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Born
in 1918, in a small village in Karnataka,
Guru Iyengar hails from a poor and simple
family. At 15, he was initiated into yoga
and mastered it in an incredibly short time.
In 1937 he moved to Pune and joined Deccan
Gymkhana Club as a yoga instructor. In spite
of facing immense financial hardships, he
left the security of a job and started his
own private teaching. Soon, his reputation
grew and he became highly sought after.
Gradually his skill started attracting
distinguished personalities like J.
Krishnamurthi, Swami Shivananda of Rishikesh,
Shri Jayaprakash Narayan, Shri Achyutrao
Patwardhan.
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In
1952, the yogacharya had gained such wide
reaching fame that when the world celebrated
artist Yehudi menuhin visited India, he also
came in contact with the yogacharya. It was
a turning point for him and the violinist
was so elated by his healing powers that he
wanted to introduce yogacharya to the
world.
And from 1954
guru Iyengar has made innumerable
trips around the world popularising the science, art and
philosophy of yoga. His first book "Light
On Yoga” which
is regarded as the bible of yoga has sold more than a million
copies in 14 languages. In 1982, on an invitation of the
educational department of the United Kingdom, he participated
in the festival of india in london and two years later
inaugrated the Iyengar
Yoga Institute
in london. From then he has participated in various
conventions, seminars and demonstrations.
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All over the world, his method of yoga which trancends creed, race
and language is growing from strength to strength. There are
hundreds of Iyengar Yoga Centres teaching his method of yoga in all
parts of the world.
In August 1988, ministry of Federal Star registration, U.S.A. named
a star after him. In
1991, he was awarded the Padma shri
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