Vizag sets new Guinness record with over 3 lakh participants in historic yoga event

Visakhapatnam made history on Saturday by hosting the largest-ever yoga gathering at a single location.

This marked the 11th International Day of Yoga with a record-breaking turnout of more than three lakh participants.

The event, held along a 28-kilometre coastal stretch from RK Beach to Bhogapuram, set a new Guinness World Record, surpassing the previous record of 1.47 lakh participants set in Surat in 2023.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the massive yoga session, performing the Common Yoga Protocol alongside 3.01 lakh attendees. He was joined by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, Governor S. Abdul Nazeer, and several Union and state ministers.

The large-scale celebration was the grand finale of the month-long ‘Yogandhra’ campaign, which engaged over 2.17 crore participants across the state. The campaign aimed to promote the practice of yoga as a unifying and holistic discipline.

Participants included a wide spectrum of society: political leaders, bureaucrats, professionals, youth, students, women, children, and senior citizens. Approximately 11,000 Navy personnel and their families also took part, with additional yoga sessions conducted aboard naval vessels stationed off Visakhapatnam by the Eastern Naval Command.

Authorities meticulously coordinated the event across 326 designated compartments, with each group managed through a network of 607 Urban Secretariats and additional rural units. Participants performed yoga asanas in synchronised formations, showcasing the discipline's power to bring people together.

Guinness World Records representatives officially certified the achievement and presented the record certificate to state ministers Nara Lokesh and Satya Kumar. They were also awarded a second certificate for another record set the day before—a mass Surya Namaskar event that saw the participation of 22,122 tribal students.

Expressing pride in the accomplishment, Lokesh said, "This event was organised to give Prime Minister Narendra Modi the gift of a Guinness Book of World Record." He described it as a "victory of the people of Andhra" and credited the widespread awareness built through the month-long campaign.

He also acknowledged the Prime Minister’s appreciation, saying, “This has increased my responsibilities.”