By Sheila Turabaz.
On Sunday the 17th of June, the fourth edition of International Yoga Day was – unlike previous years – held in Amsterdam, which – according to the Ambassador of India H.E. Mr. Venu Rajamony – is “the most vibrant and cultural city of the Netherlands, where there is a huge following of yoga”.
Thousands of people from all walks of life flocked to the capital to fully immerse themselves into the yoga lifestyle for an entire day. A number of Dutch and Indian dignitaries as well as from the diplomatic corps also participated in this year’s yoga celebrations.
The wellness festival, organized by the Embassy of India, was a unique opportunity for both yoga aficionados and novices to practice yoga in the heart of Amsterdam on the Museumplein, facing the Rijksmuseum and the Royal Concertgebouw at the back.
For additional pictures, please open the following link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/109407424@N02/albums/72157669000880727
International Yoga Day is celebrated in more than 100 countries annually on and around the 21st of June since the adoption of resolution 69/131 by the General Assembly of the United Nations, in order to promote global health, harmony and peace. The Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi proposed the 21st of June as the day to celebrate the art of yoga, as it coincides with the Summer Solstice (the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere) and this day carries a special significance in many parts of the world.
This year’s International Yoga Day was inaugurated by the Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management of the Netherlands, Ms. Cora van Nieuwenhuizen, Indian spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and the Ambassador of India H.E. Mr. VenuRajamony.
Ambassador Rajamony welcomed the participants and emphasized the significance of yoga to mankind and society but to the Netherlands in particular in his opening speech:
“Today we gather to celebrate yoga, to celebrate fitness and a healthy lifestyle. But along with this, we also celebrate and pay tribute to the people of the Netherlands, who are known for their commitment to fitness activities (…) in the Netherlands there are an estimated 200 yoga schools and in Amsterdam alone there are over a hundred. The people of the Netherlands are truly believers in yoga”.
“We from India see yoga as ancient India’s gift to mankind. Yoga is not just a part for physical wellness but it is also a method to attune one’s mind, to still one’s mind, to learn how to go within, and through that stillness of mind, develop a stress-free, aggression-free lifestyle. Yoga is not just something for personal benefit, but it also for societal good, (…) the essence of the Indian philosophy which is also transmitted through yoga is to develop a composure of peace and calm (….) and to promote tolerance and celebrate pluralism in society”.
“We believe that all practitioners of yoga and all people with the right values can come together to create a violence-free world, a world where compassion and caring rules and a world where each one of us support each other and live in harmony with each other and with Mother Earth (…) and we dream of a day when Amsterdam will become the yoga capital of Europe”.
Minister Van Nieuwenhuijzen followed with a speech in which she mentioned the cooperation between the two countries in building a better world:
“Some of you might wonder what a minister of Infrastructure and Water Management is doing at a ceremony to mark the International Yoga Day. Three weeks ago I was in India, with a trade mission headed by Prime Minister Mark Rutte. (…) I was impressed by India and its can-do approach. Demonstrating self-confidence and great ambition, the country is working hard not only to grow its economy but it does it in a way that it wants to be sustainable as well. And Dutch businesses are contributing to efforts to clean up the Ganges, India’s great sacred river”.
“The Netherlands is helping to build sustainable and healthy metropolitan regions and cities by providing assistance in areas like waste management, urban planning and wastewater treatment. The ties between India and the Netherlands go back four hundred years and are still very strong. A country of illustrious history, India has given the world so much. Yoga has become popular all over the world (…) it is the first and most successful product of globalization”.
“Yoga is practiced from Japan to South America and from Canada to Australia, and in the Netherlands too, yoga’s message is spreading”. The fact that today we are here on the Museumplein and not as in previous years in the Atrium of the Hague’s City Hall, shows this very clearly, the city hall simply became too small”.
In his annual speech which was streamed live during the festival, the Prime Minister of India Mr. Narendra Modi encouraged everyone to become acquainted with the yoga lifestyle:
“The problems in modern lifestyles are well known (…) stress and depression have become silent killers. Yoga offers a solution to these ailments. Practicing yoga helps fight stress and find peace. If the body is the temple of the mind, yoga creates a beautiful temple.(…) Yoga goes beyond boundaries of age, gender, caste, religion and nations. Yoga does not discriminate between anybody; all you need is willingness to practice it. People who are at peace with themselves are at peace with others too. Such people build harmonious nations and such nations build a harmonious world.”
Apart from yoga demonstrations, the stalls providing advice and products on wellness and healthy food; the grand finale in the evening ‘The Soul Shanti Concert’ featuring Indian violin maestro Dr. L. Subramaniam and Bollywood playback singer Kavita Krishnamurthy also made this year’s International Yoga Day a great success.
Ambassador Rajamony aims to encourage his “ fellow diplomats to come up and take yoga. The Cultural wing of the Embassy of India (The Ghandhi Centre) in The Hague offers free yoga classes for diplomats and their spouses. I encourage more of my colleagues to pay a visit and attend these classes and to be part of the yoga movement”t
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Pictures are a courtesy of Sheila Turabaz and the Embassy of India in The Hague.
