Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi on Wednesday, June 21, 2023 said while Tamil Nadu was a very progressive State and had spread the light of Yoga to the whole country, the State also had the largest number of people with diabetes, which is a cause for concern.
Speaking during the International Yoga Day celebrations at Annamalai University in Chidambaram, he said India had gifted yoga for the benefit of the world. However, “It is also a fact that today in our State doctors say that we have perhaps the largest number of people who suffer from diabetes. Diabetes is not an infectious disease that spreads through viruses or bacteria. People say it is hereditary but with adequate and proper lifestyle it can be kept away,” Mr. Ravi said.
Pointing out that the high prevalence of diabetes was a cause for worry, the Governor urged students and practitioners of yoga to spread the light of yoga. Students and yoga practitioners should spread yoga in the villages. Yoga is the cheapest way to keep one healthy, he said.
Mr. Ravi said he started practising yoga at a very young age and ensured it at least one hour five days a week. This has kept me in reasonably good health so far.
“We are proud all the more because Tamil Nadu is the land where yoga originated. It came from this land and spread the light of yoga throughout the length and breadth of this country and now it has gone all over the world. The great saint Thirumoolar gave Thirumandiram some 3,000 years ago and he also gave us Ashtanga yoga which Rishi Patanjali incorporated in Sanskrit,” according to him.
It is the responsibility of yoga teachers and practitioners in Tamil Nadu to spread it to its higher level of evolution, he said. Tamil Nadu is a very progressive State and it has been the land of Siddhars and Yogis for several thousands of years. It gave the light that has spread through the whole of the country and “this country Bharat was born,” the Governor said.
Vice-Chancellor of Annamalai University R.M. Kathiresan and Deans of various faculties participated.
