As the sun rose over the Bay of Bengal on Saturday morning, the quietude of Visakhapatnam’s beachfront was stirred by the collective breath of thousands. Clad in white, Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined over three lakh participants in a synchronised expression of India’s most recognisable gift to the world—Yoga.
Marking the 11th International Day of Yoga, the Prime Minister led the nationwide demonstration of the Common Yoga Protocol (CYP) under the Ministry of AYUSH’s ‘Yoga Sangam’ initiative. The event in Visakhapatnam was the largest in the country, running in tandem with similar sessions at over 10 lakh locations.
Describing Yoga as a “pause button that humanity needs to breathe, balance, and become whole again,” Modi underscored the practice’s growing relevance amid mounting global discord. “Unfortunately, today the entire world is going through some tension, unrest, and instability in many regions. In such times, Yoga gives us the direction of peace,” he said.
Modi arrived in the Andhra Pradesh port city on Friday evening and was received by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. The morning event, which commenced at 6:30 am, also saw the presence of Union Minister of State for AYUSH and Health, Prataprao Jadhav.
Standing before the vast gathering, Modi reflected on Yoga’s decade-long international journey since India first proposed the idea at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). “The day India put forth a resolution in the UNGA—to recognise June 21 as International Yoga Day—and in a very short time, 175 countries of the world stood with our country. This unity and support in today's world is not a normal incident,” he said.
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The 2025 Yoga Day is themed ‘Yoga For One Earth, For One Health’, a message the Prime Minister believes speaks to the ecological and emotional imbalances of the age. “The theme reflects a deep truth: the health of every entity on Earth is interconnected,” he said. “Human health is tied to the soil, rivers, animals, and plants around us.”
Modi described Yoga as “a wonderful system that takes us from me to we,” and noted that the discipline fosters a deeper bond with the natural world. “Yoga awakens us to this interconnectedness, leads us on a journey towards oneness with the world, and teaches us that we are not isolated individuals but part of nature.”
The Prime Minister also lauded the rare show of international consensus that marked Yoga’s adoption by the UN. “In the last one decade, when I see the journey of Yoga, it reminds me of many things,” he said, recalling the widespread support from UN member states as emblematic of the universal appeal of the ancient Indian tradition.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who shared the stage with Prime Minister Modi at the Visakhapatnam gathering, praised the Prime Minister for his efforts in taking Yoga to the world stage.
“I am thanking our visionary Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making Yoga popular not only in India (but also) across the world. He started International Yoga Day through the United Nations and made Yoga a global wellness movement,” Naidu said.
He noted that Yoga Day is now being observed in over 175 countries, across 12 lakh locations, with the participation of more than 10 crore people—an extraordinary testament to the initiative’s global reach.
The event drew schoolchildren, local residents, government officials, yoga instructors, and cultural performers, all of whom participated in the mass Yoga session beside the city’s iconic beachfront.
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