Photo Gallery Celebration of 6th International Day of Yoga at Jakarta, Indonesia

Embassy of India

Jakarta

Press Release

Celebration of 6th International Day of Yoga at Jakarta, Indonesia

            The United Nations adopted June 21 as the International Day of Yoga on December 10, 2014. To commemorate the milestone, since then, a series of activities are being organised across the globe to celebrate Yoga, the ancient wisdom of holistic health and well-being. Millions of people participate in these activities which include world leaders, international celebrities, spiritual gurus, writers, artists and persons from every walk of life. Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, who was the inspiration behind making June 21 as the International Day of Yoga, traditionally leads a massive gathering of yoga practitioners and enthusiasts in performing a standard yoga protocol which is tailor made to suit persons of different age and different levels of training.

  1. This year, due to Covid-19 pandemic, organisation of such large-scale activities was not feasible. Yoga gurus and practitioners adopted modern communication and digital technology to continue the flow of yoga knowledge uninterrupted. Experts highlighted benefits of yoga practices such as Pranayama in strengthening our immune system and breathing function to deal with the corona virus, a tiny organism that has brought the normal life to standstill. Meditation and yoga-nidra practices help to deal with the emotional and mental stress due to longer quarantine and work from home requirements. To adapt yoga to the new policies of Lockdown and PSBB in force in many parts of the world, Ministry of AYUSH of India has proposed a new theme - ‘Ghar Ghar Se Yoga’ or "Yoga at Home, Yoga with Family" to commemorate the International Yoga Day. It once again emphasized the universal nature of ancient knowledge of yoga that is suitable for practicing in a large community setting as also for solitary and family practice.
  1. Accordingly, a series of activities were organised to commemorate the 6th International Day of Yoga (IDY) with the help of digital technology. Embassy of India in association with Indian Cultural Centres in Jakarta and Bali and our Consulates in Medan and Bali, organised an online Yoga Quiz Competition. 20 selected participants were given special certificates of appreciation among which three highly knowledgeable yoga enthusiasts were awarded special prizes. Ministry of AYUSH of India organised a global Yoga Blogging Competition in which several Indonesian nationals also participated.
  1. As a precursor to the main event on June 21st, a video conference was held on June 12 wherein Ambassador Pradeep Kumar Rawat interacted with the Yoga practitioners across Indonesia. The conference was also attended by the Chairman, FORMI (Federation of Sports and Recreation Activity, Indonesia) and former Minister of Sports of Indonesia, Bapak Hayono Isman. Ambassador congratulated Yoga lovers of Indonesia on the establishment of Association of Yoga practitioners in Indonesia (PPYNI) terming it as an important milestone.
  1. Earlier, a special webinar on Ayurveda was organised by the Indian Cultural Center, Jakarta on June 14 in which Dr. Abhishek Joshi, Chair on Ayurveda at Universitas Hindu, Bali, Indonesia talked on the theme of ‘Ayurveda as our Strength in Fighting Covid-19’. Ambassador Rawat joined over 60 participants in this webinar that was live streamed on the YouTube. The Indian Culture Centre in Bali organised a daily Yoga session with Yoga Guru Sanjay Kumar Choudhary from June 15 to 21 with each session devoted to a different theme. Each session was live streamed on Youtube channel and other social media platforms.
  1. In the run up to the IDY main event on 21 June, a series of activities were organised by Embassy of India in Jakarta. Yogini Sari Chasiani of PPYNI alongwith yoga gurus from Real Yoga gathered at the Embassy of India Auditorium in the morning of June 20th to demonstrate Common Yoga Protocol. This was followed by one-hour special yoga and meditation session organised by the Isha Foundation.
  1. The main IDY event was celebrated in the morning of June 21st by the Embassy of India in collaboration with PPYNI (Association of Yoga practitioners in Indonesia) across different parts of Indonesia. Various members of PPYNI in over 115 locations digitally connected with the Ambassador of India and founding leadership of PPYNI at the Embassy Auditorium. The Indian Consulate in Medan joined the event digitally with 30 yoga experts and enthusiasts. The Common Yoga Protocol was conducted by Yoga Gurus Anjasmara Prasetya from PPYNI along with Ms. Sita and Ms Yazmeen from Art of Living, Indonesia. Ambassador Pradeep Kumar Rawat and Bapak Hayono Isman, Chairman FORMI delivered their remarks highlighting the importance of the ancient knowledge of Yoga in contemporary times. Ms. Yuni Purwanti, Expert Staff of the Minister of Sports of Indonesia read out the message from Honorable Sports Minister of Indonesia, H.E. Mr. Zainuddin Amali. Ambassador Diar Nurbiantoro, Deputy Chairman FORMI, was also present on the occasion. More than 115 yoga communities from 21 provinces joined via digital channels. The event was streamed live on the Embassy’s YouTube and other social media channels and hundreds of people joined it from home on the theme of IDY 2020 “Ghar Ghar se yoga – Yoga Dari Rumah”.
  1. On this occasion, Jawaharlal Nehru Indian Cultural Centre was also given honorary membership of PPYNI.

Jakarta

June 21, 2020