Template:Short description Template:EngvarB Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox person
Bellur Krishnamachar Sundararaja Iyengar (14 December 1918 – 20 August 2014) was an Indian teacher of yoga and author. He is the founder of the style of yoga as exercise, known as "Iyengar Yoga", and was considered one of the foremost yoga gurus in the world.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="igengar">Aubrey, Allison. "Light on life: B.K.S. Iyengar's Yoga insights". NPR. Morning Edition, 10 November 1995. Retrieved 4 July 2007.</ref><ref name=gather>Template:Cite news</ref> He was the author of many books on yoga practice and philosophy including Light on Yoga, Light on Pranayama, Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, and Light on Life. Iyengar was one of the earliest students of Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, who is often referred to as "the father of modern yoga".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> He has been credited with popularizing yoga, first in India and then around the world.Template:Sfn
The Indian government awarded Iyengar the Padma Shri in 1991, the Padma Bhushan in 2002, and the Padma Vibhushan in 2014.<ref name="Hindustan Times - awards">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2004, Iyengar was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine.<ref>"2004 Time 100 – B.K.S. Iyengar". Time. 2004.</ref><ref name="BKS">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Early yearsEdit
B.K.S. Iyengar was born into a poor Sri Vaishnava Iyengar family<ref name="notablebiographies">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> in Bellur, Kolar district,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Karnataka, India. He was the 11th of 13 children (10 of whom survived) born to Sri Krishnamachar, a school teacher, and Sheshamma.<ref name=freedom>Template:Cite book</ref> When Iyengar was five years old, his family moved to Bangalore. Four years later, the 9-year-old boy lost his father to appendicitis.<ref name=freedom/>
Iyengar's home town, Bellur, was in the grip of the influenza pandemic at the time of his birth, and an attack of that disease left the young boy sickly and weak for many years. Throughout his childhood, he struggled with malaria, tuberculosis, typhoid fever, and general malnutrition. "My arms were thin, my legs were spindly, and my stomach protruded in an ungainly manner" he wrote. "My head used to hang down, and I had to lift it with great effort."<ref name="nytimes.com">Template:Cite news</ref>
Education in yogaEdit
In 1934, B. K. S. Iyengar's brother-in-law, the yogi Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, asked him to come to Mysore, so as to improve his health through the practice of yoga asanas.<ref name=freedom/>Template:Sfn Krishnamacharya had Iyengar and other students give asana demonstrations in the Maharaja's court at Mysore, which had a positive influence on Iyengar.<ref name=freedom/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Iyengar considers his association with his brother-in-law a turning point in his life<ref name=freedom/> saying that over a two-year period "he (Krishnamacharya) only taught me for about ten or fifteen days, but those few days determined what I have become today!"<ref name="Namarupa Interview">Template:Cite journal</ref> K. Pattabhi Jois has claimed that he, and not Krishnamacharya, was Iyengar's guru.Template:Sfn In 1937, Krishnamacharya sent Iyengar to Pune at the age of eighteen to spread the teaching of yoga.<ref name=freedom/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Though Iyengar had very high regard for Krishnamacharya,<ref name="Namarupa Interview"/> and occasionally turned to him for advice, he had a troubled relationship with his guru during his tutelage.<ref name="IBN Interview Pt 1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In the beginning, Krishnamacharya predicted that the stiff, sickly teenager would not be successful at yoga. He was neglected and tasked with household chores. Only when Krishnamacharya's favorite pupil at the time, Keshavamurthy, left one day did serious training start.