Singarayakonda: Socialwelfare minister Dr Dola Sree Bala Veeranjaneya Swamy, district collector A Thameem Ansariya, SP AR Damodar, and joint collector R Gopala Krishna and others participated in the special yoga festival at the Pakala beach near Singarayakonda on Sunday. Speaking at the special beach yoga festival conducted as part of the month-long Yogandhra-2025 campaign to commemorate the 11th International Yoga Day on June 21, Minister Swamy emphasised that yoga is an integral part of Indian culture and should be practiced by everyone.

The minister revealed that yoga programmes have been organised at four tourist destinations in the district as part of the Yogandhra campaign, and encouraged large-scale public participation in other places. The minister announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in the main event to be held in Visakhapatnam on June 21st, and arrangements have been made to conduct yoga programmes at one lakh locations across the state on that day, with two crore people participating statewide. Additionally, 25,000 children will perform 125 Surya Namaskars as part of the celebrations, he added.

Collector Thameem Ansariya highlighted that complete health can be achieved through daily yoga practice. She explained that 9.60 lakh people in the district have registered on the Yogandhra app to participate in the campaign, so far. She urged everyone to incorporate yoga into their lifestyle for a healthy life.

SP Damodar stressed that everyone should practice yoga, which provides good health and mental stability. He said that yoga is not merely physical exercise but significantly contributes to mental peace and stress management, providing relief from stress and anxiety while ensuring mental and physical strength.

Joint collector Gopala Krishna announced that yoga programmes will be conducted at 6758 locations, specifically in Prakasam district. He said that a large-scale yoga programme with Self Help Group members is planned for June 20th, and he encouraged everyone to participate in the International Yoga Day programme on June 21st to make it successful. The yoga sessions were conducted under the guidance of yoga guru Patanjali Bala Subrahmanyam, and several district-level officers, along with the public, participated.