Modi Says Yoga Connects Global Audiences With India

Prime Minister Narendra Modi told a golden-jubilee gathering at SVYASA in Bengaluru on November 13 that yoga had become a gateway for people around the world to understand India, crediting Indian initiatives for its international profile. He also described the spread of yoga as a way to connect people with Indian culture and traditional knowledge.

Modi addressed the celebration at Prashanti Kutiram, the residential headquarters of Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana (SVYASA). He said International Yoga Day was celebrated worldwide because of India’s initiatives and recalled that yoga often came up in conversations during his meetings with people abroad. These were his characterisations of yoga’s global reach; the event reports did not provide independent data on participation or public attitudes.

He said Karnataka had sustained and enriched yoga for centuries, and praised SVYASA’s development from an ordinary yoga centre into an institution working in service, research, education and healthcare. Modi also referred to the integration of yoga with modern science at Prashanti Kutiram and its work in training teachers, doctors and researchers.