25-06-2025
‘Zero civic sense': Yoga day event turns ugly in Vishakhapatnam as locals fight over free mats, viral video sparks outrage
On the International Day of Yoga 2025, on June 21, Vishakhapatnam created a new Guinness World Record for the largest gathering. There were over three lakh people. However, chaos erupted soon after the event concluded as locals ran to loot free yoga mats.
The now-viral video, which sparked outrage on social media, shows several locals throwing punches at each other to grab the free yoga mats that were given away during the event. As the video progresses, locals can be seen grabbing three to four yoga mats and exiting the venue. Sharing the video, an X user @TARUNspeakss wrote, 'Yoga mats looted after the Guinness World record on Yoga day in Vishakhapatnam. Zero civic sense bhai!'
Watch here:
Yoga mats looted after the Guiness World record on Yoga day in Vishakhapatnam.
Zero civic sense bhai! 🤦
— Tarun Gautam (@TARUNspeakss) June 25, 2025
The video quickly gained traction, prompting numerous reactions. One user said, 'Wonderful people fighting for Mats,they will do anything for free.' Another user commented, 'Let's announce this as a new tradition, it will make us not lose our reputation world wide.'
'Poverty, zero civic sense, culture, etc,' a third user wrote. 'They probably were brought there with the promise of yoga mats at the end. Otherwise there is absolutely no way they are gathering there to do yoga,' a fourth user said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the yoga session in Vishakhapatnam, performing the Common Yoga Protocol at RK Beach. Prominent leaders, including Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, Governor S Abdul Nazeer, and many central and state ministers, also joined him.
The event spanned a 28-kilometer stretch from RK Beach to Bhogapuram, making it the largest yoga gathering at a single location. It broke the previous record set in 2023 by Surat, which hosted 1.47 lakh participants.
