Yogis celebrate Int'l Yoga Day at Citadel

AMMAN — Yoga enthusiasts from Jordan, India and several other nationalities on Thursday gathered at the Citadel in Amman to celebrate the Fourth International Day of Yoga with an open-air practice hosted by the embassy of India.

Under the patronage of the Ministry of Tourism, the event attracted an audience of 400 people, including officials, diplomats, representatives of yoga associations and the Jordan-India Friendship Society. 

Lina Annab, minister of tourism and special guest of the occasion, thanked Indian Ambassador Shubhdarshini Tripathi for “making sure we get the chance to celebrate this art and discipline every year”, expressing her delight over “becoming more exposed to yoga, as it comes from a country that Jordanians love: India”.

“More and more people are practising yoga in Jordan and the entire world,” the minister noted, stressing “if only more people knew about the importance of yoga and what it does to our minds, bodies and souls, we would be a much better society both as individuals and as a whole.” 

For her part, Tripathi expressed her joy over celebrating the occasion in “such an iconic and historical venue as the Amman Citadel”, noting “it is a very calm and serene space surrounded by cacophony, crowds and noises and, yet, it stands tall and elevated in complete harmony with itself and its surroundings.”

“This is exactly what yoga does to you,” the ambassador continued, elaborating on how “despite the relentless chaos disrupting our daily lives, yoga gives us a reason to be tranquil, composed and in complete harmony with ourselves and what revolves around us.”

Experts and trainers from several yoga institutes based in Amman were also present at the celebration, where they were granted certificates of appreciation by the minister and the ambassador.

Ghazal Mahmoud, a yoga instructor, echoed the thoughts of Annab on the spread of yoga across the Kingdom over the past years, noting “more and more yoga studios are opening not only in Amman, but [in] other cities all over Jordan.”

The evening concluded with the recitation of the Shanti Mantras, a series of Hindu prayers for peace generally recited at the beginning and end of religious rituals and discourses in India.