Wednesday, January 6, 2010

17th International yoga festival opened on Jan05

The annual yoga festival has entered into a position of importance in the national calendar of tourism events, Lieutenant Governor Iqbal Singh has said.

Declaring open the 17th international yoga festival here on Tuesday, Mr. Singh said that the festival has become synonymous with Puducherry.

Complementing the Tourism Department for devising the concept of yoga festival and popularising the event, the Lieutenant Governor said performance by experts in yoga would help attract more people, especially youngsters to practice yoga.

“I am confident that apart from being a grand event, it would achieve the desired objective of promoting Puducherry as an ideal tourist destination on the map of national and international tourists,” he said.

Pointing out that yoga is “not a religion,” he said it is a way of living that aims at developing a healthy mind in a healthy body.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister V. Vaithilingam said the government was keen on promoting Puducherry on the international tourism map. Responding to a suggestion made by Rajya Sabha Member P. Kannan that yoga should be made compulsory in school curriculum, he said it could be made optional.

Others who attended the inaugural function included Members of the Legislative Assembly K. Lakshminarayan, S.P. Sivakumar and Chairperson of Puducherry Municipality B. Sridevi.

Source