The eighth International Yoga Day June 2022 was a momentous occasion for every citizen who got an opportunity to do Yoga in the presence of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi Ji. The iconic Mysuru palace served as the perfect backdrop to 15,000-plus enthusiastic yoga practitioners, which also included the well-deserving 46 children from the orphanages of Pune who were also accompanied by their teachers and administrators. We are extremely thankful to Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga who were gracious enough to invite our children for this grand occasion.
The event was hosted by Yoga Federation of Mysore and Mysuru District Administration in collaboration with Department of Tourism and AYUSH. Mysuru had come alive while hosting the yoga day event with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the theme ‘Yoga for Humanity’. Wearing white T-shirts with IDY logo, yoga experts of all ages flooded the palace to be part of the ‘historic’ event.
A new dawn arose for these children in 2018 when Sab Ka Mangal Ho (SKMH) Foundation initiated the project ‘’Yoga for the Orphanages” with the hope of transforming the lives of these children living in the orphanages of Pune. SKMH Foundation has partnered for this project with SOSVA (Society for Services to Voluntary Agencies), a support service organisation focusing on building the capacities of voluntary organisations working in the diverse fields of social sectors to enable them to play a more sustainable and effective role in all sectors of socio-economic development in the service of the underprivileged section of the community.
The Foundation also encourages these orphanages to participate in various yoga competitions. The International Yoga Day witnessed a stupendous demonstration of yoga asanas intensified with focus, vigour, and action from the children of Matruchhaya, Saraswati Anath Sikshan Ashram and Dnyandeep Balakashram. It was heart-warming to witness every moment, their team spirit, bubbling with enthusiasm and happiness throughout their performance. There is an overall development in every child here, thanks to yoga – says Radha Vedantam, director, SOSVA.
This has been one of the most reminiscing moments for these children who got an opportunity to explore beyond their limited world. They had a unique experience of different culture and traditions and enjoyed visiting different sight- seeing places of Mysuru.