BKS Iyengar

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article or the following section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.
BKS Iyengar (2004)

BKS Iyengar ( Bellur Krishnamachar Sundararaja Iyengar; born December 14, 1918 in Bellur , Karnataka , † August 20, 2014 in Pune ) was an Indian yoga teacher and founder of Iyengar Yoga , a form of Hatha Yoga . Iyengar arranged the asanas systematically. He was considered one of the leading yoga teachers worldwide and practiced and taught yoga for more than 75 years. He wrote numerous books on the practice and philosophy of yoga. His most famous works are "Light on Yoga", "Light on Pranayama" and "Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali".

In 2004, Iyengar was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World by Time Magazine .

Early years

BKS Iyengar was born on December 14, 1918, the eleventh of thirteen children. The extensive Iyengar family was impoverished, but belonged to the Brahmin caste . Due to a flu epidemic at the time of birth, Iyengar was born weak and ailing. During his childhood he suffered from several diseases such as malaria , tuberculosis , typhoid and general malnutrition. In 1923 the family moved to Bangalore . His father was a teacher and died in 1927.

At the age of 15 he became a student of his future brother-in-law, the yogi T. Krishnamacharya in Mysore , where he learned the asanas . Soon his health improved and he was eventually completely cured. At the suggestion of Krishnamacharya, Iyengar went to Pune in 1937 to teach yoga. He developed his unorthodox style in many hours of daily exercises and experimental self-study of various techniques. He improved his methods and thereby increased the number of his students and his fame. He used aids such as pillows, chairs, ropes, wooden blocks, etc. to increase the effectiveness of asanas or to avoid exercise problems due to disabilities. In 1943, following traditional Indian tradition, he married sixteen-year-old Ramamani in an arranged wedding. He later spoke of his marriage: "We lived without conflict as if our two souls were one." They had five daughters and one son. Ramamani died in 1973 at the age of forty-six.

International recognition

In 1952 Yehudi Menuhin came to see him to practice yoga with him. He befriended him and persuaded Iyengar to teach in London, Switzerland, Paris and other places. Many Westerners encountered yoga for the first time through his demonstrations and courses, and yoga gradually became known. In 1966, Iyengar published Light on Yoga . The book has been translated into many languages ​​and has become an international standard work. This made yoga popular internationally. Hatha yoga quickly became the most widely practiced form of yoga in Europe and the USA. His students included Jiddhu Krishnamurti , Aldous Huxley and Queen Elisabeth of Belgium, who was then over eighty .

In 1975 he opened the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute in Pune in memory of his wife who had recently died . He withdrew from regular teaching in 1984, but continued to be very active in his institute, teaching special classes and writing books. After his death, his daughter Geeta (1944-2018) and his son Prashant (* 1949) took over the management of the institute. In 2008 there were yoga studios under his name in 49 countries.

In 2002 he was honored with the Padma Bhushan and in 2014 with the Padma Vibhushan . He died in Pune in August 2014 at the age of 95.

Works

  • 1966. Light on Yoga - Yoga Dipika . dtsch: Licht auf Yoga , 1969, comprehensively revised 1993.
  • 1981. Light on Pranayama - Pranayama Dipika . dtsch: Light on Pranayama , 1984.
  • 1988. The Tree of Yoga - Yoga Vriksha . German: The Tree of Yoga , 1991.
  • 1993. Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali - Patanjala Yoga Pridipika .
  • 2001. Yoga - The path to holistic health. 2001 (German Yoga. The way to health and harmony. Translated by Gerhard Dennig and others. Dorling Kindersley Verlag, Munich, ISBN 3-8310-0219-3 ).
  • 2005. Light on Life . dtsch: Light for Life , 2007.

literature

  • Wilfried Huchzermeyer : The yoga dictionary. Sanskrit terms, exercise styles, biographies. edition sawitri, 2006, ISBN 3-931172-25-2
  • Wilfried Huchzermeyer (Hrsg.): Yoga Adventure Meditation. The best articles from international magazines. (With an article about BKS Iyengar). edition sawitri, ISBN 3-931172-09-0

Web links

Commons : BKS Iyengar  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Aubrey, Allison. "Light on life: BKS Iyengar's Yoga insights". Morning Edition: National Public Radio , November 10, 1995. (entire text) Accessed July 4, 2007
  2. ↑ 2004 TIME 100 - BKS Iyengar . Heroes & Icons. TIME .
  3. ^ BKS Iyengar: Light on Iyengar. In: yogajournal.com. Cruz Bay Publishing, Inc., April 5, 2017, accessed January 1, 2020 .
  4. ↑ a b Guru of Gymnastics . In: Der Spiegel . No. 52 , 2007, p. 119 ( online ).
  5. ^ BKS Iyengar obituary . theguardian.com. [1]
  6. ↑ Indian yoga guru BKS Iyengar has died. In: Die Presse , August 20, 2014; Retrieved August 20, 2014.
personal data
SURNAME Iyengar, BKS
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Iyengar, Bellur Krishnamachar Sundararaja (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Indian yoga teacher
DATE OF BIRTH December 14, 1918
PLACE OF BIRTH Bellur , Karnataka
DATE OF DEATH 20th August 2014
Place of death Pune