Mysuru gears up for International Yoga Day with 21-day pre-event activities 

Nearly 300 people took part in Yoga Dhanush, held in Mysuru on Sunday as a pre-event activity for International Yoga Day slated for June 21. | Photo Credit: M.A. SRIRAM

The city known to be an international yoga hub is bracing up for International Yoga Day to be celebrated on June 21.

In the run-up to the actual event, the stakeholders from the Department of Ayush and Federation of Yoga Organisations will conduct a slew of programmes for 21 days culminating with the grand finale at the Mysuru palace on June 21.

The curtain raiser for the yoga day event was launched in front of the Lalitha Mahal Palace on Sunday and District Ayush Officer Renuka Devi flagged off the yoga performance in which nearly 300 persons from various institutions, including all Ayush dispensaries, took part in it.

Termed as Yoga Dhanush, this was the first of the series of such events planned in the lead up to the global celebrations. Girish, Yoga instructor from the Department of Ayush, said that this was the curtain raiser and in a move to drum up greater public participation, pre-event activities will be held at different places across the city every day culminating with the International Yoga Day on June 21.

The theme of this year’s global event is Yoga for One Earth, One Health and apart from Yoga Dhanush, the Ayush has planned Yoga Unplugged, Green Yoga (Harit Yoga), Yogodhyana and Yoga Sangama, said Mr. Girish.

The Sunday’s Yoga Dhanush programme commenced at 7 a.m. and was held for one hour as per the yoga day protocol. There will be another session of Yoga Dhanush on June 6 at the Mall of Mysore, scheduled from 4.30 p.m. to 5.30 p.m., featuring a 45-minute general yoga demonstration.

The Yoga Unplugged initiative will take place on June 4 at the Police Training School in Jyothinagar, where a yoga workshop and awareness campaign will be conducted for female constable trainees between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m.

Details about the remaining events including Green Yoga, Yogodhyana, and Yoga Sangama will be shared with the public in the days ahead.

Mysuru has long been recognised for its yoga tradition and was home to legendary teachers like T. Krishnamacharya whose students included B.K.S. Iyengar and Pattabhi Jois, who played key roles in popularising yoga worldwide.

The Wadiyars of Mysuru took the lead in patronising yoga and the then Maharaja Mummadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar (1794-1868) wrote ‘Sritattvanidhi’ which also has a chapter on yoga complete with postures. In the present times, Mysuru is home to hundreds of yoga institutions that cater to the growing demand from both local residents and international students who come to the city to learn yoga.

Published - June 01, 2025 06:37 pm IST