B.K.S. Iyengar

A photograph of B.K.S. Iyengar

B.K.S. Iyengar, (aka Yogacharya B.K.S. Iyengar, Guruji) born Bellur Krishnamachar Sundararaja Iyengar, December 14, 1918, in India, is founder of Iyengar Yoga and one of the most respected yoga teachers in the world. Millions of students and followers around the world practice Iyengar Yoga. Iyengar has written a number of definitive yoga texts.

Early years

B.K.S. Iyengar was born into a poor Iyengar family. He had a difficult childhood. Iyengar's home village of Bellur, Karnataka, India, was experiencing an influenza epidemic at the time of his birth, leaving him sickly and weak. Iyengar's father died when he was 9 years old, and he continued to suffer from a variety of maladies in childhood, including malaria, tuberculosis, typhoid fever, and general malnutrition.

At the age of 15 Iyengar went to live with the famous yogi, Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya in Mysore. There, Iyengar began to learn asana practice, which steadily improved his health. Soon his childhood weaknesses were overcome.

With the encouragement of Krishnamacharya, Iyengar moved to Pune to teach yoga in 1937. There his practice developed as he spent many hours each day learning and experimenting in various techniques. As his methods improved, the number of students at his classes increased and his fame spread. In Pune, his brothers introduced him to Ramamani, and they were wed in an arranged marriage in 1943.

International recognition

In 1952, Iyengar met and befriended the famous violinist Yehudi Menuhin. Menuhin arranged for Iyengar to teach abroad in London, Switzerland, Paris and elsewhere. This was the first time that many Westerners had been exposed to yoga, and the practice slowly became well known. In 1966, Iyengar published Light on Yoga, an international best-seller. More than anything else, this book made yoga an international phenomenon. Iyengar Yoga soon became the most practiced form of yoga in Europe and America.

In 1975, Iyengar opened the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute in Pune, in memory of his recently departed wife. He officially retired from teaching in 1984, but continues to be very active in the world of Iyengar Yoga, teaching special classes and writing books. Iyengar's daughter Geeta and son Prashant have become internationally acclaimed teachers in their own right.

External links

Further reading

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