K-Visuals: August 2014

Monday, 25 August 2014

BKS Iyengar Portrait Painting

B.K.S. Iyengar is one of the foremost teachers of Yoga in the Portrait of BKS Iyengar world and has been practicing and teaching for over sixty years. Millions of students now follow his method and there are Iyengar yoga centres all over the world. He has written many books on yogic practice and its philosophy including "Light on Yoga," "Light on Pranayama," "Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali" and more.

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, who was visiting. Krishnamacharya ran a yoga school in the palace of his patron, the Raja of Mysore, where Mr Iyengar eventually received some basic instruction in asana practice to improve his health. His guru however, was an erratic and terrifying personality who drove him hard and so at first Mr Iyengar had to struggle from day to day. This diligence in practice gradually paid off as he mastered some of the postures and improved his health.
Then in 1937 Mr Iyengar was asked by his Guru to go to Pune to BKS Iyengar in 1938 teach yoga. Gradually Mr Iyengar's recognition as a yoga teacher grew. It was Yehudi Menuhin who arranged for Mr Iyengar to teach abroad in London, Switzerland, Paris and elsewhere and so meet people from all over the world and from all walks of life.
Events continued to develop and grow, leading up to the publication of Light on Yoga in 1966 after many years of development. This book turned out to be an international best seller which continues to be reprinted in several languages all over the world and succeeded in making Yoga truly universal. This was later followed by titles covering Pranayama and various aspects of Yoga philosophy. His latest work "Yoga: The path to Holistic Health" was published in 2001.
Finally in 1975 Mr Iyengar was able to open the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute in Pune, in memory of his recently departed wife, where he still resides and teaches.

In 1984 Mr Iyengar officially retired from teaching though he continues to take medical classes and teaches at special events as well as being fully active in promoting yoga world wide and being involved in the institute and its charitable foundation. 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. It can be said that Mr Iyengar is therefore one of the premier Yogis responsible for introducing yoga to the West and Iyengar style yoga is probably the most widely practiced form of yoga in Europe and America today.

http://www.iyengar-yoga.com/bks/biography/
http://www.bksiyengar.com/modules/guruji/guru.htm