Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday announced that Andhra Pradesh will organise the statewide Yoga Andhra-2026 campaign from June 7 to June 20 as part of the observance of the 12th International Day of Yoga, with a target of engaging one crore people in yoga activities across the state.
Addressing the media at the Secretariat, the Chief Minister said Yoga Andhra-2026 would culminate in a mega event in Amaravati, where 25,000 participants will perform yoga on the Krishna River West Bypass Bridge. He stressed that yoga should become a daily habit in every household and evolve into a mass movement for building a healthy Andhra Pradesh.
Chandrababu said yoga forms a key component of the government's Swarna Andhra 2047 Vision, aimed at improving public health outcomes and promoting preventive healthcare. The government has set long-term goals of training 10 lakh certified yoga practitioners, expanding the network to 2.5 lakh yoga instructors, and encouraging one crore people to practice yoga regularly throughout the year.
To support the initiative, the state government has allocated a special budget of Rs 10 crore for infrastructure, publicity and event management.
The Chief Minister also launched the Yoga Andhra Portal, which will serve as the central platform for registrations, programme schedules, instructional content and other information related to Yoga Andhra-2026.
Highlighting the success of last year's programme conducted in Visakhapatnam in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chandrababu noted that Yoga Andhra-2025 earned two Guinness World Records, 21 World Book of Records recognitions and a Skoch Award. He said 2.44 crore people had registered for the programme, while certificates were issued to 1.91 crore participants.
The government has designed district-specific themes to encourage wider participation. Special yoga programmes will be conducted for groups such as police personnel in NTR district and farmers in Konaseema district. Yoga events will also be held at 56 prominent tourist destinations, including Undavalli Caves and Srisailam, as part of efforts to promote Yoga Tourism.
The Chief Minister said the government is working to integrate yoga into educational institutions so that healthy habits can be developed from an early age. He added that more than 168 educational yoga videos have been developed and can be accessed through a dedicated WhatsApp platform.
Chandrababu said the initiative is being implemented with support from several spiritual and wellness organisations, including Art of Living, Isha Foundation, Brahma Kumaris, Baba Ramdev, Manthena Satyanarayana Raju and Prakriti Ashram. He also announced that Yoga Andhra would be integrated with the government's Sanjeevani Project to strengthen preventive healthcare and wellness across the state.