NEW DELHI, INDIA, June 21, 2021 (WSJ): As yoga grew in popularity in recent years, foreign visitors flocked to the northern Indian town of Rishikesh, which brands itself as the world’s yoga capital. But the pandemic has hit the town of 100,000 on the banks of the Ganges River, with international tourists unable to visit and many of its yoga schools forced to close for much of the past year. The pandemic has heightened yoga’s relevance in some ways as many have turned to it not just for its physical benefits but to fight the effects of social isolation and depression, according to the United Nations, which marks June 21 as the International Day of Yoga. The U.N. created the day in 2014, following a proposal by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “Today, when the entire world is fighting against the Covid-19 pandemic, Yoga has become a ray of hope,” Mr. Modi said on Monday.
Yoga practices originated in India more than 2,500 years ago, and have spread to the West in the last century. Located in the foothills of the Himalayan mountains, Rishikesh has served as a place for Hindu sages and pilgrims to meditate, pray, or stopover on their journey up to the mountains. Its spiritual connection has long attracted international visitors. Yoga’s international popularity gave birth to a cottage industry in Rishikesh, training people to be instructors. The town has more than 200 yoga schools within a few square miles of the town center. The schools had to close abruptly when India announced a nationwide lockdown in late March 2020. Though the schools were allowed to open after a few months last year, India hasn’t allowed international tourism to resume, crushing the main source of income for most schools.
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