New Delhi, June 21 (IANS): Hundreds of people were disappointed after being denied entry to the International Yoga Day venue at Rajpath on Sunday.

Most of them said they were not aware that passes were mandatory for the event.

Pokraram Bishnoi, 70, from Jalore in Rajasthan tried his best to enter the venue but failed. He said he had been performing yoga from the age of 18 years and had been surviving on fruits and milk for 18 long years.

Bishnoi told IANS that he reached Delhi on Friday and had tried to get passes for the event since then but did not succeed.

Not to be discouraged, Bishnoi and a couple of his companions started performing yoga at the Rail Bhavan square. Soon several others who too had been denied entry joined them.

Jeetendra Choubey and Ram Akhilesh Singh from Ali Gaon near Badarpur in south Delhi told IANS that he had been getting messages about Sunday's event on his mobile phone for the past 10 days.

"But when I reached here early in the morning, I was refused entry as I did not have an entry pass," said Choubey.

"Common people should have also been allowed to enter just like during Independence Day and Republic Day functions."

A group from Uruguay also got upset when they could not enter the main venue. One them, who identified himself as Martin, told IANS that they were touring India.

Martin told IANS: "We are enjoying yoga at roads."