Yoga is an ancient practice is has been known for thousands of years for healing people. India is a country where this ancient practice was born 5000 years ago and a place where lord Adiyogi shiva has started this practice and later on our great Indian masters has kept the lineages of traditional yoga alive and passed to their students and the rest of the world. Those were the yoga teacher who has kept the tradition of yoga alive and spread the light of this ancient art and transformed the whole dimension of yoga teacher training courses in India with their teachings. All of these yoga gurus has followed the path of yoga but it all lead to one goal that was to spread the light of traditional yoga and connect them with their inner consciousness through the practice of yoga.
Here are the most insiring yoga gurus in India who has changes the whole dimension of yoga all over the globe:
Patanjali (Sage Maharshi Patanjali)
Gonardiya, or Gonikaputra, also known as Patanjali, was a Hindu scholar, author, philosopher, and yoga guru. He is called the “Father of Moder Yoga” because he standardised and organised yogic principles that existed during his time.
It is believed that Patanjali lived between the 2nd and 4th centuries BCE, based on the yogic texts written and compiled by him. He wrote the book “”Patanjali Yoga Sutras” by compiling all the yogic knowledge contained in ancient Indian scriptures and his own yoga knowledge.
Patanjali’s work is mainly dedicated to the practice of Ashtanga Yoga.
Tirumalai Krishnamacharya
Tirumalai Krishamacharya (1888–1989) was an Indian yoga guru and scholar of Ayurveda. He is also called the “Father of Modern Yoga” because he promoted other forms of modern yoga, including postural yoga and hatha yoga.
Krishnamacharya is responsible for the hatha yoga. Under the patronage of the King of Mysore, Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV, he travelled across India and taught yogic principles and practices to people in different regions of the country.
Swami Sivananda
Sivananda Saraswati, a.k.a. Swami Sivananda (1887–1963) was a prominent yoga teacher in India who was born in Tamil Nadu and worked as a physician in British Malaya (an island in Singapore) during his young adulthood. Later, he learned yoga, achieved mastery in it, and became a yoga teacher.
Swami Sivananda founded the Divine Life Society (1936) and the Vedanta Forest Academy (148). These organisations have many branches in India and western countries that teach yoga asanas and meditations. He also wrote more than 200 books about yoga and spirituality, which are leaving a significant impact on people about the importance of yoga and spirituality.
B. K. S. Iyengar
Bellur Krishnamachar Sundaraja Iyengar, a.k.a. B. K. S. Iyengar (1918–2014), was an Indian yoga teacher and author who promoted yoga as a physical exercise. Guru Iyengar emphasised the importance of precision, alignment, and details related to yoga asanas or yoga postures. The methods he describes are called “Iyengar Yoga.”
B. K. S. wrote many books about yoga, including “Light on Yoga,” “The Tree of Yoga,” “Light on Pranayama” and many others, which inspired people of western nations to learn Iyengar yoga. The first Iyengar yoga institute in India, Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Institute, Pune, was founded by Guru Iyengar in 1975. Later on, Iyengar yoga institutes were also founded by his disciples in western countries, such as the United States, Canada, Australia, Argentina, France, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Poland, and many others.
K. Pattabhi Jois
Kowshika Pattabhi Jois, or K. Pattabhi, was also a famous Indian yoga guru. He was contemporary to B. K. S. Iyengar and founded the Ashtanga Vinyasa form of yoga. Guru Pattabhi played a vital role in promoting Indian yogic practice in the United States of America.
Paramahansa Yogendra
Mukunda Lal Ghosh, a.k.a. Paramahansa Yogendra (1893–1952), was one of the most influential Indian yoga gurus. He played a vital role in reviving “Kriya Yoga,” which is a yogic practice consisting of pranayamas, mudras (gestures), and mantras (sacred utterances). This yogic practice aims to help individuals spiritually develop and provides peace of mind.
Kriya Yoga was first mentioned in Paramahansa Yogendra’s book, “Autobiography of a Yogi.” Paramahansa Yogendra was the first Indian yoga guru who introduced the western world to yoga. He founded two organisations, the Yogendra Satsanga Society of India (1970) and the Seld-Realization Fellowship (1920), in Los Angeles, United States, to teach yoga to eastern and western people.
Swami Vivekananda
Narendranath Datta, a.k.a. Swami Vivekananda, was an Indian scholar, philosopher, and Hindu monk who is one of the most renowned personalities in the world because of his incredible knowledge about various subjects. Swami Vivekananda travelled to different parts of India and other nations and supported different social reforms. He also taught “Raja Yoga” to people across the world, which is a yogic practice that helps individuals become the best version of themselves.
Baba Ramdev
Ramkrishna Yadav, a.k.a. Baba Ramdev is the most famous Indian yoga teacher of modern times. He teaches yoga asanas and yoga pranayamas through his yoga school, Patanjali Yogapeeth, which has many branches in India, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Nepal, and Mauritius.
Baba Ramdev played a vital role in the revival of yoga and Ayurveda in India.
Sadhguru
Jagdish Vasudev, also known as Sadhguru, is also a modern Indian yoga teacher and spiritual leader. He promotes yoga worldwide through his organisation, the Isha Foundation, which was founded in 1992. He has been teaching yoga since 1982. His famous work based on yoga is his book, “Inner Engineering: A Yogi’s Guide to Crafting Your Destiny.” Sadhguru’s yoga courses are available online and offline in different yoga centres of the Isha Foundation worldwide.