Mysuru: After the record turnout for chain link Yoga at Mysuru Palace premise on Monday where 8381 students took part in the record breaking event, Mysureans yet again proved why Mysuru is called the hub of Yoga by participating in large numbers in the attempt to enter the Guinness Book of World Records for biggest Yoga demonstration in a single venue as part of International Day of Yoga at Mysore Race Course here on June 21.
In the backdrop of Chamundi Hill with lush green and pleasant weather, more than 55,000 people which is nearly 20,000 more than the present record on single venue which was created during inaugural International Yoga Day at Rajghat in Delhi, stretched themselves to perform various Asanas.
The participants who had come from across Mysuru and also from neighbouring districts including foreign tourists started getting into the premise from 5 am itself. Due to various technical procedures that need to be followed as part of an attempt to enter the Guinness Book of World Records, the event got delayed by 45 minutes. To monitor whether the participants are performing the Asanas correctly, there were 1258 stewards, 2000 volunteers and 170 Yoga trainers. Each steward was looking into 50 participants’ performances. There were 47 flags in the race course, each indicating nearly 1500 participants. Before the start of the event, Takur Desai, General Manager, Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Limited, Mysuru and A C Lakshman, former forest secretary who were the two independent witnesses for the event counted all the 47 flags.
The event started with District Minister H C Mahadevappa beating the drums in the presence of Union Minister Sadananda Gowda, Member of Parliament Pratap Simha, Mayor Ravi Kumar, MLA M K Somashekar, Deputy Commissioner D Randeep, former minister S A Ramadas and Mysuru royal family scion Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar on the instruction from senior Yoga trainer Ganesh Kumar and B P Murthy.
‘Stop speeches, start Yoga!’
The participants who had started assembling at the venue from 5 am itself very eager to perform the Asanas were upset and annoyed when the guests delivered lengthy speeches. Some of the participants shouted and called upon the organisers to stop the speeches and start Asanas.
The event which was to start at 7 am got delayed by 45 minutes. To begin with, the participants performed 4 warm-up exercises in just four minutes. Later, in just 25 minutes, participants performed 19 different Asanas which included Thadasana, Vrukshasana, Paada Hasthasana, Arda Chakrasana and Shavasana. After performing the Asanas, the participants performed Pranayama, meditation and Sankalpa for 15 minutes and the event was concluded by performing Shanthi Mantra for five minutes. The event which commenced at 7.45 am concluded exactly at 8.45 am.
“All the details will be submitted to Guinness Book of World Records headquarters in London who will go through all the documents and take a call on whether we have created world record or not. If there are more than 10 percent non-performers in the event, the feat will not be recognised. In a day or two, we will submit the details and in another 15 days’ time we will come to know of the result”, added Randeep, Deputy Commissioner.
Traffic and crowd management:
Though there were some traffic problems during full-fledged rehearsals, the district administration and traffic police after lot of home work were successful in managing it and the crowd. Though there were more than 55,000 people, due to right planning by the traffic police and district administration there were no traffic related issues. The crowd was managed without any untoward incidents.
