I

t was like a miniaturized Cirque du Soleil had hit town.

Ten children performed a routine of awe-inspiring back-arches on top of each other, building a small, fully-balanced human pyramid that remained solid for a few seconds before being slowly dismantled with a little help from their fellow performers. They then spread out on a red carpet, not too far from each other and began to contort their bodies in mind boggling ways.

But this was no circus. It is the second day of the International Bali-India Yoga Festival, which ended with a mesmerizing yoga competition.

Some 11 groups, comprising of children and adults from all around Indonesia, competed in the event, which saw them contort their bodies in seemingly impossible ways and stack themselves on top of each other seemingly effortlessly.

"Well once you train yourself to a certain extent, the moves and the flexibility required to do the poses will just come naturally," Susi Andrini, a spokesman for the festival told The Jakarta Post during the competition at the Bali-India Foundation's office in Denpasar on Wednesday.

In the end, kids between the age of 8 and 14 dominated the national yoga competition. Susi said the results prove that anyone can excel in yoga.

"Children's bodies are more flexible, which is why I think they performed so well. But the children winning also means that yoga is not just an exercise for adults, but can also be beneficial for children and the elderly," she said.

Yoga became a controversial issue after the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) issued a fatwa (edict) banning yoga on the grounds that it contained certain elements of Hinduism.

The MUI's edict was issued after a similar council in Malaysia also banned yoga. While the Malaysian council banned yoga completely, the Indonesian council permits forms of yoga which are purely physical.

The International Bali-India Yoga Festival will last until March 10 with seminars on various aspects related to yoga.

The first, second and third prizes at the competition were taken by children from the Narayan Seva school in Singaraja, Bali, the Sanstha AGP school in Klungkung, Bali, and the Yoga Flow Studio in Yogyakarta, respectively.

Students from the Narayan Seva school performed the human pyramid move, winning them first prize.

The Narayan Seva School is an orphanage that teaches English, Yoga, drawing, and other art activities.