Largest mass yoga: Mysuru targets record

Mysuru: Come June 21 and  Mysuru  hopes to host the world's largest mega mass yoga demonstration involving 60,000 people to mark the International Yoga Day and give the city a shot at entering the Guinness Book of World Records.

The mass yoga will be conducted between 6 am and 8 am at the Mysuru Race Course with the Chamundi hills providing the backdrop. Over 15,000 yoga practitioners from various yoga schools  Union and state government employees, students of government and private schools  and  PU College in Mysuru (of whom 15,000 are from the JSS institution alone) have already registered to participate, according to deputy director of the tourism department, Janardhan.

Besides a committee formed by the district administration to oversee the event, a website, www.yogadaymysuru.com  has been developed to reach out to interested people, he revealed. "So far over 18,000 people have registered online. Also boot camps are being set up at 12 locations in Mysuru for registration," he said, adding that spot registrations would also be accepted. However, those who wish to participate must bring a yoga mat of their own and wear a comfortable white top, according to him.

"At first it was planned to conduct the mass yoga at 13 venues, including the grounds of the Mysuru Palace, and its adjoining major roads, but one of the conditions for entering the Guinnes Book of World Records is that an event must be held in one compounded venue. So the Mysuru Race course was chosen," explained Mysuru Deputy Commissioner, D Randeep.

Mysuru administration is hosting the event along with Dept of tourism, Ayush, Nehru Yuva Kendra, Mysuru Yoga Networking Organisation and others.