Yoga has shot into prominence world-over today, but the city of Vijayawada always had a vibrant yoga culture, say yoga gurus and trainers.
Considered the best mode to harness the prowess of body and mind, the popularity of yoga has been steadily growing, thanks to the growing awareness among people towards leading a healthy lifestyle.
“I have known a city where only a few people knew about yoga. It took a long time for people to acknowledge this magic ‘therapy’ which emerged as panacea for many ills. Then in 1990, we set up a Yoga Association and gradually started conducting community activities and competitions at regular intervals,” says V.V. Rama Rao, general secretary, Andhra Pradesh Yoga Association.
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Citing cases of Dandamudi Rajagopala Rao and Kamineni Eswara Rao, the famous weightlifters from Krishna district, who travelled widely with their guru K. Rangadasu and gave performances, Mr. Rama Rao says yoga was more of a ‘spectacle of demonstration’ those days rather than ‘something that is practised’. Avaduta Ashram in Patamatakalank, known far and wide for its yoga training and Penmatsa Mahayogini, born Seethamma in Penmatsa village in Krishna district in 1921, christened ‘Mahayogini’ by apostles and devotees and who ultimately entered Yoga Samadhi in 1958, are proof that yoga thrived in this land.
G.S. Raju, popular as Siris Raju, was himself a yoga enthusiast and made it mandatory for staff and workers at his pharmaceutical firm. “He believed that the workers who have many problems back home should be made stress-free before they embark on the day’s work,” recalls Mr. Rama Rao.