Vivekananda Yoga University to be established in California

A yoga university will soon establish in the US state of California to impart yoga education along with research in the ancient Indian practice, a yoga guru from India has said. Yoga became famous in the US and its studios have come up in different parts of the country. The ancient practice has become immensely popular in the last few years due to the worldwide celebration of the International Yoga Day. "Soon, we are going to start in California, Vivekananda Yoga University," H R Nagendra, a renowned yoga guru, from Vivekananda Yoga Anusandana Samsthana (VyASA) in India announced at an event "India for Humanity" here.

The event was organised by the Indian Embassy at the US capitol as part of the 150th Birth Anniversary celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi. All the necessary formalities have been completed and the organisation has received all the requisite clearances for the establishment of such a university in the US, Nagendra said amidst applause from the audience. Through the university, Nagendra said he would bring the knowledge of yoga from India to the US. "We should go ahead to see that the 'India for Humanity' grows further and our contribution from India to this country becomes more and more.

We have a galaxy of great medical experts who are moving towards this integrative system to bring in Ayush system along with the modern medicine," Nagendra said. Referring to the theme of the event, Nagendra said that Gandhi was always supportive of 'India for humanity'. Observing that he was always fascinated with Gandhi's very unique approach in bringing independence to the country, Nagendra said his two pillars 'Satya' and 'Ahimsa' are the two foundations of yoga. "He (Gandhi) was the greatest practitioners of yoga in real sense," he told the audience.

In his remarks, India's Ambassador to the US Harsh Vardhan Shringla said that Peace and Non-violence – the centerpiece of Gandhian message are concepts which have welfare of the whole humanity as their focus. "The essence of what is to be human is expressed clearly in the life and action of Mahatma Gandhi. His whole life, Gandhi made personal sacrifices for others and taught us about the great difference which each one of us can make if we shed individualistic pursuit of goals and consider ourselves a part of the larger community," he said.