A breathtaking spectacle unfolded along the Bay of Bengal on Saturday as more than 3.01 lakh people assembled on Visakhapatnam’s iconic coastline to perform yoga in unison, marking what officials described as a new Guinness World Record for the largest gathering at a single location to perform the ancient practice.
The event — part of Andhra Pradesh’s month-long Yogandhra campaign — culminated in a 45-minute synchronised session stretching from RK Beach to Bhogapuram. Participants included students, Navy personnel, professionals, and tribal communities, with a remarkable turnout of over 11,000 sailors and family members from the Eastern Naval Command, who also conducted yoga on anchored naval ships.
‘India’s gift to the world’
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan, and several state ministers joined the historic gathering, transforming the beachfront into a sea of mats and meditative focus. Addressing the media, Naidu said,
“3.03 lakh people gathered here to perform the ancient practice, creating a world record for most people performing Yoga in a single location.”
He added that the exact tally would be confirmed by Guinness officials, who were present on-site and later handed over the official certificate to Ministers Nara Lokesh and Satya Kumar.
Earlier in the morning, as the sun rose over the coastline, more than three lakh voices joined in chanting Om, resonating across the city and creating a deeply emotive atmosphere.
“This is not just our record, it is India’s gift to the world,” Naidu said.
Also read: Yoga leads us from ‘me to we,’ says PM Modi in Visakhapatnam
Another record for Surya Namaskar
A second Guinness Record certificate was awarded for a mass surya namaskar event held a day earlier in which 22,122 tribal students took part. Lokesh called the event a “gift to Prime Minister Narendra Modi” and a “victory of people of Andhra”, attributing the massive success to grassroots engagement and awareness created during the preceding month-long campaign.
Security and coordination
The success of the event, observers noted, was underpinned by meticulous planning. Authorities established 326 designated performance compartments, coordinated via 607 Urban Secretariats and additional rural teams. A workforce of 5,000 volunteers and 15,000 security personnel was deployed for crowd management and safety. More than 1,200 water stations and 800 medical camps were set up along the route. Each participant received a free yoga mat.
Advanced AI-assisted systems were used for real-time monitoring and headcounts, while emergency services were kept on standby.
Institutional push for yoga
The state government announced a series of long-term yoga initiatives in the aftermath of the event. From 2026, yoga will be mandatory in all state-run schools. Plans are underway to establish 1,000 certified yoga centres across Andhra Pradesh. Visakhapatnam will be promoted as India’s Yoga Tourism Capital and will host an Annual International Yoga Festival, starting this year.
Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan said the event demonstrated the role of yoga in building a “healthy and focused society”, while CM Naidu remarked that it exemplified how “modern planning can support traditional practices like yoga.”
Unity across communities
Participants came from every walk of life — from bureaucrats and government employees to students, women, the elderly and children.
The Yogandhra campaign had already reached over 2.17 crore participants across Andhra Pradesh in the weeks leading up to the final event.
PM Modi lauded the effort, saying it reflected India’s spiritual strength, and congratulated the state government for creating an event of global calibre.
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