Pondicherry University Directorate of Physical Education and Sports, in collaboration with the Siddha Regional Research Institute (under the Ministry of Ayush, Government of India) and Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari, proudly hosted the International Day of Yoga (IDY) 2025 at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Indoor Stadium, PU Campus.
This year’s celebration was themed “Yoga for One Earth, One Health,” highlighting the holistic benefits of yoga for both personal and planetary well-being. Our Prime Minister is playing a leading role in promoting Yoga, with excellent support from the Ministry of AYUSH. Worldwide, several institutions are encouraged to spread the awareness and benefits of Yoga through its regular practice. AYUSH has also given the guidelines to be followed by the participants during the program.
IDY celebration in Pondicherry University campus today was preceded by a weeklong yoga practice workshop in Rajiv Gandhi Cricket Stadium. The workshop was conducted in the morning and evening sessions in which many participants regularly participated and reaped the benefits of yoga. Qualified experts supervised the sessions professionally and effectively. Refreshments were provided to the participants of the practice sessions.
The venue for IDY 2025 was the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Indoor Stadium on the PU campus. More than 300 participants experienced the Common Yoga Protocol (CYP) including the Vice Chancellor and other dignitaries. The CYP was followed after the Live motivating speech of our Honourable Prime Minister. The event commenced at 6:30 a.m. with a grand Inaugural Ceremony and Yoga Sangam, uniting participants in a shared vision of health, harmony, and sustainability.
The welcome address was delivered by Dr. M. Elayaraja, Director of Sports (i/c), Pondicherry University, after which all the participants performed the CYP enthusiastically and to the best of their ability. The Chief Guest for the program was Prof. P. Prakash Babu, Honorable Vice-Chancellor of Pondicherry University.
Honourable Vice Chancellor highlighted the need for making yoga practice a regular part of everyone's life and brought to light how yoga was becoming popular worldwide especially due to the thrust from our Prime Minister. He appreciated the effort put in by the organizers in making the event a grand success and expressed his happiness seeing very young children also participate in the program enthusiastically.
The Guests of Honour included Dr. K. Tharanikkarasu, Director (SEI&RR), Dr. Shyamala Rajkumar, Research Officer (Siddha), HOD - DCR, Siddha Regional Research Institute, Smt. R. Thangalakshmi, Tamil Nadu Pranth Pramukh, Vivekananda Kendra, Dr. M. Vijay Kumar, University Librarian, Dr. Vengat Rao, Dean, Student Welfare. The Vote of Thanks was delivered by Dr. P. Thenmozhi, Research Officer (Siddha).
The event served as a meaningful reminder of the power of yoga to foster unity, resilience, and The event was organized by the Directorate of Sports, Pondicherry University.