International Yoga Day | 21 Jun 2019

The fifth annual International Yoga Day will be observed on June 21.

June 21 is observed as International Day of Yoga every year since the United Nations declared it in 2015.

The idea of International Day of Yoga was first proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his speech at the UN General Assembly (UNGA), on September 27, 2014.
A draft resolution on 'International Day of Yoga' introduced by India's Ambassador to UN received support from 177 nations, the highest number of co-sponsors for any UNGA resolution.
Thereafter, the United Nations proclaimed June 21 as the International Day of Yoga.

The theme for fifth International yoga 2019 day is 'Yoga for Heart'.
Jharkhand's capital Ranchi will be hosting the main yoga day event.
International yoga day coincides with the summer solstice.
Yoga is inscribed in the list of UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of India.

Summer Solstice

In the Northern Hemisphere, the summer solstice occurs on June 21 with the longest period of daylight.
On June 21^st, the Northern Hemisphere is tilted towards the sun and the rays of the sun fall directly on the Tropic of Cancer.
As a consequence, areas exposed to sun rays receive extra heat and the areas near the poles get less heat (as the rays of the sun are slanting).
As a large area of the Northern Hemisphere is receiving light from the sun, it is summer in the regions north of the equator and longest day & the shortest night at these places occur on 21^st June.