Melbourne:
Ahead of the International Yoga Day on June 21, the Indian mission in Melbourne has organised a curtain raiser for the event in front of Victoria's Parliament house where several people gathered and performed 'Surya namaskaars'.
"Yoga is the most beautiful and inspiring gift by the Indian civilisation to the world. To live in peace with each other and themselves was the guiding words of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi when the historic resolution to celebrate this day was accepted," the Consul-General Manika Jain said.
"A small event was organised in May to apprise people about the Yoga day at the Consulate here and it was officially launched yesterday with several people performing Surya namaskaars," she said.
The main event on June 21 will be held in Springers Leisure centre in Melbourne as well as other parts of Australia.
"On the main day, we are holding a day-long conference and workshops in Melbourne where many leading speakers, doctors, scholars, psychiatrists and yoga experts will participate and deliberate," Ms Jain said.
"We are even getting requests from many Australian universities which are keen to join the main event," she said.
"Yoga is no stranger to Australia. There are over 40 Yoga schools in Melbourne alone," she said, adding the Yoga day will showcase India's multifaceted culture and enhance its image on the world map for Australian tourists.
"The event is surely going to create and promote awareness about India among the Australian tourists. Those keen to discover yoga techniques in order to improve spiritual and physical aspects of their life and lifestyle will make plans to travel India," she added.
"It will also clear up the misconception that Yoga is related to any particular religion. It can be practiced by any one from any religion or belief," she said.
"By participating this event, Australian tourists would see that India is a multi-faceted country and has many things to offer," she said.
The main event would hold several yoga and meditation sessions to be run by Rajendra Yenkannamoole, founder of the Vasudeva Kriya Yoga.