Jaipur: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party government in Rajasthan has directed all government schools in the state to organise collective performances of the Surya Namaskar on the occasion of Surya Saptami on February 15, with the participants including students, teachers/staff, parents and local villagers.
In an order issued on Tuesday, the Rajasthan Secondary Education Department, Bikaner directed all district education officials to hold practice sessions of the Surya Namaskar during school prayers everyday to prepare for the February 15 event. The order added that data pertaining to those who will take part in the event for a ‘world record’ is also to be collected.
“The students will now be practising Surya Namaskar. Sunlight is very important and plays a very vital role in the health of the body including a source of Vitamin D. Surya Namaskar is a complete exercise. This will continue till February 15 and after that we will decide on it further,” Ashish Modi, director, Rajasthan Secondary Education Department, told The Wire on Wednesday.
Earlier, Rajasthan school education minister Madan Dilawar had told reporters that all government schools will celebrate Surya Saptami on a large scale, with attempts to make it the biggest such programme in the country.
“Surya Saptami is on February 15 and 16, spanning half of each of the two days. We have planned to worship Surya Bhagwan (Sun God) with Surya Namaskar on February 15. Our schools will take the help of people from all spheres to organise such an event which can become the largest such programme in the country in terms of the maximum number of people doing Surya Namaskar at a time. We have started the preparations. During prayer meetings, students will practice Surya Namaskar for at least 15 minutes. We are able to everything due to the light of the Sun God. That is why we have always regarded the Sun as a god. This initiative will also encourage people to exercise and stay healthy,” education minister Dilawar had recently told reporters.
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