Press Releases
CONSULATE GENERAL OF INDIA
GUANGZHOU
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PRESS RELEASE
The opening ceremony of the 1st India-China (Chengdu) International Yoga Festival was held in Dujiangyan on 17th June 2015. The five-day Yoga Festival, which will have its finale on 21st June, the International Day of Yoga, is organized by the Consulate General of India, Guangzhou, in partnership with the Chengdu Municipal People’s Government and the Dujiangyan Municipal People’s Government.
During the Festival, 20 renowned yoga masters belonging to different schools of yoga from India and abroad will conduct yoga workshops and practice sessions. About 700 avid yoga practitioners from all across China will be participating in the yoga workshops, in addition to thousands who would be attending the yoga demonstrations and other activities connected with the Festival. There will also be Indian and Chinese cultural shows.
Some of the leading yoga masters conducting sessions during the Festival are Mr. Sharat Jois and Mr. Mark Robberts (Ashtanga yoga); Mr. S. Sridharan and Mr. V. Srinivasan (Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram), Mr. O.P. Tiwari and Ms. Sandhya Dixit (Kaivalyadham), Mr. Bharat Shetty (Indea Yoga), Mr. Nataraj and Ms. Anisha Manjeni (Sivananda Yoga), Ms. Ashivina Balakrishnan and Ms. Kinnari G. Jivani (Isha Hatha Yoga) and Mr. Zubin Zarthoshtimanesh (Iyengar Yoga).
The opening ceremony of the Yoga Festival included showing of video on yoga and speeches by Mr. Ashok K. Kantha, Ambassador of India to China, Mr. Fu Yonglin, Vice Mayor of Chengdu Municipal People’s Government, and Mr. Zhang Yusong, Secretary of the CPC Committee of Dujiangyan City.
In his speech, the Ambassador referred to the Resolution passed by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in December 2014 with the co-sponsorship of 177 member countries, including China, declaring 21st June as the International Day of Yoga. He said that, in accordance with the Resolution, the Indian Embassy and the Consulates in China will be organizing Yoga Day events in over a dozen cities across China. Such initiatives are meant to promote an active dialogue between the cultures of India and China which have interacted and mutually enriched each other for over 2000 years. He also referred to the large and growing popularity of Yoga in China and how it resonated with China’s own traditions like taichi.
The Vice Mayor of Chengdu, Mr. Fu Yonglin, referred to the historical and cultural ties between China and India and expressed his appreciation for organizing the Yoga Festival in Dujiangyan which will bring the peoples of India and China closer together. He also remarked that Indian and Chinese civilizations have interacted in a harmonious manner for over two millennia. The two civilizations have learnt from each other and interacted with each other.
Mr. Zhang Yusong, Secretary of the CPC Committee of Dujiangyan, expressed optimism that the Yoga Festival and such activities will reinforce friendly ties between India and China.
The opening ceremony included a cultural performance by ICCR-sponsored Indian cultural troupeShankarananda Kalakshetra, led by Ms. Ananda Shankar Jayant, cultural performances by Chinese troupes, yoga and taichi demonstrations, an animation video of a Chinese child’s conversation with his mother enquiring about India, Indian culture and Indian children, and a group song by school children.
The formal inauguration of the yoga festival was marked by the mingling of the waters of Ganga and Minjiang Rivers of India and China respectively by the Ambassador and the Vice Mayor of Chengdu, followed by lighting up of the logo of the International Day of Yoga.
Chengdu, 18th June 2015