<ref name="Ruiz">Template:Cite news</ref> Krishnamacharya began teaching a series of difficult postures, sometimes telling him to not eat until he mastered a certain posture. These experiences would later inform the way he taught his students.<ref name="IBN Interview Pt 2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Iyengar reported in interviews that, at age 90, he continued to practice asanas for three hours and pranayamas for an hour daily. Besides this, he mentioned that he found himself performing non-deliberate pranayamas at other times.<ref name="Namarupa Interview"/><ref name="IBN Interview Pt 1"/>
International recognitionEdit
In 1952, Iyengar befriended the violinist Yehudi Menuhin.<ref name=yehudi1>Template:Cite news</ref> Menuhin gave him the opportunity that transformed Iyengar from a comparatively obscure Indian yoga teacher into an international guru. Because Iyengar had taught the famous philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti, he was asked to go to Bombay to meet Menuhin, who was known to be interested in yoga. Menuhin said he was very tired and could spare only five minutes. Iyengar told him to lie down in Savasana (on his back), and he fell asleep. After one hour, Menuhin awoke refreshed and spent another two hours with Iyengar. Menuhin came to believe that practising yoga improved his playing, and in 1954 invited Iyengar to Switzerland. At the end of that visit, he presented his yoga teacher with a watch on the back of which was inscribed, "To my best violin teacher, BKS Iyengar". From then on Iyengar visited the west regularly.<ref name="BKS Iyengar obituary">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In Switzerland he also taught Vanda Scaravelli, who went on to develop her own style of yoga.<ref name=YI2015>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
He taught yoga to several celebrities including Krishnamurti and Jayaprakash Narayan.<ref name=sakal1>Template:Cite news</ref> He taught sirsasana (head stand) to Elisabeth, Queen of Belgium when she was 80.<ref name=queen>Template:Cite journal</ref> Among his other devotees were the novelist Aldous Huxley, the actress Annette Bening, the film maker Mira Nair and the designer Donna Karan, as well as prominent Indian figures, including the cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and the Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor.<ref name="nytimes.com"/>
Iyengar made his first visit to the United States in 1956, when he taught in Ann Arbor, Michigan and gave several lecture-demonstrations; he came back to Ann Arbor in 1973, 1974, and 1976.<ref name="IYNAUS Obituary">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In 1966, Iyengar published his first book, Light on Yoga. It became an international best-seller. Template:As of, it had been translated into 17 languages and sold three million copies.<ref name=gather/> It was followed by 13 other books, covering pranayama and aspects of yoga philosophy.<ref name="WorldCat">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In 1967, the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) called for classes in "Hatha Yoga", free of yoga philosophy, but including asanas and "pranayamas (sic)" suitable especially for people aged over 40. The ILEA's Peter McIntosh watched some of Iyengar's classes, was impressed by Light on Yoga, and from 1970 ILEA-approved yoga teacher training in London was run by one of Iyengar's pupils, Silva Mehta. Iyengar was careful to comply with the proscription of yoga philosophy, and encouraged students to follow their own religious traditions, rather than trying to follow his own family's Visistadvaita, a qualified non-dualism within Hinduism.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
- Yehudi Menuhin 43.jpg
In 1954, the violinist Yehudi Menuhin invited Iyengar to teach in Europe.
- BKS Iyengar Centre House (cropped).jpg
Iyengar at Iyengar Centre House, London, 1971
| File:Iyengar in Natarajasana.jpg
Iyengar in his signature pose, Natarajasana |
"As the signature pose of Iyengar, the most acclaimed master of postural yoga, Natarajasana became the representative yoga pose of the late 20th century... Iyengar saw himself as Nataraja's avatar. And he clearly (sometimes desperately) wanted us to see him as the incarnation of Nataraja. So he came close to conflating the yogin and the dancer." — Elliott GoldbergTemplate:Sfn |
In 1975, Iyengar opened the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute in Pune, in memory of his late wife. He officially retired from teaching in 1984, but continued to be active in the world of Iyengar Yoga, teaching special classes, giving lectures, and writing books. Iyengar's daughter, Geeta, and son, Prashant, have gained international acclaim as teachers.<ref name="BKS"/>
Iyengar attracted his students by offering them just what they sought – which tended to be physical stamina and flexibility.<ref name="IBN Interview Pt 1"/> He conducted demonstrations and later, when a scooter accident dislocated his spine, began exploring the use of props to help disabled people practice Yoga. He drew inspiration from Hindu deities such as Yoga Narasimha and stories of yogis using trees to support their asanas.<ref name="IBN Interview Pt 2"/> He was however thought by his students to be somewhat rough with his adjustments when setting people into alignment; the historian of yoga Elliott Goldberg records that, as well as being known for barking orders and yelling at students,Template:Sfn he was nicknamed, based on his initials B. K. S., "Bang, Kick, Slap".Template:Sfn In Goldberg's view, Iyengar "rationalized his humiliation of his followers as a necessary consequence of his demand for high standards",Template:Sfn but this was consistent with his childhood response to the rough and abusive treatment he received from Krishnamacharya, taking offence quickly, being suspicious of other people's intentions, and belittling others: "In other words, he sometimes behaved like Krishnamacharya".Template:Sfn Goldberg concludes, however, that Iyengar hid "a compassion of which Krishnamacharya was never capable", and his students remembered his playfulness as well as his unpredictable temper.Template:Sfn
Philanthropy and activismEdit
Iyengar supported nature conservation, stating that it is important to conserve all animals and birds.<ref name=zoo/> He donated Rs. 2 million to Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens, Mysore, thought to be the largest donation by an individual to any zoo in India.<ref name=zoo>Template:Cite news</ref> He also adopted a tiger and a cub in memory of his wife, who died in 1973.<ref name=zoo/>
Iyengar helped promote awareness of multiple sclerosis with the Pune unit of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of India.<ref name=fight>Template:Cite news</ref>
Iyengar's most important charitable project involved donations to his ancestral village of Bellur, in the Kolar district of Karnataka. Through the Bellur Trust fund which he established, he led a transformation of the village, supporting a number of charitable activities there. He built a hospital, India's first temple dedicated to Patanjali, a free school that supplies uniforms, books, and a hot lunch to the children of Bellur and the surrounding villages, a secondary school, and a college.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
FamilyEdit
In 1943, Iyengar married 16-year-old Ramamani in a marriage that was arranged by their parents. He said of their marriage: "We lived without conflict as if our two souls were one."<ref name="BKS Iyengar obituary"/> Together, they raised five daughters and a son. Ramamani died in 1973 aged 46; Iyengar named his yoga institute in Pune, the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute, after her.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Both Iyengar's eldest daughter Geeta (1944–2018) and his son Prashant have become internationally known teachers in their own right. His other children are Vanita, Sunita, Suchita, and Savita.<ref>Template:Cite book Template:No ISBN</ref> Geeta, having worked extensively on yoga for women, published Yoga: A Gem for Women (2002); Prashant is the author of several books, including A Class after a Class: Yoga, an Integrated Science (1998), and Yoga and the New Millennium (2008). Since Geeta's death, Prashant has served as the director of the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute (RIMYI) in Pune.<ref>Biography: Geeta Iyengar</ref> Iyengar's granddaughter, Abhijata Sridhar Iyengar, trained for a number of years under his tutelage, and is now a teacher both at the Institute in Pune and internationally.
Iyengar died on 20 August 2014 in Pune, aged 95.<ref name=death>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
LegacyEdit
3 October 2005 was declared as "B.K.S. Iyengar Day" by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.<ref name=gather/> Anthropologist Joseph S. Alter of the University of Pittsburgh stated that Iyengar "has by far had the most profound impact on the global spread of yoga."<ref name=gather/> In June 2011, he was presented with a commemorative stamp issued in his honour by the Beijing branch of China Post. At that time there were over thirty thousand Iyengar yoga students in 57 cities in China.<ref name=chi_visit_hindu>Template:Cite news</ref>
The noun "Iyengar", short for "Iyengar Yoga", is defined by Oxford Dictionaries as "a type of Hatha yoga focusing on the correct alignment of the body, making use of straps, wooden blocks, and other objects as aids in achieving the correct postures."<ref name=oxford>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
On 14 December 2015, what would have been Iyengar's 97th birthday, he was honoured with a Google Doodle. It was shown in India, North America, much of Europe, Russia, and Indonesia.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Yogacharya B.K.S. Iyengar: Uniting Through Yoga, a documentary film by Vishaal Desai, was released on his birth centenary in 2018.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Leap of Faith (2008), another documentary film by Aditi Makim and Valentina Trivedi, covered his life from childhood to adulthood and the hurdles he faced in his career.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Currently, thousands of yoga instructors are CIYTs (Certified Iyengar Yoga Teachers), accounting for over 1100 in just the United States.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Awards and recognitionEdit
- Padma Shri riband Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honor (1991)<ref name="Hindustan Times - awards"/>
- 2002 Padma Bhushan<ref name="Hindustan Times - awards"/>
- 2014 Padma Vibhushan<ref name="Hindustan Times - awards"/>
BibliographyEdit
- (1966; revised ed. 1977) Light on Yoga. New York: Schocken. Template:ISBN
- (1981) Light on Pranayama: The Yogic Art of Breathing. New York: Crossroad. Template:ISBN
- (1985) The Art of Yoga. Boston: Unwin. Template:ISBN
- (1988) The Tree of Yoga. Boston: Shambhala. Template:ISBN
- (1996) Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. London: Thorsons. Template:ISBN
- (2005) Light on Life: The Yoga Journey to Wholeness, Inner Peace, and Ultimate Freedom. (with Abrams, D. & Evans, J.J.) Pennsylvania: Rodale. Template:ISBN
- (2007) Yoga: The Path to Holistic Health. New York: Dorling Kindersley. Template:ISBN
- (2000–2008) Astadala Yogamala: Collected Works (8 vols) New Delhi: Allied Publishers.
- (2009) Yoga Wisdom and Practice. New York: Dorling Kindersley. Template:ISBN
- (2010) Yaugika Manas: Know and Realize the Yogic Mind. Mumbai: Yog. Template:ISBN
- (2012) Core of the Yoga Sutras: The Definitive Guide to the Philosophy of Yoga. London: HarperThorsons. Template:ISBN
ReferencesEdit
SourcesEdit
External linksEdit
Template:Sister project Template:Sister project
- Official website
- [https://www.imdb.com/{{#if: 3191409
| name/{{#if:{{#invoke:ustring|match|1=3191409|2=^nm}}
| Template:Trim/
| nm3191409/
}}
| {{#if: {{#property:P345}}
| name/Template:First word/
| find?q=%7B%7B%23if%3A+%0A++++++%7C+%7B%7B%7Bname%7D%7D%7D%0A++++++%7C+%5B%5B%3ATemplate%3APAGENAMEBASE%5D%5D%0A++++++%7D%7D&s=nm
}}
}}{{#if: 3191409 {{#property:P345}} | {{#switch:
| award | awards = awards Awards for | biography | bio = bio Biography for
}}}} {{#if:
| {{{name}}}
| Template:PAGENAMEBASE
}}] at IMDb{{#if: 3191409{{#property:P345}}
| Template:EditAtWikidata
| Template:Main other
}}{{#switch:{{#invoke:string2|matchAny|^nm.........|^nm.......|nm|.........|source=3191409|plain=false}}
| 1 | 3 = Template:Main otherTemplate:Preview warning | 4 = Template:Main otherTemplate:Preview warning
}}{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:IMDb name with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|showblankpositional=1| 1 | 2 | id | name | section }}
- BBC World Service article and programme by Mark Tully
- Leap of faith (2008), Trivedi & Makim, Documentary about the life of BKS Iyengar
- Template:YouTube. Google Doodle Collection. 13 December 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
- Template:YouTube. Rajamanickam Antonimuthu. 14 December 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
- Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute at Google Cultural Institute
Template:Padma Shri Award Recipients in Literature & Education Template:Padma Vibhushan Awards Template:PadmaBhushanAwardRecipients 2000–09 Template:Yoga as exercise Template:Modern yoga gurus