Instant Karma

The institute, built in 1975, is obviously central to his life. 8216;8216;There are vibrations that one feels when one enters here, vibrat...

B K S Iyengar at RIM Yoga Institute

8216;8216;Here, there is evergreen, eternal monsoon, 365 days a year 8212; the result of my tapasya,8217;8217; says Yogacharya B K S Iyengar, 84, his hands sweeping across the three-studded vista of the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute. For the renowned yoga exponent, whose disciples are spread the world over, this institute, founded in the memory of his wife Ramamani in Pune8217;s leafy Harekrishna road, is where he he finds peace.

8216;8216;Not once, in my 70 years of practice, have I felt a single moment of monotony,8217;8217; says Iyengar, a broad smile spreading across the silver-framed faces. 8216;8216;I use my body like an instrument in the practice of yoga. Through it, my mind goes towards the soul.8217;8217; The design of the institute, too, reflects this three-tiered yogic philosophy, its broad base symbolising the body or bahiranga sadhana, the octagonal 8216;8216;standing for the eight-petalled sutras of Patanjali8217;8217; narrower second floor representing the antanranga or mind in its journey to a tapering top, crowned by the figure of Hanuman, the Lord of Breath.

The institute, built in 1975, is obviously central to his life. 8216;8216;There are vibrations that one feels when one enters here, vibrations that make one feel like I do, totally positive and dynamic,8217;8217; he says stepping into the main hall lined with photographs of Iyengar, his elastic body contorting itself in impossible yoga positions. Through windows partially screened by trees, light pours into the room, where half-a-dozen disciples practise their yoga postures, alert to the white dhoti-kurta-clad presence of their Guruji.

The institute also consecrates the memory of his wife. 8216;8216;She gave up her conveniences for my yoga, but she did not live to see the institute. She passed away almost immediately after she had laid the foundation stone. It was a great shock to me,8217;8217; he says walking up the pathway lined with ashoka trees and palms.

8216;8216;Meditation is within, it can take place anywhere,8217;8217; he says. Yoga finds its representation everywhere in the institute 8212; in the plaster figures of Iyengar in five yogic postures on the institute8217;s outer wall, in the books that fill the library, in the seven buttresses and two doors that represent the chariot of Surya and, of course, in Iyengar.

8216;8216;Yoga is like the classical expression of a raga to me,8217;8217; he says. It is a raga that resonates through the institute.