India will organise a special event in Cairo to mark the International Day of Yoga. (Representational Image)
India will organise a special event in Cairo to mark the International Day of Yoga (IDY) on June 21, with a number of Egyptian schools and institutions joining in to celebrate the ancient Indian spiritual art form.
The Indian Embassy in Cairo will host the event to be held at the India House in Zamalek.
A large number of people, including Egyptian celebrities and officials, are expected to join the celebrations.
"The practice of yoga brings peace of mind, reduces stress, improves health and brings people together in celebration," said India's Ambassador to Cairo Sanjay Bhattacharyya.
A number of yoga schools and institutions in Egypt are also joining the Indian Embassy in the celebrations.
As the IDY falls during the holy month of Ramadan, the celebrations have been slated to take place in the evening after Iftar, according to Rakesh Kawra, director of Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture (MACIC).
Kawra said that yoga, an invaluable gift of ancient Indian tradition, is widely practiced in Egypt. In addition to the MACIC, there are a number of schools and centrers that offer yoga classes.
In the run up to the event, the Embassy of India in Cairo has organised a photography competition 'Yoga in Egypt.' The winners will be announced on June 21.
Throughout the world, people will be performing a Common Yoga Protocol on that day. MACIC had organised four yoga sessions on Common Yoga Protocol on June 4, 6, 11 and 13.
Al Gezira Club and Children's Civilisation and Creativity Centre, Heliopolis had also organised special yoga learning sessions on June 13 to promote IDY.
The UN General Assembly had last year overwhelmingly adopted a draft resolution, declaring June 21 as International Yoga Day. 177 countries had co-sponsored the resolution.
In the resolution, the UNGA recognised that yoga provides a holistic approach to health and well-being and recommended the wider dissemination of information about the benefits of yoga for health of the world population.
The idea for declaring an International Day of Yoga at the UN was formally proposed by Prime Minister Modi in his maiden address to the 69th General Assembly session in September last year.