Bengaluru | Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that Yoga was now popular across the world due to India's initiatives and that it prominently featured in discussions people have with him during his foreign visits.

Yoga has become the gateway to understanding India and many royal families are completely devoted to it, he said, addressing the gathering at the golden jubilee celebrations of Prashanti Kutiram, the residential headquarters campus of Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana (S-VYASA) here.

The PM said he was having the opportunity to experience the wonderful energy of Yoga in this city.

Due to India's initiatives, the whole world celebrates International Yoga Day, he said.

"Whichever country I go to, people discuss about Yoga with me over lunch and dinner," he added.

Karnataka was the land where many teachers and scholars associated with Yoga were born, he said, and invoked iconic Kannada star Dr Rajkumar, saying the late actor was a yoga practitioner.

On the occasion, the PM also digitally laid the foundation stone of the Golden Jubilee Administrative Block and launched the S-VYASA Off-Campus at Thiruvananthapuram in Keralam.