Chris (40) from San Diego, U.S., is visiting Mysuru for the second time in the last 10 years to learn yoga. Why do thousands of yoga enthusiasts like him from across the globe flock to this city?
“What Harvard is to law, Mysuru is to yoga,” says Mr. Chris, who took to yoga after its practice helped him heal a shoulder injury. He has given up a career in information technology and begun teaching yoga, and owns two studios in California.
In Mysuru, accompanied by his wife Cynthia, also a yoga enthusiast, Mr. Chris has enrolled himself for a month-long course at Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute established by the legendary late Pattabhi Jois.
Ms. Cynthia said, “We come here because we want to learn Ashtanga yoga the authentic way. If yoga instruction is to be effective, it should come from within the parampara.”
President of the Mysore Yoga Okkoota Ganesh Kumar said there were about 150 to 160 yoga centres in the city and 15 to 20 of them enjoy the patronage of foreigners. “At any given time, there are around 700 to 800 foreigners learning yoga at these institutes. Their number increases during the holiday season in December and January. Around 10,000 foreigners visit the city to learn yoga every year,” he said.
Many yoga students from foreign countries join more than one institute during their stay here. “If they join Pattabhi Jois institute for Ashtanga yoga, they join others for meditation or pranayama,” Dr. Kumar said. Pattabhi Jois’ grandson R. Sharath Jois, who now runs the institute, counts Madonna, Gwyneth Paltrow, Natalie Portman, and William J. Dafoe among the well-known Hollywood personalities he has taught.
This influx of yoga enthusiasts has also translated into a boost for the local economy. “There is a lot of demand for accommodation, autorickshaws, and eateries,” he said. Awareness on yoga was slowly increasing in India, he added.
“A lot of people now see it as a remedy for stress, heart ailments, and lifestyle diseases such as diabetes. They are now realising that yoga is not just for sadhus and sanyasis, but also for the common man.”
