Attempts were made at setting new Guinness world record at the International Yoga festival organised by the State Tourism department at Rishikesh on Tuesday. As part of the attempt, Yoga enthusiasts from across India and abroad did the Veerbhadrasan, Setubandhasan and Rajkapotasan in front of a team from the Guinness world records.

According to department officials, the previous record for Veerbhadrasan was 400 people doing it simultaneously. On Tuesday, in Rishikesh 897 persons did two rounds of it successfully. After that, 897 persons did the Setubandhasan, the Guinness world record for which was 200 persons doing it simultaneously. Finally, 761 Yoga enthusiasts did the Rajkapotasan the standing record for which was 285 persons doing it simultaneously.

The State’s Tourism secretary Dilip Jawalkar congratulated the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN) for this attempt. He said that this time an attempt had also been made to give a new form to the Yoga festival. Through the International Yoga Festival, the State government invites Yoga practitioners and enthusiasts to Rishikesh so that they get to learn the intricacies of Yoga. This event is helping the state develop its identity as an international Yoga and wellness destination, he added.

The GMVN managing director Jyoti Yadav said that the corporation initiated the attempt to set world record in order to make the Yoga festival more exciting. Despite rain on Monday night, the GMVN officials were busy preparing for the attempt at setting a new Guinness world record. With the joint effort of the Yoga enthusiasts and the team from Guinness world records, this attempt had been successful. She further informed that after detailed examination of the evidence, the said organisation will inform the state about breaking of the existing world record and details of the result.