Yoga on the mall marks Yoga Day in US capital

Washington, June 21
Hundreds of yoga enthusiasts on Sunday spread their mats at the Sylvan Theatre Stage on the National Mall, right across the towering Washington mountain, for a yoga session to mark the first International Day of Yoga.

Participants wore white T-shirts sporting the hashtag #YogaDay2015. Many brought their own yoga mats and water bottles for the event organised by Friends of Yoga in association with the Indian embassy.

The three-hour event on a bright sunny day after overnight torrential rain, near the 169-metre-high obelisk built to commemorate the first American president George Washington, also featured an interactive programme on guided yoga sessions.

There were yoga instructional videos and Indian dance and music performances too.

A whopping 20.4 million, or 9 percent of all American adults have indulged in "downward dog" (a yoga pose) at one time or the other.

As the day progressed, thousands more spread out on their mats in other public plazas across the country from east to west coast with hundreds doing asanas at New York's iconic Times Square.