Record-breaking International Yoga Day events begin

Chandigarh/Faridabad, June 21: Thousands of people across the country began the day on Tuesday with yoga exercises to mark the second International Yoga Day. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be leading over 30,000 yoga enthusiasts in Chandigarh's Capitol Complex amid heavy security. Yoga enthusiasts, specially shortlisted to perform yoga with the prime minister, started lining up around the spruced up complex around four a.m. on Tuesday. These included school and college students, youths and the elderly. Those taking part in the event have been training for yoga exercises for the past 15 days. Unprecedented security arrangements were in place around the venue in Chandigarh's high-security area of Sector 1 for over 24 hours. The area was sealed off by paramilitary commandos and security agencies ahead of the event. Yoga guru Ramdev started his record-breaking yoga event in Faridabad town in Haryana, adjoining the national capital, early on Tuesday. Organizers said over 100,000 people performed yoga with Ramdev, setting a world record. In Chandigarh, a total of 30,000 participants -- 10,000 each from Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana -- donning T-shirts and black or blue tracksuit lowers will perform deep breathing and stretch exercises against the backdrop of the Capitol Complex, one of the acclaimed creations of Chandigarh's founder-architect French architect Le Corbusier. Apart from the main event, yoga day events will be held at 100 other locations across Chandigarh. The UN General Assembly had declared June 21 as the International Yoga Day following a resolution moved by India and co-sponsored by a large number of nations. The first International Yoga Day celebration was organized in June last year, the main event taking place on Rajpath in the heart of New Delhi.