B.K.S. Iyengar was born on December 14, 1918 in the village of Bellur in India. He reached the age of 95. Until a few months before his death he practiced three hours a day asanas (yoga postures) and one hour pranayama (breathing). His brother-in-law and yogi Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya Yoga taught him yoga when he was fourteen. At his 17th BKS Iyengar started teaching. In 1954 the violinist Yehudi Menuhin introduced him to the West.
B.K.S. Iyengar died on August 20, 2014 in Pune, India.
B.K.S. Iyengar has written about the practice and philosophy of yoga. With his first book “Light on Yoga” in 1966, he obtained great fame. Globally it is the best-selling book on yoga. Then by his hand yet: The Tree of Yoga, Light on the Sutras of Patanjali and Light on Life. In 2012 he published his fifth book: Core of the Yoga Sutras; the definitive guide to the philosophy of Yoga.
Perhaps nice to know: B.K.S. Iyengar has been named by the American magazine “Time” in 2004 as one of the 100 most influential people of the twentieth century. He lived and worked in Pune with his family in the institution he founded in 1975. His daughter Geeta and son Prashant give lessons there.
Samadhi
An artistic film about yoga was made in 1977 when B.K.S. Iyengar was 59 years old. After a short introduction you will see lots of pictures of demonstrations by the master himself and how he teaches children, teens and groups advanced. In the background you can hear singing mantras including the invocation dedicated to Patanjali.
