Press Release: The opening ceremony of the 1st India-China (Chengdu) International Yoga Festival
06/18/2015

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 ofIndia, Guangzhou, in partnership with the Chengdu Municipal People’s Governmentand the Dujiangyan Municipal People’s Government.

During the Festival, 20 renownedyoga masters belonging to different schools of yoga from India and abroad willconduct yoga workshops and practice sessions. About 700 avid yoga practitionersfrom all across China will be participating in the yoga workshops, in additionto thousands who would be attending the yoga demonstrations and otheractivities connected with the Festival. There will also be Indian and Chinesecultural shows.

Some of the leading yoga masters conducting sessions duringthe 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 andMs. Kinnari G. Jivani (Isha Hatha Yoga) and Mr. Zubin Zarthoshtimanesh (IyengarYoga).

The opening ceremony of the YogaFestival 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 MunicipalPeople’s Government, and Mr. Zhang Yusong, Secretary of the CPC Committee ofDujiangyan City.

In his speech, the Ambassador referred to the Resolutionpassed by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in December 2014 with the co-sponsorshipof 177 member countries, including China, declaring 21st June as theInternational Day of Yoga. He said that, in accordance with the Resolution, theIndian Embassy and the Consulates in China will be organizing Yoga Day eventsin over a dozen cities across China. Such initiatives are meant to promote anactive dialogue between the cultures of India and China which have interactedand mutually enriched each other for over 2000 years. He also referred to thelarge and growing popularity of Yoga in China and how it resonated with China’sown traditions like taichi.

The Vice Mayor of Chengdu, Mr.Fu Yonglin, referred to the historical and cultural ties between China and Indiaand expressed his appreciation for organizing the Yoga Festival in Dujiangyanwhich will bring the peoples of India and China closer together. He alsoremarked that Indian and Chinese civilizations have interacted in a harmoniousmanner for over two millennia. The two civilizations have learnt from eachother and interacted with each other.

Mr. Zhang Yusong, Secretary of the CPC Committee ofDujiangyan, expressed optimism that the Yoga Festival and such activities willreinforce friendly ties between India and China.

The opening ceremony included a cultural performance byICCR-sponsored Indian cultural troupe ShankaranandaKalakshetra, led by Ms. Ananda Shankar Jayant, cultural performances byChinese troupes, yoga and taichi demonstrations, an animation video of aChinese child’s conversation with his mother enquiring about India, Indianculture and Indian children, and a group song by school children.

The formal inauguration of theyoga festival was marked by the mingling of the waters of Ganga and MinjiangRivers of India and China respectively by the Ambassador and the Vice Mayor ofChengdu, followed by lighting up of the logo of the International Day of Yoga.

Chengdu,18th June 2015