25,000 tribal students perform 108 Surya Namaskarams in 108 minutes in Vizag

More than 25,000 tribal students from Alluri Sitharama Raju district participated in a massive yoga session in Visakhapatnam on Friday, setting the stage for a new world record. The official announcement of the record is expected on Saturday, coinciding with International Yoga Day celebrations.

Students from various tribal welfare and Ashram schools across Paderu, Ananthagiri, Pedabayalu, Chintapalli, Araku, G. Madugula, and Hukumpeta performed a series of asanas, with impressive coordination and confidence.

While a section of students had been rigorously training for three to four months, others had only a few weeks for the preparation.

Before the session, the students were provided with yoga mats and issued barcodes, which were scanned to record attendance. Under the guidance of senior yoga instructor Pathanjali Srinivasa Rao, the participants began the session with ‘Omkaram’ and completed 108 Surya Namaskarams in 108 minutes.

“We are proud to participate in the event. We had been training hard for the event. It is a completely different experience to perform yoga in unison. We feel more focused and active in our studies ever since yoga was introduced in our school,” said P. Anusha, a student from G. Madugula.

K. Santosh from Araku shared his excitement. “We were thrilled when we heard that we would be part of a world record event and that we might get a chance to perform yoga in front of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”

Venkatesh, a Class IX student from Araku, said he was nervous before the programme. “I was shocked to see such a large gathering. But once I saw all my classmates there, excitement took the place of the nervousness. We are very happy to be a part of such a mega event,” he said.

Yoga in curriculum

After the yoga session, IT Minister Nara Lokesh lauded the students for their discipline and dedication. He announced that yoga classes would be made a regular part of the curriculum. It would be practised once a week in all government schools from June 21, he said.

Highlighting the Central government’s support, Mr. Lokesh said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has special affection for Visakhapatnam, pointing out that the latter would be visiting the city for the second time in a year.

Mr. Lokesh confirmed that the students had indeed made a world record with their participation, and that the official recognition would be announced during the grand International Yoga Day celebrations on the Beach Road on Saturday.