Main Yoga event in Mysuru: A befitting tribute to patronage it received from Maharajas

The organizing of the main event of the eighth ‘International Day of Yoga’ in this royal city of Mysuru, is being seen as a befitting tribute to the patronage it received under the Maharajas here.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who led the Yoga Day celebrations on the premises of the ‘Amba Vilas Palace’ here, noted the city’s significant contribution to Yoga, and called Mysuru ”the land of spirituality and Yoga”.

”On the occasion of Yoga Day, I bow to Karnataka’s cultural capital, and the land of spirituality and Yoga- Mysuru. Spiritual centers like Mysuru have nurtured the energy of Yoga for centuries; today that energy is giving direction for world health,” Modi said.

Mysuru royal scion Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar and ”Rajmata” Pramoda Devi Wadiyar, were among those present at the event.

Recollecting Mysuru’s Yoga heritage, Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar said this event was a big stamp of approval to that heritage.

He said Mummadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar, the Maharaja who ruled the kingdom from 1799 to 1868 in his book ”Sritattvanidhi” had written about 108 ‘asanas’, and thereafter Tirumalai Krishnamacharya started Yoga teaching at the then Maharaja Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar’s insistence.

Pramoda Devi Wadiyar too recalled Maharaja Mummadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar and Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar’s contributions in laying the foundation for Yoga’s spread.

”Mummadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar’s works and writings on various ‘asanas’ are with us,” she said.

Tirumalai Krishnamacharya (1888-1989) is one of India’s most respected authorities on the Vedic tradition and Yoga teachings and practices. He started a Yogashala at the Jaganmohan Palace in Mysuru, with the patronage of Mysuru Maharaja Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar.

Krishnamacharya was probably the first Yoga Master to introduce the concept of ”Vinyasa”, which means moving through a series of poses coordinated with breathing. He was sent by the Maharaja to various places to give lectures and demonstrations.

Krishnamacharya’s teachings were improvised and popularised by his prominent students K Pattabhi Jois, B K S Iyengar, Indra Devi (acharyas first female student), and his son T K V Desikachar, who were architects of very influential contemporary styles of Yoga.

While the Ashtanga style of Yoga was developed by Pattabhi Jois, Iyengar became popular worldwide with ‘Iyengar Yoga’. Indra Devi was popularly known as the ”Mother of Western Yoga”, and T K V’s ‘Viniyoga’ became popular even in the West.