14 photos of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi leading 35,000 people in yoga

We write a lot about the economic policies of India's somewhat eccentric prime minister, Narendra Modi.

But maintaining a competitive rupee and a small current account deficit aren't the only things keeping the prime minister busy in office.

He also invented International Yoga Day.

That's right, all those people you saw practicing yoga in Times Square on Sunday? That was Modi's idea.

He proposed it to the United Nations last year and offered June 21 as a suggested date because it was also summer solstice.

People joined in in France, China, Egypt, and Afghanistan. And, of course, in India.

Modi made a speech to the nearly 36,000 participants who gathered in Delhi on Sunday. Then he surprised the crowd by getting down on the ground and joining in with them for a 35-minute session.

But his yoga day did not come without criticism: activists contend that the prime minister, who had a reputation as a hardline Hindu nationalist when he was a state minister, is trying to force yoga on minorities, according to Reuters.

Other people reportedly said that they're quite happy practicing yoga in their personal lives and don't need the prime minister to tell them what to do.

Here are 14 photos of Modi doing yoga.