Madonna's rippling muscles owe more to Ashtanga yoga than to weight training. And it was Mysore's Pattabhi Jois, a master practitioner of Hatha Yoga, who made Ashtanga yoga popular abroad, especially in america. If Mysore today is synonymous with yoga west of the Atlantic, it is largely because of the efforts of three modern yoga masters from the erstwhile royal city who were hugely successful in mainstreaming this ancient Indian practice in the US. The yoga trio of BKS lyengar, Jois and Desikachar put Mysore firmly on the global yoga map such that Mysore today is as much a yoga destination as a tourist one.
The New York Times lists Mysore as one of the top must visit places on the planet in 2010 for its flourishing yoga culture. It looks like the city and its yoga centres are firmly under the spotlight.
Mysore has more than 50 yoga and meditation centres including Jois' Ashtanga Yoga Research Institure, now run by his grandson Sharat, Sri Vedavyasa Yoga Foundation of Raghavendra Pai and others. Yoga and meditation camps are conducted regularly at Osho Centre and Osho Sannidhi, Siddi Samadhi Yoga Centre and Yoga Sikshna Samiti. Most of these camps run to full capacity. At Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute, for example, you need to book in advance to get a slot.
Mysore's yoga heritage has the erstwhile Mysore royal family, the Wodeyars, to than for. They not only patronised yoga but were also expert performers. It was Mummadi Krishnaraj Wodeyar who wrote Sritatvanidhi, a treatise on various forms of yoga.
Says yoga master Pai, who taught the basics of yoga to former president A.P.J Abdul Kalam and popularised the 'yogic walk' concept, "In addition to Wodeyar, who described the benefits of 121 asanas in his book Shaivanidhi, other Maharajas were also very supportive Mysore yoga deals with physical, mental, intellectual, emotional and spiritual problems arising out of modern day life." Pai ads that his ancient form also deals with pollution and stress related disorders.
The grandson of Pattabhi Jois, R Sharat turns nostalgic when tracing the history of yoga and its relation to Mysore. "Definitely yoga is an ancient Indian form of treatment for many ailments, but Mysore has its own place for projecting yoga as the est treatment for many ailments, besides leading to a blissful spiritual life."
Not too hot or cold, not too cloudy or sunny" is what makes Mysore most suitable for yoga," says Bharat Shetty of Yoga India, adding that 'culture and heritage' tag attached to Mysore isa value addition.
