Visakhapatnam: It is not just people of Visakhapatnam but also those belonging to the neighbouring districts who came together as an extended family to create a record marking the 11th edition of the International Yoga Day (IYD).

Even as Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu called out to embrace yoga into one’s daily life, people of Visakhapatnam voluntarily stepped forward to make the event a joyous celebration and a household event.

Sacrificing sleep and disregarding stress they have gone through, scores of people from Visakhapatnam and neighbouring districts came in droves to participate in the IYD celebration and contribute to its success.

What made the event special is the way the participants disregarded soaring temperatures, long waiting hours and looked at the larger picture of the outcome. “We came from Kakinada and have been at Beach Road since 1:30 am on Saturday. We are quite happy that we could be part of the IYD celebration hosted in Visakhapatnam on such a massive scale,” a group of students from the neighbouring district shared withThe Hans India.

Right from 1 am on Saturday, buses from various places started ferrying the yoga practitioners a little close to the venue.

Boarding thousands of buses, lakhs of participants reached the compartments arranged for the purpose hours before the IYD celebrations. Despite such a large-scale participation, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu lauded the efforts of the district administration, police, Ministers and public representatives for carrying out intense groundwork to make the event incident-free.

Appreciating Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Deputy Chief Minister K Pawan Kalyan for their visionary leadership in taking the Yogandhra-2025 way forward in a short span of time, the Prime Minister showered praise on IT and Industries Minister Nara Lokesh for his outstanding dedication to mobilise widespread community engagement, transform yoga into an inclusive social celebration and draw participation from various sections of society.