Grand yoga celebrations take over South Africa; govt extends full support [PHOTOS]

The International Day of Yoga celebrations took the world by storm as many countries actively participated in various events. As the IDY celebrations on the UN campus entered the Guinness World Records for most nationalities gathering for a yoga session, another record was broken in South Africa as over 6,000 enthusiasts came together to celebrate Yoga Day at the iconic Wanderers Stadium. This was a new record for the continent.

The massive yoga session held in the South African city was part of International Yoga Day celebrations on June 21. Deputy President of South Africa, Paul Mashatile hailed the Consulate General of India in Johannesburg for the active participation. As the crowd cheered, Mashatile said the South African government fully supported yoga.

"We are going to continue to support this event with the Consul General and others. Our relationship with India dates back to the time of Mahatma Gandhi when he started his (Satyagraha) movement here in South Africa more than a century ago in 1893. So we have a very good relationship with India. We continue to have that relationship," the Deputy President said, describing India as a "great friend."

Mashatile said this year marked 30 years of diplomatic relations with India after a break of almost four decades as India led the international fight against apartheid.

"This is quite a milestone, but what is even more important is to grow trade between our two countries; cultural ties and look at economic development together," he said as he highlighted the collaboration between Indian and South Africa at multi-lateral institutions such as the UN , the Non-Aligned Movement and BRICS. "So this is a very strong relationship which this event today will help cement going forward and strengthen the bond between our two countries," Mashatile said.

Mashatile vowed to be back at next year's yoga day celebrations with his wife, in their tracksuits and sports shoes. He endorsed Consul General Kumar's explanation about yoga being a part of healthy lifestyles and complimented Kumar and his team for having worked hard to bring together the many different communities in Johannesburg to the stadium, referring to the participants from diverse communities and even some from neighbouring countries who were eagerly awaiting the start of the exercises.

Consul General Mahesh Kumar echoed Mashatile's sentiments and assured him of supporting every initiative. "Due to the growing popularity of yoga, now the month of June has come to be known as a month of yoga," Kumar said, adding that Saturday was chosen for the mass event to make it convenient for everyone to participate.

"Our celebration of today in Johannesburg, billed to be the largest such event in Africa, is very appropriate to mark the 30th anniversary of India-South Africa ties. It captures our imagination of together doing better, bigger and more impactful things," Kumar said.

The yoga session held in Johannesburg was led by Indian-origin yoga expert Maya Bhatt. Another session was led by internationally-acclaimed South African dancer Sashin Kandai, who had the crowd doing yoga and exercise movements to lively Bollywood music.

Check out photos from the event below: