Who is BKS Iyengar – and why is there a Google Doodle in his honour?

Google are celebrating what would be 97th birthday of the yoga teacher – were he still alive

 

TODAY Google are celebrating what would be the 97th birthday of one of the world's most prominent yoga teachers – Bellur Krishnamachar Sundararaja Iyengar (BKS Iyengar), and have stayed true-to-form with one of its trademark Doodle's – but just who was the Yoga master?

 

Creator of Iyengar Yoga, BKS was born in 1918 in southern India - one of 13 children, with only 10 surviving.

 

BKS suffered from a series of illnesses as a child, including malaria and typhoid - in an attempt to restore his poor health, he was introduced to yoga by his brother-in-law, Tirumalai Krishnamacharya – who ran a yoga school.

In his later teenage years Iyengar was sent to Pune in Maharashtra to teach yoga – and by 1952 he became an international guru – introducing renowned violinist Yehudi Menuhin to the art.

 



Iyengar in his headstand position



Having impressed Menuhin, Iyengar was invited to Switzerland in 1954. Soon after, he continued to visit the West and schools teaching his brand of yoga began opening across the globe.

Iyengar died on 20 August 2014 from kidney failure at 95-years-old, his teachings however, remain an intrinsic part of the backbone that form the fundamentals of yoga.

 

Iyengar died on 20 August 2014

The animated Doodle shows Iyengar in a number of yoga poses within Google's logo - including his iconic headstand.