Nearly 1,800 kilometres away from Visakhapatnam, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the nation’s International Day of Yoga 2025 celebrations, stating that ‘Yoga has united the world’, Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya joined the nationwide movement in Delhi by performing yoga alongside over 1,500 enthusiasts at the Fit India Cult Yogathon. Held under the Ministry of Ayush’s Yoga Sangam initiative, the event took place at the Cycling Velodrome inside the Indira Gandhi Stadium and saw active participation from more than 400 My Bharat volunteers.
In his address to the nation, Prime Minister Modi said, “Yoga has united the world and it is for everyone, beyond boundaries, beyond backgrounds, beyond age or ability.”
Supporting Yoga Sangam’s theme of ‘Yoga for one earth, one health’, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) organised the Yoga Sangam across all its centres, including Regional Centres, National Centres of Excellence (NCOEs), SAI Training Centres, Khelo India Centres (KICs), and Khelo India State Centres of Excellence (KISCEs).
Mandaviya was joined by former India hockey captain Rani Rampal, Commonwealth Games silver medallist Priyanka Goswami, and popular actors Jackky Bhagnani, Rakul Preet Singh and Madhurima Tuli, all of whom performed various yoga exercises. Later, the minister announced actor-producer couple Rakul Preet and Jackky as Fit India Icons and presented them with certificates.
MoS Raksha Nikhil Khadse led the Yoga Sangam event in her constituency, Jalgaon, in the presence of Maharashtra Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan and Textiles Minister Sanjay Savkare, along with more than 3,000 yoga practitioners.
Talking about the International Day of Yoga and the Yoga Sangam initiative, Mandaviya said: “Yoga is our culture, and it should be included in our everyday life. Yoga Day is being celebrated across the country as part of Yoga Sangam with the theme of ‘Yoga for one earth, one health.’ Through Fit India Cult Yogathon, the Sports Ministry is also celebrating the International Day of Yoga. I urge all citizens of the country to perform Yoga regularly to stay healthy and fit. Yoga is a mantra for fitness and a healthy life.”
The association of Cult Fit and the Fit India movement has brought the public-private sector together, where more than 100 centres of Cult Fit are attempting 1 million Suryanamaskars.
Padma Shri awardee Rani Rampal praised the Ministry of Ayush and the Sports Ministry for taking yoga to the masses through initiatives like Yoga Sangam Fit India Cult Yogathon. Rani inspired the Indian women’s hockey team to a silver medal in the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games and a gold medal in the 2016 Asian Champions Trophy.
“Yoga is beneficial for everyone, so every Indian should inculcate yoga in their daily routines, not just sportspersons. Only a fit and healthy nation can build a Viksit Bharat, as our Prime Minister, Narendra Modi ji, has said. What I have noticed is that our Sports Minister is taking out time every week from his busy schedule for fitness-related activities, then we as citizens must also do so. I really like the slogan ‘One Earth, one health’ for today’s Yogathon, and I can say that health is our real wealth,” Rani said.
Olympian race walker Priyanka Goswami, while giving her best wishes to all citizens on the International Day of Yoga, said: “I will request each and every citizen of this country to keep themselves fit and healthy, both physically and mentally, on this 11th International Day of Yoga. For a sport like racewalking, it becomes tough to control your mind for a distance of 30-35 kilometres. Your mind wavers after every kilometre. So, yoga becomes important. Through daily meditation, I try to control my mind. I want to tell the youth that our priority should be to do physical activity and indulge in healthy nutrition, and not in drugs, this will only make our nation fitter.”