The “Yoga My Pride” Photography Contest, will be organised by Ministry of Ayush (MoA) to raise awareness about Yoga and to inspire people to prepare for and become active participants in the observation of IDY 2026. The contest will support participation via the MyGov (https://mygov.in) platform of the Government of India (GoI) at all India level.
Judging will be carried out in two stages viz. shortlisting and final evaluation. Screening Committee will shortlist the eligible contestants as per the criteria. Final winners shall be selected by Committee of prominent and reputed Yoga experts.
Activities to be carried out
Coordination with MoA for getting details and updates about the contest and publishing the details through various social media and other platforms.
Promotion of the contest, evaluation of the submitted photo content, and declaration of the winners as per the specified guidelines.
Publishing the contest guidelines on the website and social media platforms.
Promoting IDY observation through different platforms, including the social media platforms.
Notifying the participants of the details including the terms and conditions of the contest, theme, categories, prizes, guidelines for submission, contest calendar and other details as specified in the accompanying Guidelines for the Contestants.
Promoting the use of the #YogaMyPride.
Deciding and allocating the prize money for various categories in consultation with the approval of the competent authority.
Responding to the participants’ queries and emphasizing the importance of Yoga among various categories of contestants.
Refer to guidelines for contestants for further details.
Evaluation and judging process-related guidelines
Familiarizing with the evaluation and judging process as in these guidelines.
Creating a Screening Committee and an Evaluation Committee consisting of prominent Yoga professionals and Yoga experts.
Carrying out evaluation and declaration of results as per the contestant guidelines on the website and social media platforms.
Contest Guidelines
Visit the dedicated contest page on MyGov.
Select your application category and fill in your details, as requested in the participation form.
Upload your entry on the contest page.
Go through the terms and conditions and click on submit.
Contest Timelines
The entries can be submitted from 26th March 2026.
The deadline for the submission of the entries is 20th April 2026.
In order to participate in this contest, all the entries must be received by this deadline, as per the aforementioned guidelines.
The shortlisted applicants may be contacted by Ministry of Ayush for verification of any information, if required.
Award Categories and Prizes
The contest is proposed to be organized in six categories, as below:
S. No.
Female Categories
S. No.
Male Categories
01.
Youth (Below 18 years)
04.
Youth (Below 18 years)
02.
Adults (18 years and above)
05.
Adults (18 years and above)
03.
Yoga Professionals
06.
Yoga Professionals
The winners will be announced within the aforementioned six categories.
Prizes will be announced in each of the aforementioned six categories:
First Prize - Rs.75,000/-
Second Prize - Rs.50,000/-
Third Prize - Rs.25,000/-
MoA will publish the results through its official channels such as the Website and Social Media handles and will reach out to the winners for further details. If unreachable/unresponsive, MoA reserves the right to select alternate winners for the contest
Any changes/updates to the contest will be published through the official communication channels of MoA, the MyGov platform, and their official social media channels.
Evaluation Process
Evaluation will be conducted in two stages as provided below,
Shortlisting of entries
Final evaluation
The entries will be shortlisted by the screening committee, based on the contest guidelines to provide a filtered number of entries to the final evaluation panel for consideration and selection.
The winners will be selected from the shortlisted entries, by an evaluation committee consisting of prominent Yoga experts.
Once winners are decided, the top 3 entries in each category will be evaluated by an evaluation committee to decide on the prize winners.
Suggestive Evaluation Criteria
Marks can be given on each criterion ranging from 0-5, where 0-1 will be for non- compliance/moderate compliance, 2 for compliance, 3 and above depending on the performance. The following criteria and the accompanying scoring are only indicative/suggestive and may be revised as deemed appropriate by the respective evaluation and screening committees.
S. No.
Suggestive Criteria
Maximum Marks (Out of 50)
01.
Correctness of the yoga pose
10
02.
Appropriateness of the slogan to the photograph
10
03.
Quality of the photograph, (Colour, lighting, exposure and focus)
10
04.
Creativity and clarity of expression and inspirational power
10
05.
Background of the photograph
10
Total Marks
50
Terms and Conditions/ Contest Guidelines
The entries must include a photograph of yoga pose of the applicant (OF ONE-SELF) against a background and a short slogan/theme not more than 15 words depicting that photograph. The photograph should resonate with the theme or description.
The photograph can be taken in a background such as Heritage Sites, iconic places, Scenic Nature, Tourist destinations, lakes, rivers, hills, forests, studio, home etc.
