Kolkata’s historic Red Road roared with the energy of 35,000 yoga practitioners on Sunday when Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined them for the 12th International Day of Yoga. The Prime Minister moved among participants, corrected postures, and performed Tadasana, Ardha Chakrasana, Bhadrasana and Trikonasana as the crowd followed the Common Yoga Protocol.

Modi said yoga has become the world’s largest community movement and is uniting people, nations and cultures. “The entire nation, world, seems connected. This is the power of yoga. Yoga connects everyone, brings everyone together,” he said. He also praised West Bengal for carrying forward yoga through saints like Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Swami Vivekananda and Lahiri Mahasaya, calling collective practice on Bengal’s sacred land a unique spiritual experience.

The theme for this year’s International Day of Yoga is “Yoga for Healthy Ageing”. Modi explained the theme in personal terms: “We should strive to remain as flexible at 40 as we were at 20, stay as energetic at 50 as we were at 30, and look and remain healthy at 70 as we were at 50.” He said the message is not for the elderly only — it applies to people of all ages.

Before the main session, Modi performed Sukshma Vyayam, a yoga warm-up, and during Sheetali Pranayama he gestured to participants to stick out their tongues while practising the breathing technique. He spent time at different locations across the venue, guiding people on how to perform asanas correctly and interacting with them.

The day’s celebrations were spread across India. In Visakhapatnam, Baba Ramdev led an event where young men and women practised yoga on poles and ropes. In Vadodara, women performed aqua yoga in a swimming pool at the Sama Sports Complex. Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel of the 47th Battalion performed yoga on the banks of Pangong Tso Lake in Ladakh at an altitude of 13,862 feet.

Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said yoga is India’s heritage and a gift to the world. “When the world was searching for peace, India gave Lord Buddha, and when the world sought ways to maintain health, Indian sages gifted yoga to humanity,” he said. He urged all Indians to make yoga part of their daily routine.

Union Minister Piyush Goyal, speaking after a Mumbai event, highlighted massive participation in West Bengal and said residents of North Mumbai practised yoga on the seashore alongside spiritual leaders. He recalled Modi encouraging him to practise yoga and pranayama during the COVID-19 period and linked good rainfall to better crops, food security and growth.

Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan extended Yoga Day greetings from Bhopal, saying yoga unites humanity and reflects “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” — the world is one family. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Air Chief Marshal AP Singh performed yoga in Shillong. Home Minister Amit Shah practised yoga in Ahmedabad, while Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel and Odisha CM Mohan Charan Majhi also joined celebrations.

June 21 was chosen for International Yoga Day because it is the summer solstice — the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Yogic tradition says on this day Lord Shiva, regarded as the first yogi, began teaching yoga to the Saptarishis. The first International Day of Yoga was celebrated on 21 June 2015 at Rajpath in New Delhi, with 35,985 participants including Modi and representatives from 84 countries; the event set two Guinness World Records.

Why it matters: Yoga Day is now a global ritual that crosses borders, age groups and communities. The Prime Minister’s personal participation and public message — “be 50 at 70” — puts healthy ageing in the spotlight, while the scale of participation signals yoga’s cultural reach in India.