Officials of the Ministry of AYUSH collecting the Guinness certificates in New Delhi.
The 1st International Day of Yoga was celebrated across the world with much fanfare. A proposal pitched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a speech at the United Nations General Assembly last year, it saw India set two Guinness World Records with a mega yoga event at the iconic Rajpath.
The Rajpath event broke the record for the largest yoga class, with 35,985 people performing the ancient Indian discipline at once. The previous record was held by Gwalior's Jiwaji University, with 29,973 people.
The other record set at Rajpath was for the largest number of nationalities at a yoga event. Volunteers and invitees from 84 different countries took part to set the record.
A two-member team from London on behalf of Guinness World Records was in Delhi to oversee the arrangements for the International Day of Yoga. The data was audited by Ernest & Young.
Speaking to NDTV, Senior Vice President of Guinness World Records, Marc Frigatti, praised the organisation of the event by the Ministry of AYUSH. "I have decided to take up yoga when I go back to London," he said.