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, Tamil Nadu Prant proudly hosted the International Day of Yoga 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.
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. 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 Prant Pramukh, Vivekananda Kendra, Dr. M. Vijay Kumar, University Librarian and Dr. Vengat Rao, Dean, Student Welfare.
More than 300 participants experienced the Common Yoga Protocol (CYP) including the Vice Chancellor and other dignitaries. The CYP was followed after the live broadcast of 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.
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 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.
