BKS Iyengar
Early Years
BKS Iyengar was born in India in 1918. He was born
weak and sickly as his mother contracted influenza
during the world epidemic. As he grew into boyhood his
health deteriorated and by the time he was 17 he was
suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis.
His
brother-in-law Professor T. Krishnamacharya, who had a
Yoga school in Mysore, suggested that Iyengar should
take up Yoga to improve his health and offered to help
him. He excelled in the practice of Yoga and was soon
giving demonstrations and teaching.
International Recognition
Iyengar moved to Pune
in 1936 to take up a job as a Yoga teacher. He married
Srimati Ramamani in 1943 and started his family. His
efforts in Yoga continued with 10 hours practice a day.
Within a few years crowned heads of India, eminent
statesmen and distinguished figures of international
fame became his students. Among them were Dr G S
Pathak, then Vice-President of India. He gave
demonstrations before Dr. Rajendra Prasad, President of
India, Mohmad Hatta, President of Indonesia and the
Pope.
Meeting with Yehudi Menuhin
It was one of his
students, the wife of the internationally renowned
heart specialist Dr Rustam Vakil, who introduced him to
Yehudi Menuhin in 1952 when he asked for a referral to
a yoga master. Menuhin’s violin career was in jeopardy
as a result of overstain; thanks to Iyengar he
recovered completely and named Iyengar his ‘best violin
teacher’. It was Yehudi Menuhin that brought Iyengar to
the West. Iyengar met and taught many of the world’s
leading musicians, such as Lilli Kraus, Sir Clifford
Curzon and Jacqueline du Pre. He also taught Queen
Elizabeth of Belgium.
The Institute in Pune
Iyengar’s Institute in
Pune was built in 1973. Sadly, Ramamani died before the
building was completed. The institute is named in her
memory - Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute.
Iyengar Today
Iyengar has studied and practised
Yoga continuously for more than 65 years. There are now
180 Iyengar Yoga Institutes world-wide and Iyengar Yoga
is taught in more than 40 countries. Internationally
recognised as a leading authority on hatha yoga, BKS
Iyengar has established the relevance of yoga to the
treatment and cure of many illnesses and stress-related
conditions. He has received many prestigious awards,
including Doctor of Science from the United Nations
Charter for Peace, and the Purna Swasthya Award from
the World Federation of Societies of Holistic Medicine.
He has authored a number of books including the
international best-seller, Light on Yoga, Light on the
Sutras of Patanjali and the Tree of Yoga.