The sleepy village of Bellur, about 15 km from Kolar, off National Highway 4, would have probably remained obscure had it not been the birth place of the world famous yoga exponent B.K.S. Iyengar. The letter ‘B’ in his name stands for Bellur.
Mr. Iyengar contributed in many ways to the development of his home village and helped it carve a special place in the history of the art of yoga.
Though Mr. Iyengar migrated from the village when he was six years old for want of education facilities in the area, he never forgot his place of birth. Though his vision of developing it as a global yoga centre did not materialise, Mr. Iyengar’s plans to impart education and provide healthcare did become a reality.
Realising the need for educating socially downtrodden children, he founded a primary school in 1967 in memory of his parents Krishnamachar and Sheshamma.
Later, a high school was started in memory of his wife Ramamani who passed away in 1973. Now, a pre-university college is also functioning at the Ramamani Nagar at Bellur. In all, around 500 students attend these institutions. Yoga classes are an integral part of the daily activities at these institutions.
A five-bed hospital was opened in 2006 where round-the-clock clinical facility is available. Villagers in the surrounding areas are the main beneficiaries of the health facility provided by the Bellur Krishnamachar and Sheshamma Smaraka Nidhi Trust, popularly known as Bellur Trust.
Construction of an overhead tank for drinking water, renovation of an ancient Rama temple (at a cost of Rs. 90 lakh) and a Hanuman temple, constructing the world’s first Patanjali temple are some of the other major works done by the trust towards realising the yogacharya’s dream of making his place of birth a model village.
Mr. Iyengar may have been an acharya in yoga, but not so in English. In fact, Mr. Iyengar failed in the subject in the then SSC examination. Consequently, he could not pursue higher education, recalls Rathnamma, a relative in Kolar.
“This weakness of Mr. Iyengar turned out to be a blessing for the yoga world. Had he passed the SSC, he would have pursued higher education and may well have entered some other profession. The yoga world was enriched because of his weakness,” Rathnamma told The Hindu on Wednesday.
