Hojai (Assam), 12 December (HS): The 18th Assam Yoga Mahotsav has been formally inaugurated on Thursday at Jugal Kishore Kedia Bhawan in Hojai town. Several dignitaries including Rabindranath Tagore University Vice Chancellor Professor Manabendra Dutta Choudhary, MLA, Lumding Shibu Mishra and Hojai constituency MLA Ramakrishna Ghosh attended the inaugural ceremony. Yogacharya Subhashish Kar, President Bharatiya Yoga Culture and Yoga Therapy Centre, Dr. Shantanu Roy Choudhary, Associate Professor and Secretary of Bharatiya Yoga Culture and Yoga Therapy Centre Maligaon, Guwahati were present during the event. During the inaugural session, Swami Bhaveshananda Maharaj, Secretary of Ramakrishna Mission Ashram, Ranchi, Jharkhand was honoured with Swami Sivananda Saraswati Yoga Prerana Puraskar by Professor Manabendra Dutta Choudhary and MLA Ramakrishna Ghosh. A total of 17 eminent personalities were also honoured with various awards including Dr. Niten Barman (Yoga Bhushan), Dr. Anil Pegu (Yoga Vikas), Rina Devi (Yoga Baibhav), Neeta Lahkar Talukdar (Yoga Promoter), Parshmoni Bora (Yoga Kranti Award), Gautam Patwari (Yoga Drishti), Suman Terongpi (Yoga Sentinel), Dr. Hridayananda Tamuli Phukan and Rinjini Khonikar (Yoga Warrior), Ankita Barthakur (Yoga Prasurya), Rashmi Chiring Phukan (Yoga Pratibha), Kanika Das (Yoga Mitra), Rupjyoti Kor (Yoga Rashmi), Manabendra Mandal (Yoga Sevak), Shubhashis Bala (Yoga Prashaarika), Anand Sheel (Yoga Bandhu) and Harshit Konwar Bora (Yoga Samrat).
The inaugural session was conducted by Dhananjay Talukdar, Chief Advisor, Yoga, Cultural and Yoga Therapy Centre, Guwahati. The inaugural ceremony was followed by a colourful yoga procession which was flagged off by local MLA Ramkrishna Ghosh. Yoga cultural programmes and inter-college yoga competitions were also organised which attracted participants from various districts of the state.
During the month-long celebration of the Yoga Mahotsav, various social programmes including yoga awareness meetings, blood donation camps, street plays, Reiki awareness and yoga competitions will be organised across the state. The Yoga Mahotsav will conclude on January 12 next in Guwahati.
---------------
Hindusthan Samachar / Sriprakash
