Tirupati : All set for Yoga Day in Tirupati today

Tirupati : The pilgrim city of Tirupati is all set to host the eighth International Yoga Day on Tuesday. The theme for this year is 'Yoga for Humanity' which reminds us that yoga is universal.

Though practising yoga has been there since ancient times, it has been gaining more popularity over the past few years and gained greater traction following Covid pandemic both in rural and urban areas.

During the last two years of Covid pandemic, yoga provided an important means of coping with the challenges of social isolation and stress. It may be noted that even UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in his yoga message for 2022, recalled how yoga has helped people during the pandemic and become an essential lifeline.

The beauty of yoga is that people in any age group can practise it without much difficulty and improve their physical and mental fitness. According to a senior yoga trainer S Sreenivasulu Naidu, people have been realising the benefits of yoga and getting stress relief with no side-effects. He told The Hans India that during the past decade, the awareness has increased manifold and created huge demand for yoga teachers.

Many youngsters have been coming up completing certificate, diploma and degree courses in yoga and earning their livelihood.

For teaching Yoga at home, the teachers have been charging more than Rs 8,000 per month and those who can afford are preferring this. Others are going to nearby yoga centres by paying around Rs 1,500 per month. The participants for online yoga classes have also increased in recent times.

The National Sanskrit University in Tirupati is conducting online classes attracting participants from across the world. The university has a separate Department of Yoga which offers degree and PG courses. It has also been conducting yoga training camps in and around Tirupati on a regular basis.

On the occasion of International Yoga Day on Tuesday, several universities, organisations and institutions have been arranging special programmes. Tirupati District Collector K Venkata Ramana Reddy on Monday released T-shirts and pamphlets relating to the Yoga Day on Monday.

The AYUSH department and Yoga association will jointly organise the Yoga Day celebrations at Prakasam park on Tuesday from 6 am to 8 am.