97th Birthday of BKS Iyengar.

Bellur Krishnamachar Sundararaja Iyengar better known as B.K.S. Iyengar, was the founder of

the style of yoga known as "Iyengar Yoga" and was considered one of the foremost yoga

teachers in the world.

He was the author of many books on yoga practice and philosophy including Light on Yoga, Light

on Pranayama, Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, and Light on Life.

B.K.S. Iyengar was one of the earliest students of Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, who is often

referred to as "the father of modern yoga". He has been credited with popularizing yoga,

first in India and then around the world.

B.K.S. Iyengar was awarded the Padma Shri, the Padma Bhushan and the Padma Vibhushan.

In 2004, Iyengar was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time

magazine.

BKS Iyengar was born on 14th December 1918 into a poor Sri Vaishnava tamil Iyengar family

at Bellur, Kolar District, Karnataka in India. He was the 11th of 13 children. When he was

five years old his family moved to Bangalore.

Throughout his childhood, he struggled with malaria, tuberculosis, typhoid fever, and

general malnutrition.

In 1934, his brother-in-law, the yogi Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, asked the 15-year-old

B.K.S. Iyengar to come to Mysore, so as to improve his health through yoga practice.

There, B.K.S. Iyengar learned asana practice, which steadily improved his health.

B K S Iyengar reported in interviews that, at the age of 90, he continued to practice

asanas for 3 hours and pranayamas for an hour daily.