Yoga pioneer’s birth centenary year celebrated; demand for Bharat Ratna

Mysuru: Just like Bhishma in the epic Mahabharatha, B.K.S. Iyengar was considered the Bhishma of Yoga, said Patanjali Yoga Shikshana Kendra Founder Prof. K. Keshavamurthy.

He was speaking after inaugurating the Yoga Bhishma B.K.S. Iyengar Birth Centenary Celebrations, organised by Mysuru Yoga Association and District Kannada Sahitya Parishat at Kannada Sahitya Parishat auditorium in city recently.

He said that Iyengar was a great inspiration who knew many difficult asanas and also introduced many new ones. Hence, he was called the modern Yoga Guru and Yoga Bhishma, he added.

Social Worker Dr. K. Raghuram said that the contribution of the Mysore royal family for the growth of yoga was immense and added that Iyengar was instrumental in taking yoga from Mysuru to the international level.

He was greatly responsible to break the myth that yoga was meant only for the sages and saints and took it to the door steps of the people, he said and added that Iyengar was responsible for spreading yoga in China and even at the age of 90 he was performing difficult asanas.

Raghuram said that Iyengar was one of the most influential persons in the world who had his own stature. He has always stood first in the field of yoga. He not only introduced new yoga postures but also encouraged the physically challenged to learn yoga. He was very strict with his disciples and always used to correct their mistakes, he added.

District Kannada Sahitya Parishat President Y.D. Rajanna said that in these days of tension filled life, there was a great need for inculcating proper food habits, meditation and playing sports. In  earlier days, the food one ate had medicinal properties, but in today’s world, medicines have become food, Rajanna added.

If one has to develop disease fighting abilities, everyone must practise yoga. Iyengar was responsible for putting yoga on the international map and his birth centenary must be celebrated in a meaningful way, he said.

Yoga Guru B. Srinath was conferred B.K.S. Iyengar award on the occasion. Senior Yogacharya Dr. A. R. Seetharam, SJK Developers Managing Director Doreswamy, Mysuru Yoga Association President Yoga Prakash, Secretary Anand and others were present.

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