Master who took yoga to the world

Bellur Krishnamachar Sundararaja (BKS) Iyengar was born at Bellur on December 14, 1918, during a severe influenza epidemic, leaving him sickly and weak in early childhood. Frequently suffering from malaria, typhoid and tuberculosis, Iyengar presented typical malnutrition disposition. It wasn’t easy with his father dying ahead of his ninth birthday.

The year 1934 was a turning point for 16-year-old Iyengar, with thin arms, spindly legs and a protruding belly. His brother-in-law Yogi Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya invited him to Mysore to improve his health through yoga.

His patience and persistence resulted in the beginning of a dramatic transformation—from a humble practitioner of yoga to a world famous yoga guru, leaving a legacy of ‘Iyengar yoga’.

Initially, even Krishnamacharya did not believe that Iyengar would be a success story. It was only after his favourite student departed that he started training Iyengar seriously, before sending him to Pune to spread the teachings of yoga.

Iyengar’s initiative and insistence to meet Yehudi Menuhin, a world famous violinist, paved the foundation for his transformation from a traditional yoga practitioner to an international yoga guru. A brief 5-minute interaction between Iyengar and his new pupil Menuhin persuaded the latter to test ‘savasana’, which, quite like ‘magic’ improved his violin performance.

In 1954, Menuhin is learnt to have invited Iyengar to Switzerland and presented him with a token of his gratitude — a watch, with an inscription on the back, “To my best violin teacher, BKS Iyengar”. This was the beginning of Iyengar’s exploration of the western world. Single-handedly, he began spreading awareness about yoga to the remotest corners of the world.

Iyengar also scripted a series of books on yoga, and even after 65 years of publication, Light on Yoga remains one of the most respected yoga texts. Besides other recognitions in India and abroad, Iyengar was conferred with the Padma Shri (1991), Padma Bhushan (2002) and Padma Vibhushan (2014) in recognition of his dedication towards improving the lives of millions of humans across the world through the practice of yoga.

Iyengar established a yoga school in Pune in the 1970s and named it Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute in memory of his wife. The yoga guru breathed his last in Pune on August 20, 2014, at the age of 95.