The Union government offering ‘yoga visa’ has come as a major relief to foreigners visiting Mysuru to learn yoga.
Welcoming the concept, R. Sharath Jois, grandson of the legendary yoga exponent K. Pattabhi Jois, who runs a yoga institute along with his mother, R. Saraswathi, said many foreigners visiting Mysuru to learn yoga had been relieved of the hassle of visiting the Foreigners’ Registration Office (FRO) at the city police headquarters ever since India began issuing yoga visa.
“The student visa that they had to obtain to come here to learn yoga earlier came with a lot of conditions, including visiting the FRO,” he said.
Officials at the FRO here said the yoga visa was technically a student visa, but had an endorsement that the visa holder was visiting the country to learn yoga for a specific period of time.