B.K.S. Iyengar

India, the land of Yoga has given the world the Yogic guru.  He is none  other than Mr. B.K.S. Iyengar . Here we listed out Yoga Guru B.K.S. Iyengar Biography, Profile, Facts, Timeline, Awards, Achievemnet, etc.,

• K.S. Iyengar is one of the foremost teachers of yoga in the world and has been practicing and teaching for over 60 years. Milclion of students now follow his method and there are Iyengar yoga centres all over the world.
• He has written many books on yogic practise and its philosophy including “Light on Yoga”, “Light on Pranayama”, “Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali” and many more.
• Iyengar was born in 1918 in a big poor family in the village of Bellur in Karnataka, under very difficult circumstances.
• His mother gave birth to him during an influenza epidemic, leaving him sick, and weak. His father died when he was only nine-year-old.  As a result, he was sent to live with his brother in Bangalore.
• In his childhood he suffered from malaria, tuberculosis and typhoid, together with malnutrition.
• At the age of 15, Mr. Iyengar was invited to Mysore to stay with his eldest sister by her husband, the scholar and yogi, Sri. T. Krishnamacharya.
• Krishnamacharya conducted a yoga school in the place of his patron, the Maharaha of Mysore.
• It was here that Mr. Iyengar eventually received some basic instruction in asana practice to improve his health.
• Then in 1937, Mr. Iyengar was asked by his Guru to go to Pune to teach yoga. In Pune, life was still very difficult.  He was a stranger there with weak language skills, speaking only a little English as well as the local language, Marathi.
• In the beginning, his students showed keen interest so he would didicate many hours a day to practice, sometimes surviving for days together with only water and perhaps some loaf of bread or rice.
• The number of his students also began to increase, though financially times were still incredibly hard as yoga was not greatly respected or understood even in India in those days.
• Then in 1943, his brothers arranged his marriage to Ramamani. Initially, life continued to be very hard for them, but bit-by-bit they worked their way out of poverty.  They agreed that she would take care of the family while he provided the income.
• Gradually, Mr, Iyengar’s recognition as a yoga teacher grew but it was a meeting with violinist Yehudi Menuhin in 1952, which led to Mr. Iyengar’s eventual international recognition.
• It was Yehudi Menuhin who arranged for Iyengar to teach abroad in London, Switzerland, Paris and elsewhere.  Though physically quite capable of continuing, he felt it was time to “let the next generation come through” and did not want to become attached  to his position there.
• YOGA- the very word is Sanskrit. An Indian origin spiritual and ascetic discipline of simple meditation, mind and breath control, which allow free flow of blood all over the body, and thereby prevent paralysis.

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