Early years[edit]

B.K.S. Iyengar was born into a poor Sri Vaishnava Iyengar family[9] in Bellur, K
olar district,[10] Karnataka, India. He was the 11th of 13 children (10 of whom
survived) born to Sri Krishnamachar, a school teacher, and Sheshamma.[11] When I
yengar was five years old, his family moved to Bangalore. Four years later, the
9-year-old boy lost his father, who died of appendicitis.[11]
Iyengar's home town, Bellur, was in the grip of the influenza pandemic at the ti
me of his birth, and an attack of that disease left the young boy sickly and wea
k for many years. Throughout his childhood, he struggled with malaria, tuberculo
sis, typhoid fever, and general malnutrition. "My arms were thin, my legs were s
pindly, and my stomach protruded in an ungainly manner," he wrote. "My head used
to hang down, and I had to lift it with great effort."[12]
Education in yoga[edit]
In 1934, his brother-in-law, the yogi Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, asked the 1
5-year-old Iyengar to come to Mysore, so as to improve his health through yoga p
ractice.[11] There, Iyengar learned asana practice, which steadily improved his
health.[citation needed] Krishnamacharya had Iyengar and other students give yog
a demonstration in the Maharaja's court at Mysore, which had a positive influenc
e on Iyengar.[11] Iyengar considers his association with his brother-in-law a tu
rning point in his life[11] saying that over a two-year period "he (Krishnamacha
rya) only taught me for about ten or fifteen days, but those few days determined
what I have become today!"[13] K. Pattabhi Jois has claimed that he, and not Kr
ishnamacharya, was Iyengar's guru.[14] In 1937, Krishnamacharya sent Iyengar to
Pune at the age of eighteen to spread the teaching of yoga.[11][15]
Though Iyengar had very high regard for Krishnamacharya,[13] and occasionally tu
rned to him for advice, he had a troubled relationship with his guru during his
tutelage.[16] In the beginning, Krishnamacharya predicted that the stiff, sickly
teenager would not be successful at yoga. He was neglected and tasked with hous
ehold chores. Only when Krishnamacharya's favorite pupil at the time, Keshavamur
thy, left one day did serious training start.[17] Krishnamacharya began teaching
a series of difficult postures, sometimes telling him to not eat until he maste
red a certain posture. These experiences would later inform the way he taught hi
s students.[18]
Teaching career[edit]
With the encouragement of Krishnamacharya, Iyengar, aged 18,[9] moved to Pune in
1937 to teach yoga. He spent many hours each day learning and experimenting wit
h various techniques.
He taught yoga to several noted personalities including Jiddu Krishnamurti, Jaya
prakash Narayan, and Yehudi Menuhin.[19] He taught sirsasana (head stand) to Eli
sabeth, Queen of Belgium when she was 80.[20]
Among his other devotees were the novelist Aldous Huxley, the actress Annette Be
ning, the film maker Mira Nair and the designer Donna Karan, as well as prominen
t Indian figures, including the cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and the Bollywood act
ress Kareena Kapoor.[12]
International recognition[edit]
In 1952, Iyengar befriended the violinist Yehudi Menuhin.[21] Menuhin gave him t
he break that transformed Iyengar from a comparatively obscure Indian yoga teach
er into an international guru. Because Iyengar had taught the famous philosopher
Jiddu Krishnamurti, he was asked to go to Bombay to meet Menuhin, who was known
to be interested in yoga. Menuhin said he was very tired and could spare only f
ive minutes. Iyengar told him to lie down in Savasana (lying on his back), and h
e fell asleep. After one hour, Menuhin awoke refreshed and spent another two hou
rs with Iyengar. Menuhin came to believe that practising yoga improved his playi

ng, and in 1954 invited Iyengar to Switzerland. At the end of that visit, he pre
sented his yoga teacher with a watch on the back of which was inscribed, "To my
best violin teacher, BKS Iyengar". From then on Iyengar visited the west regular
ly, and schools teaching his system of yoga sprang up all over the world. There
are now hundreds of Iyengar yoga centres.[22]
Iyengar made his first visit to the United States in 1956, when he taught in Ann
Arbor, Michigan and gave several lecture-demonstrations.
In 1966, Iyengar published his first book Light on Yoga. It eventually became an
international best-seller. As of 10 October 2005, it has been translated into 1
7 languages and sold three million copies.[2] Light on Yoga was followed by titl
es on pranayama and aspects of yoga philosophy. Iyengar authored 14 books. (See
Bibliography.)
In 1975, Iyengar opened the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute in Pune, in
memory of his late wife. He officially retired from teaching in 1984, but conti
nued to be active in the world of Iyengar Yoga, teaching special classes, giving
lectures, and writing books. Iyengar's daughter, Geeta, and son, Prashant, have
gained international acclaim as teachers.[8]
In 2005, Iyengar visited the United States to promote his latest book, Light on
Life, and to teach a special workshop at the Yoga Journal conference in Estes Pa
rk, Colorado. 3 October 2005 was declared as "B.K.S.Iyengar Day" by San Francisc
o city's Board of Supervisors.[2] Anthropologist Joseph S. Alter of the Universi
ty of Pittsburgh stated that Iyengar "has by far had the most profound impact on
the global spread of yoga."[2] In June 2011, he was presented with a commemorat
ive stamp issued in his honour by the Beijing branch of China Post. There are no
w over thirty thousand Iyengar yoga students in 57 cities in China.[23]
The noun "Iyengar" is defined by Oxford Dictionaries as "a type of Hatha yoga fo
cusing on the correct alignment of the body, making use of straps, wooden blocks
, and other objects as aids in achieving the correct postures."[24]
On 14 December 2015, what would have been Iyengar's 97th birthday, he was honour
ed with a Google Doodle. It was shown in India, North America, much of Europe, R
ussia, and Indonesia.[25]