Culture Ministry to host Yoga Day celebrations at 100 iconic destinations, UNESCO heritage sites

The main stage being readied on Beach Road in Visakhapatnam on Thursday, June 19, 2025, ahead of the International Yoga Day celebrations, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the chief guest.
| Photo Credit: K.R Deepak

The Ministry of Culture will mark the International Day of Yoga on June 21 by organising sessions at 100 iconic destinations and 50 other cultural sites across the country, including some of the UNESCO heritage sites, officials said on Thursday (June 19, 2025).

These will complement the main celebrations, being hosted in Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam that will led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with state Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, and Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan also slated to join in, the Ministry said.

The UNESCO World Heritage Sites where yoga sessions will be held are— Charaideo Moidam (Assam), Rani Ki Vav and Dholavira (Gujarat), Hampi and Pattadakal (Karnataka), Khajuraho Group of Monuments and Sanchi Stupa (Madhya Pradesh), Sun Temple at Konark (Odisha), Elephanta Caves (Maharashtra) and the Brihadisvara Temple at Thanjavur (Tamil Nadu), it said in a statement.

The Ministry of Culture will mark the 11th International Day of Yoga by organising yoga sessions at “100 tourist-based iconic destinations and 50 more cultural sites across the country”, it said.

Union Minister of Culture and Tourism, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat will attend the International Day of Yoga event at the historic Mehrangarh Fort in Rajasthan’s Jodhpur.

Some of the other prominent cultural and historical sites like Golconda Fort and Salarjung Museum (Hyderabad), Humayun’s Tomb, Purana Qila and Safdarjung Tomb (Delhi), Jallianwala Bagh (Punjab), Chittorgarh and Kumbhalgarh Forts (Rajasthan), Leh Palace (Ladakh), Pari Mahal (Srinagar, J&K), Bekal Fort (Kerala), and Hazarduari and Cooch Behar Palaces (West Bengal) among other sites will also host sessions, the Ministry said.

The attached offices, subordinate bodies, and autonomous institutions under the Ministry are playing a vital role in executing this pan-India initiative, “reinforcing the Ministry’s commitment to linking India’s cultural legacy with the wellness traditions of yoga”, the statement said.

The Ministry of Tourism, in a statement, said it will organise a “mass yoga session” on June 21, from 6 to 8 a.m., at the iconic Sun Dial Lawns of the Qutub Minar complex, also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, to mark day.

This year’s global theme, ‘Yoga for One Earth, One Health’, underscores the profound connection between human well-being and ecological balance. The event aims to promote yoga as a powerful tool for physical vitality, mental clarity, emotional peace, and spiritual harmony— all essential in fostering a sustainable and healthy world, it said.

On December 11, 2014, the United Nations General Assembly designated June 21 as the International Day of Yoga. Since then, millions of people around the globe, united by the practice of yoga, have celebrated this day each year.

International Day of Yoga has successfully completed 10 years.

In commemoration of this landmark year, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) will organise yoga sessions at five heritage monument sites— four in Punjab and one in Haryana, under its Chandigarh Circle.

The sites in Punjab are— Bathinda Fort (Bathinda district), Shamsher Khan’s Tomb, Batala, (Gurdaspur district), Maharaja Ranjit Singh Fort, Phillaur (Jalandhar district), besides Jallianwala Bagh (Amritsar district).

The site in Haryana is Ruined Qila (Prithviraj Chauhan’s Fort), Hansi (Hissar district).

These sites are among the 100 iconic sites identified by the Ministry for the celebrations.