Yoga joins UNESCO's list of world treasures

Yoga is practiced by young and old alike throughout the world, UNESCO noted.[Photo by Zhu Xingxin/China Daily]

Yoga, the mind-body discipline based on ancient Indian philosophy that is now practiced the world over, has joined UNESCO's list of intangible world heritage treasures.

The discipline was added on Thursday to the prestigious list in recognition of its influence on Indian society, "from health and medicine to education and the arts", the World Heritage Committee said in a statement.

"Designed to help individuals build self-realization, ease any suffering they may be experiencing and allow for a state of liberation, (yoga) is practiced by the young and old without discriminating against gender, class or religion," UNESCO added in a tweet.

The list of intangible cultural treasures was created 10 years ago, mainly to increase awareness about them, while UNESCO also sometimes offers financial or technical support to countries struggling to protect them.

On Wednesday, the Paris-based UN body meeting in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa added Cuba's rumba dance and Belgium's beer culture to the list, which also includes the Mediterranean diet, Peking opera and the Peruvian scissors dance.

On Tuesday, the UN body designated Ugandan traditional music, which is dying out partly because it requires materials from endangered species, as an intangible heritage that is "in urgent need of safeguarding".

UNESCO began compiling a list of cultural and natural world heritage treasures - physical sites such as Cambodia's Angkor Wat or the Grand Canyon in the United States - in 1972.

The list now comprises 814 cultural sites, 203 natural ones and 35 with both natural and cultural qualities.