A few people have asked recently questions drawing out the lineage of Bikram method and also the conflict between Yoga championships and the purpose of Yoga.
Subsequently I share here something which may be of interest – a unique photo of Bikram and Iyengar taken July 09 Pune, India where they spent time talking about various relationships between the gurus, family, history, and yoga asana demonstrations.
The Bikram-Iyengar connection: Bikram’s guru, Bishnu Ghosh, was the younger brother of Paramahansa Yogananda (Autobiography of a Yogi). In 1935 Ghosh brought Yogananda back to India where Yogananda was invited by the Maharaja of Mysore to the palace. Many yogis were invited to meet Yogananda and a yoga demonstration was held at the palace in front of 5,000 people. The person giving the demonstration was B.K.S. Iyengar who was 16 years old at that time. Ghosh was so impressed by Iyengar’s demonstration that at the end of the week-long program he invited Iyengar to travel India with him and Yogananda giving yoga demonstrations. Yoga demonstrations and contests have long been popular in India. In fact, Bikram won the All-India Yoga Asana Championships for 3 years in a row from the age of 13; then his name was withdrawn to give others a chance.
Namaste ~ Trisha