Chandigarh’s Capitol Complex warms up International Yoga Day

Chandigarh, June 20 (IANS) The Capitol Complex, one of the acclaimed creations of French architect Le Corbusier, here has been spruced up for global attention as Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead thousands of participants here in the International Yoga Day event on Tuesday.

A total of 30,000 participants, 10,000 each from Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana, donning while T-shirts and black or blue lowers, will perform deep breathing and muscle stretch exercises against the backdrop of the Capitol Complex.

While the main event will be held at Capitol Complex, local residents will do yoga at a total of 180 centres spread across the city for which nearly 45,000 people enrolled.

More than 30,500 India-made coloured mats with the Yoga Day logo will be laid on around 12 lakh sq ft of area for the participants to perform yoga.

“We have made special arrangements for the participants like 40 LED (light-emitting diode) screens and 300 prefabricated bio-toilets have been installed at the main venue,” Home Secretary Anurag Aggarwal told reporters.

Likewise, LED screens have been put up at 100 venues across the city for live telecast of the main event at Capitol Complex.

“This would certainly benefit the residents who may not be able to reach the main venue due to space constraints,” he said.

He said after the one-hour event, which will start at 7 a.m., the participants would be allowed to take home the yoga mats. Each participant would be given one T-shirt and a bag containing printed material.

Before the yoga session, Prime Minister Modi will make a short address.

Deputy Commissioner Ajit Balaji Joshi, the nodal officer of the event, said 600 special buses would be deployed for transporting the participants from Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana to the venue.

The administration has allowed participants to carry mobile phones. It has set up a selfie zone at the entrance of the Capitol Complex where people can click selfies.

For streamlining the entry of participants, Aadhaar-linked radio frequency identification cards have been issued to them.

Modi will arrive in the city late on Monday evening. He will spend the night at Punjab Raj Bhavan.

As per his schedule, he will arrive at the Capitol Complex at 6.45 a.m. on Tuesday for the event. He will leave for Delhi later in the day.

Punjab and Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki along with Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar will receive the Prime Minister at the airport.

Eight VIPs — Solanki, both Chief Ministers Badal and Khattar, union Minister of State for AYUSH Shripad Yesso Naik, Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal, Haryana Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kanwar Pal, local Member Parliament Kirron Kher and Secretary (Ayush) Ajit M. Sharan — will share the dias with Modi.

A 24-member team of public broadcaster Doordarshan equipped with 22 cameras will cover the event live.

In the run-up to the second International Yoga Day, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Baba Ramdev along with their thousands of followers participated in the four-day yoga festival in Chandigarh.

This is the second visit of Modi in six months to Chandigarh’s Capitol Complex.

Last time Modi received visiting French President Francois Hollande at the Capitol Complex. Its nomination as a Unesco heritage site under the trans-serial nomination project will be decided by next month.

The Capitol Complex comprises the buildings of the secretariat, assembly and the high court apart from several monuments.