Dedication to the great Yogacharya Sundaram and his family of Yoga masters

This blog is dedicated to the great Yogacharya Sundaram and my family of yoga teachers.

I come from a family of yoga masters and teachers, where practicing yoga is as natural as breathing…

Great-grandfather, Shri. Seetharam Iyer practicing Sarvangasana in the 1960's @ age 80+

This blog is dedicated to the following people:

Shri. Yogacharya S. Sundaram (25 Feb 1901 - 26 December 1994) – Yoga pioneer, lawyer, freedom fighter, author, publisher, composer and grandfather.

Sundaram was born into a poor Tamil Brahmin family which moved to Bangalore from Madurai, India, when Sundaram was very young. At age 14, Sundaram was taught asanas by a Maharashtrian lady and grew from a sickly adolescent to a healthy man. After passing Intermediate, he joined as a lawyer's assistant while practicing and teaching yoga also. He wrote, what is possibly the world's first manual on yogasana, called "Yogic Physical Culture" in 1925 at age 24. He joined politics and participated in the "Quit India" agitation against the British as President of Bangalore chapter of the Congress party. Was also deeply involved in Scouting and volunteered as a Scout Master. Prolific writer in Tamil, wrote many books and regularly contributed articles to a popular Tamil magazine "Ananda Vikatan". Started his own publishing establishment called "The Yoga Publishing House".

Deep spiritual change came after coming into contact with his Guru - Shri. Ananda Giri around 1944, after which the tone and tenor of his living resulting in his creativity moving from material to spiritual. Sundaram spent more time in introspection and reflection of reality. The impact this had on his yoga teaching was in the change from treating Yoga as an exercise to using Yoga for health and therapy with the final destination of liberation.

Awarded a doctorate at age 92!

Sundaram was a prolific writer, writing books and articles in English, Tamil, Kannada and Sanskrit, maintaining his own printing press and publishing house specifically for Yoga literature in the form of books and quarterly magazines. He composed over 1400 devotional songs or kirtanas and 500 hyms or bhajans, while finding time to treat patients for illness with asana without compromising on practicing of his own asana routine and meditation of 5 hours every day. Indeed, his favourite advise to me when I gave the excuse of being busy for not performing my asanas was – “only a busy man finds time”.

Demonstrating the perfect Mayurasana at a yogasana demonstration at age 85!

Demonstrating the perfect Mayurasana at age 25!

Shri. S. Suryanarayanan – Yoga teacher and uncle.

Shri. S. Sunderraman (9 April 1932) – Yoga teacher and uncle.

Shri Sunderraman lecturing on Yoga

Yoga Center of Sunderraman

Shri. G Viswanathan (10 April, 1953 - 13 Jan 1996) - Yoga teacher and cousin

Vishwanathan demonstrating Shalabhasana with Yogacharya.

Smt. Jeyalakshmi - aunt and yoga teacher - (5 May 1922 - 19May 2013) - Yoga teacher and aunt. Possibly, one of the world first female Yoga instructor, started teaching in the 1950's.

Smt. Jeyalakshmi demonstrating the perfect Shirasasana in the 1940's

Sarada Krishnan (22nd May 1941) - Aunt and homemaker - 
demonstrating asanas in the 1950's

Perfect halasana

Paschimotanasana

Sarvangasana

Acknowledgements and thanks;

Ø  To Shri. Harish R. - grandson of Sh. Sundaram and cousin for the photographs and permission to publish them on this blog.

Ø  To (Late) Shri R. Balakrishnan - lead disciple of Sh. Sundaram and inheritor of The Yoga Publishing House for sharing the photo and permission to publish them on this blog. You can find out about Shri. Yogacharya Sundaram’s books on - http://www.girinathyoga.org .