International Yoga Day 

The International Day of Yoga has been celebrated annually on June 21 since 2015, following its inception in the United Nations General Assembly in 2014

Yoga is a physical, mental and spiritual practice which originated in India.

According to Hindu mythology, Shiva is considered to be the originator of yoga. He is said to be the Adiyogi, the first yogi (adi ="first"). Summer solstice holds importance in the yogic culture as it is considered to be the very beginning of the yoga.

Yoga was brought to the people by the "Saptarishis". The Vedas explain how Shiva's second teaching as a Adiyogi was devoted to the Saptarishis. It is said that Shiva was sitting in blissful meditation for years, many people flocked to him out of curiosity, but left as he never paid attention to anyone.

But seven people stayed, they were so determined to learn from Shiva, that they sat still for 84 years. After this, on the day of summer solstice, when the sun was shifting from the northern to the southern run, Shiva took notice of these 7 beings - he could no longer ignore them. The next full moon, 28 days later, Shiva turned into the Adiguru (the first teacher), and transmitted the science of yoga to the Saptarishis

On 11 December 2014, India's Permanent Representative Asoke Mukherji introduced the draft resolution in the United Nations General Assembly. The draft text received broad support from 177 Member States who sponsored the text, which was adopted without a vote. This initiative found support from many global leaders. A total of 177 nations co-sponsored the resolution, which is the highest number of co-sponsors ever for any UNGA resolution of such nature.

The first International Day of Yoga was observed around the world on 21 June 2015. The Ministry of AYUSH made the necessary arrangements in India. 35,985 people

Two general theories exist on the origins of yoga. The linear model holds that yoga has Vedic origins, as reflected in the Vedic textual corpus, and influenced Buddhism; according to author Edward Fitzpatrick Crangle, this model is mainly supported by Hindu scholars. According to the synthesis model, yoga is a synthesis of indigenous, non-Vedic and Vedic elements; this model is favoured in Western scholarship.

Yoga is first mentioned in the Rigveda, and is referred to in a number of the Upanishads.

The first known appearance of the word "yoga" with the same meaning as the modern term is in the Katha Upanishad