Nepal celebrates Fourth National Yog Day

Kathmandu [Nepal], Jan 15 (RSS/ANI): Several programmes are being held in Nepal to observe the Fourth National Yog Day on Tuesday.
Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) chose 'Yoga for Peace and Prosperity' as the slogan for this year's celebration.
The Main Organising Committee was constituted in coordination with Minister for Education, Science and Technology Giriraj Mani Pokharel, comprising representative members from more than 100 organisations related to Yog.
The Main Organizing Committee will arrange the celebration of the Day that was first proposed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 2014. The United Nations later proclaimed June 21 as the International Day of Yog and the International Yog Day was being observed on June 21 since then. However, the Yog campaigners in Nepal had proposed the Council of Ministers through then Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction to declare January 15 as the National Yog Day.
The Council of Ministers on August 13, 2015, had officially decided to observe Magh 1 every year in the Nepali Calendar as the National Yog Day and handed the responsibility of its coordination to the Ministry of Education.
In a week-long celebration, a rally was organised at Shanti Batika in Kathmandu in the morning where the employees at the MoEST participated. Discourses and discussion on Yog would be organized to observe the Day.
On the concluding day, on January 21, a workshop would be organized where working papers would be presented.
The Yog Day is being observed in the country to raise awareness on the aesthetic discipline of Yog and to encourage people to practice it regularly in their daily lives.
Nepal Sanskrit University's Chief of Yog Department Dr Hari Prasad Pokharel asserted that Nepal could be developed as the spot for yog.
He further said that Yog which was developed in between the Himawatkhanda and Manaskhanda of Nepal and thousands of foreigners were coming to Nepal to learn Yog. According to him, around 50 Yog centers in Kathmandu have been imparting lessons on yog to foreigners.
Nepal Maharshi Vedic Foundation has launched Yog and meditation in more than one dozen community schools and 75 Gurukuls across the country.
Foundation's Chair Deep Prakash Banskota told the National News Agency (RSS) that plans were afoot to extend the programme to other Gurukuls and schools in the country.
Similarly, Patanjali Yog Peeth has deputed around 40,000 Yog teachers in Nepal and has been offering classes on Yog through all 77 Yog centers run in all districts in the country.
Likewise, Brahmakumari Rajyog Service Centre has launched Rajyog and medication campaign in 72 districts of the country.
Banskota said that Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) was also preparing to develop Pashupati area as a conducive place for Yog and meditation.
Mahatma Sushil has started imparting Pashupat Yog at the Pancha Debal in front of the northern main gate of the Pashupatinath Temple every morning.
The training on Yog which has been conducted in aid of the Trust would be expanded throughout the country, according to the PADT. (RSS/ANI)