convents of Old Goa and the Aguada Fort Museum, Sinquerim, Goa.

Union Minister of State for Tourism, Ports and Shipping, Shripad Naik will participate in the programme at Largo of St. Francis Xavier, Se Cathedral Old Goa (Churches and Convent of Goa) and Union Minister of State for Food Processing Industries, Prahlad Singh Patel will participate at the event at the Fort Aguada.

Besides, the importance of IYD, the idea of celebrating it at 75 cultural sites in the country is to showcase India’s rich cultural heritage and diversity to the world. The theme of the event will be “Yoga for Humanity.”

The schedule for the event

Participants are expected to assemble between 5.30 am to 6 am on Tuesday, June 21, 2022. This will be followed by a message from the Union Minister and other dignitaries from 6 am to 6.40 am.

This will be followed by live streaming of the Prime Minister’s address from 6:40 am to 7 am.

The common yoga protocol will be followed from 7 am to 7.45 am. The national anthem will follow at 7.45 am.

Locations

The other iconic locations which have been selected include Cellular Jail, Andaman and Nicobar Islands; Rushikonda Beach, Visakhapatnam; Mahabodhi Temple, Bodh Gaya, Nalanda Mahavihara, Nalanda, Rock Garden, Chandigarh; Diu Fort, Daman and Diu; Statue of Unity, Kevadia, Gujarat, Dholavira, Kutch, Gujarat; Jantar Mantar and Red Fort in New Delhi; and Atal Tunnel in Himachal Pradesh; Golden Pagoda, Namsal, Andhra Pradesh; Rangghar, Sibsagar, Assam; Bhoramdeo Temple, Chouragaon, Kabirdham district, Chhattisgarh; Lotus Temple, Bahapur, Delhi; Modhera Sun Temple, Gujarat; Sabarmati River Front, Gujarat; Kurukshetra, Haryana, Rakhigarhi, Hisar, Haryana; Kangra Fort, Nalagarh Palace and Parashar Lake in Himachal Pradesh; Suchetgarh Border, Jammu, SKICC, Dal Lake, Srinagar; Martand Sun Temple, Anantnag, Jammu and Kashmir; Ranchi, Jharkhand; Group of Monuments at Hampi, Karnataka; Group of Monuments at Pattadakal, Karnataka; Halebeedu, Karnataka; and Gol Gumbaz, Vijaypura, Karnataka.

Union Minister of State for Tourism, Ports and Shipping, Shripad Naik, said, "As the Yoga Day falls on AKAM, this year, the Old Goa church premises and Aguada Fort are amongst the 75 iconic locations across the country which will be used by the government for branding India’s image on a large scale. Approximately 800 to 1000 participants are expected to participate in the programme."