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NORTH AMERICAN Newsline JULY 03, 2026 | The Indian Eye 22

Om chants echo across Times Square

on International Yoga Day

OUR BUREAU
New York, NY

oga practitioners gathered at New York’s
Times Square for the 12th edition of Solstice
Yin Times Square: Mind Over Madness Yoga
-- one of the world’s most striking annual wellness
events and increasingly one of the most visible stag-
es for India’s soft power abroad.
The day’s first session, which began at 7:30
am on Saturday, had participants stretching and
balancing against a backdrop of flashing advertise-
ments and the roar of Midtown traffic, a contrast
that has become the event’s signature.
Headlining this year’s International Day of
Yoga celebrations was Padma Dr HR Nagendra,
president of S-VYASA University in Bengaluru
and the man widely credited as the guiding force
behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s person-
al yoga practice. For many in the Indian diaspora
gathered in New York, his presence lent the occa-
sion both spiritual gravity and national pride.
“Our honourable Prime Minister has brought
this International Day of Yoga throughout the
world, and the theme this year is ‘Yoga for Healthy
Ageing’. That’s what all of us observe: that as we age,
we should continuously become healthier day by
day, day by day, and that’s the theme. And that can
happen when we bring balance to the catabolic and
anabolic rates that are there in our body. And the
catabolic rate takes over normally in our age, and we
have to reduce that. For that, very special pranaya-
mas have also been developed by our ancient masters.
And yoga is an ancient science which gives direction
to modern science to go beyond the physical. To un-
derstand what prana, mind, devotion, and intellect
are and that which is beyond everything,” he said.
Dr Nagendra’s visit was arranged at the invita-
tion of the Rajasthan Association of North Amer-
ica (RANA) and co-hosted by BRUHUD NY Se-
niors and Jaipur Foot USA. Two of them went on to found Solstice in Times registered, so that’s what we are expecting today,”
Prem Bhandari, Chairman of Jaipur Foot USA Square as a formal event. Over two decades, it Consul General Pradhan said.
and President of RANA New York, has organised has grown into a full-day programme offering sev- On performing yoga at Times Square, a partic-
yoga programmes at some of America’s most en free yoga classes, drawing practitioners from ipant said, “This is my second time doing yoga at
high-profile venues, including the United Nations across New York and beyond. Times Square... It is magical, but mainly it is about
headquarters and Capitol Hill, for over a decade. This year, the event was organised by the Indi- gathering all the people from diverse backgrounds
“This is of the country’s successful Prime Min- an Consulate in New York, a sign of how firmly it and ethnicities, coming together as one to raise the
ister Narendra Modi; he was instrumental in the has been woven into the fabric of official India-US spiritual energy in New York and the world...”
UN declaring 21st June as International Yoga Day. cultural engagement. Another participant said, “Times Square is
As the philosophy of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam”, “We have been celebrating International Day so busy and getting to be a part of this communi-
which the Honourable Prime Minister is also fol- of Yoga at Times Square, and this year, the theme ty and do yoga in the middle of it, we find peace,
lowing, and we have been doing for thousands of of Yoga Day is ‘Yoga for Healthy Ageing’. Gen- grounding and some stillness in the chaos.”
years. The world is one family; the whole world is erally, I’ve been here for the last few years, and The choice of date is not incidental. The Unit-
one family. And never before has there been such a on the last two occasions, we’ve seen more than ed Nations declared 21 June the International Day
need; there is a need for world peace,” Bhandari said. 10,000 people come and practise yoga at Times of Yoga in 2014, following a proposal by Prime
The origins of the Times Square yoga gather- Square. And this year, we have been told by the Minister Modi. The summer solstice, the longest
ing are modest by any measure. On 21 June 2003, organisers, which is Times Square Alliance, we day of the year in the northern hemisphere, has
three people unrolled their mats at sunrise in the work with them; we do the Yoga Day with them. since become a global marker of the practice India
middle of one of the world’s busiest intersections. This year, I think more than 12,000 people have has long called its gift to the world.

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