New York, June 21 (IANS) Solstice Day dawned in Times Square with hundreds of people performing the ancient Indian art of health.

The Indian Consulate General-sponsored programme started the International Day of Yoga, which features yoga exercises by thousands of people into the night.

HR Nagendra, the chancellor of Vivekananda Yoga University, kicked off the programme, saying, “I bring you the greetings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji”.

“Yoga is not just a physical exercise, it’s the science of holistic living,” he said, bringing the message to the “crossroads of the world”, as Times Square is known.

Thousands of tourists filled the Square on the Sunday morning as the daylong programme called “Mind Over Madness” began, watching the yogis act out the asanas on through stages.

Ruchika Lal, a senior faculty member of the Art of Living Foundation, conducted the first session of the day.

Every other hour through the day, yoga sessions are taking place with overflow registrants participating.

The Consulate General co-sponsored the celebrations with Times Square Alliance.

Yoga has been adopted widely by New Yorkers in a city dotted with hundreds of yoga studios and classes, cutting across nations and ethnicities, reflecting the true universality of yoga, the gift of India to the world.

Even on a Sunday with institutions like the NASDAQ market closed, the Square thrummed with life with tens of thousands of tourists, and Alliance President Tom Harris said, “It’s our hope that you can find some calmness in the midst of the chaos of city life here today”.

The Alliance set up a Yoga Village in the Square, known more for popular entertainment and commerce. Bringing the message of the ancient Indian art promoting holistic lifestyles.

Douglass Stewart, the co-founder of the Summer Solstice — Yoga in Times Square that segued with the International Day of Yoga that was proclaimed by the United Nations, General Assembly in 2014 at the request of PM Modi, said, “As we practise our yoga, we open up to our harmony vibe, we open up to our steadiness vibe, and our love vibe, and, and, and all goodness. goodness and all oneness”.

–IANS

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