54,000 yogis! Mass yoga leaves Mysuru in a spell

Mysuru: They came from far and near and from nearly all walks of life. When they gathered at precisely 7.45am they were 54,101 strong. As the event unfolded they performed yogic exercises and did yoga postures and meditation,  giving Mysuru a shot at entering the Guinness Book of World Records for hosting the largest mass yoga session held anywhere.

The city  of palaces, which is the yoga capital of the world, hosted the event to mark the International Yoga day on Wednesday. Present among the participants were  40 blind students from the Ranga Rao Memorial School for the Disabled, deaf and dumb students from the Helen Kellar school, and even a few foreigners who had learnt yoga in Mysuru.

Also  laying out mats to perform yoga at the Mysuru race course with the Chamundi hills providing the backdrop, were  Union Ministers, D V Sadananda Gowda, district in-charge Minister, Dr H C Mahadevappa, and the scion of the Mysuru  royal family, Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, who inaugurated the event.  Mysuru MP, Pratap Simha and his wife, who is specially abled, too joined in.

"It was a proud moment," said Deputy Commissioner, D Randeep,  the man behind the show, who performed yoga  with his wife.  Mysuru police commissioner, Dr Subramanyeswar Rao joined in with his wife, Dr Deepthi . It was clearly an enjoyable morning for  67 year old Savithramma, who sported a T- shirt over her saree to perform yoga at the event. "I am very happy to be part of this record breaking performance," she said.