The contest is open to all, irrespective of their age, gender, profession etc. However, MoA’s employees and their relatives will not be eligible to participate in the contest due to a potential conflict of interest.
The applicants must not disclose their personal identity, i.e. name, caste etc. in the photo entry submitted.
A person can participate onlyunderonecategoryandcanuploadonlyonephoto. People submitting entries under more than one category or submitting multiple entries/ photos will be disqualified and their entries not evaluated.
All the entries/photos must be in a digital format uploaded on MyGov platform
Participants should upload photographs in JPEG/PNG/SVG format only, and the file size should not exceed 2MB.
The entries are to be submitted only through the MyGov contest link; no other submissions will be accepted.
Submissions/entries will not be accepted once the deadline lapses i.e. 20th April 17.00 hrs. The Ministry reserves the right to shorten/extend the deadline of the contest at its discretion.
An entry may be disregarded if category related information or any other relevant information crucial for the administration of the contest is incomplete or deficient. Participants should select the appropriate category such as Male/Female and Youth/Adult/Professional within which they are submitting their entry and ensure that all the information provided by them is complete. Absence of email and Phone number in the online application will also entail awarding the prize to the subsequent shortlisted applicant in case of winning the prize.
Photos that portray or otherwise include inappropriate and/or offensive content, including provocative nudity, violence, human rights and/or environmental violation, and/or any other contents deemed to be contrary to the law, religious, cultural & moral traditions and practices of India, are strictly prohibited and will be immediately discarded and disqualified. The Ministry reserves the right to disregard any other such entry that the evaluation committee may deem inappropriate and offensive, apart from the criteria mentioned above.
The applicant will be disqualified from the contest if it is found that he/she is trying to influence any member of the evaluation committee by writing letters, sending emails, making telephone calls, approaching in person or any other similar activity.
Any applicant found to give a false declaration of age is bound to be disqualified. Winners will have to produce Aadhar card for bonafide proof of age, failing to do so would again entail disqualification.
The applicants below 18 years of age may get login ID created by the parents and also obtain the consent of their parents to participate in this category.
The decisions of the screening committee and the evaluation committee will be final and binding for all the applicants. The evaluation committee may seek clarifications on any aspect (including age) of the entry from the applicant, and if the same is not furnished within the given time, the entry could be disqualified.
By entering the contest, the participants acknowledge that they have read the terms and conditions governing the contest, and agree to them, including,
Photo submitted in the contest is an original image created and does not infringe on the copyrights and intellectual property rights of any person or entity.
Abiding by any and all final decisions taken by the evaluation committee and MoA.
Providing consent to the Ministry to announce the names of winners.
Any copyright infringement will lead to disqualification and forfeiture of prize money. The decision of the selection committee and evaluation committee will be final in this regard.
The applicants who are shortlisted may be requested to furnish additional information if required. A failure to do so within 5 working days may lead to the disqualification of their entry from further consideration.
The Ministry bears no responsibility for any costs or damages incurred by the participant in the process of participating in the contest. Entry to the contest is completely free of charge and neither the Ministry nor any of its affiliated bodies charge any fees for participation in this contest.
MoA will own all rights, titles, interests including all related Intellectual Property Rights in the contents submitted by the applicants for this contest. The applicants may understand that their consent for the use of their entries, by MoA, for any promotional activities in future, is inherent and included in their act of submission of their entries for this contest.
Confidentiality
The personal information of all the applicants will be kept confidential.
The announcements will only reveal the identities of the winners of the contest, with information such as name, age, gender, category of award.
By entering the contest, the participants provide the Ministry, the consent to use their names and basic information for contest related announcements—such as the announcement of shortlisted entries, and of winners.
The Ministry does not bear any responsibility for any copyright or IPR infringement. Participants are solely responsible for any copyright infringement arising from their contest submission.
The applicants may understand that their consent for the use of their entries, by MoA, for any promotional activities in future, is inherent and included in their act of submission of their entries for this contest.
Declaration by the Applicant
I hereby declare that the photograph for the contest is submitted my me and that the subject in the photograph is myself. The information provided by me in the application form are true. In the event of winning, if any information provided by me turns out to be false or if the photograph has copyright infringement then I understand that I may be disqualified from the contest and will have no right or say whatsoever on the decisions taken by the evaluation committee. I give consent to use this photograph for online promotional activities of the Ministry of Ayush in future.
