Iyengar Yoga in Pune January 1977
Created by
Gilly Carruthers
(ne – England)
Wakefield
West Yorkshire
India 1977
Yoga, an ancient but perfect science, deals with the evolution of humanity. This evolution includes all aspects of one's being, from bodily health to self-realization. Yoga means union -- the union of body with consciousness and consciousness with the soul. Yoga cultivates the ways of maintaining a balanced attitude in day-to-day life and endows skill in the performance of one's actions.
The cost of a visit to India in 1977
• Travel and Full-Board accomodation £340.00 for 21 days Full-Board in Poona at HOTEL AJIT, 776/3, Deccan Gymkana, Poona, 411004 – Telephone 56476)
• Delhi/Agra(Taj Mahal) etc. Tour - £60
• Yoga course £90 at
Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute
1107-B/1, Shivaji Nagar
(Hari Krishna Mandir Road
POONA 411016
• Spending money £300-00 in Travellers cheques and £25-00 in Sterling
33 people went on this visit which was organised by
Jeanne Maslen of Manchester and District Iyengar Yoga Institute.
Here are the people From Leeds From Manchester From Jersey
Lillian Biggs Denise Barber Marion Francis
Margaret Hopwood Tricia Booth Olive Neville
Rita MacKenzie Jocelyn Cohen
Marjorie Raynor Ann Dewhurst
Margaret Fletcher
Margaret Holland
Hilda Hooker
Ann Jackson
Peter Jackson
Carol Maslen
Jeanne Maslen
Maureen Roche
Margaret Shorrock
From Wakefield From Sunderland From Stafford
Gillian England Gill Essen Cis Hudson
From London Marjorie Harrison
Inge Davies Marie Stanton
Barbara Hicks Arlette Wicks
Joy Hicks
Molly Kelly
Henry kelly
Ena Kruger
From Bombay (Temperature:85F) to
Hotel Ajit,776/3 Deccan Gymkana, Poona
411004, arriving at 19:45 after the delays and
roadside repairs of loose wheel nuts and a
burst radiator.
Deccan Gymkana – the view from the hotel room
and waking each morning to the sound of tennis
balls and cricket balls.
Poona Bus Station.
‘Poona’ derived from the Sanskrit ‘Punyapur’ which
means ‘clean and perfect’ was the birthplace of the
Maratha Empire. It is 170 km. From Bombay.
Saturday January 8th
1977 – the first day at the
Yoga Institute.It took Rita
and I two goes to get there
as the rickshaw men took
us to the wrong place
where orange clad
Europeans moving in
circles chanting to the beat
of a drum.
There is great significance to the design of the RIYMI.
The 3 floors represent the body, mind and soul. Its
height is 71 feet and has 8 columns which represent
the eight limbs of ashtanga yoga i.e. yama, niyama,
asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana and
samadhi.
Ramamani
Iyengar
Memorial
Yoga
Institute
1107 –B/1 Shivaji Nagar
(Hari Krishna Mandir Road)
Poona
411016
India
My room-mate
Rita MacKenzie.
Her husband – a
doctor – gave us all
the injections that
we needed for a visit
to India.
•Smallpox
•Tetanus
•Polio
•T.A.B. Cholera
•Gamma Globulin
injection against
heptitis
My first visit to the Yoga Institute to meet BKS Iyengar and drink
tea. Seated on the left are Margaret Hopwood, Marjorie Raynor
and Lilian Biggs – on the right Jeanne Maslen.
January 23rd 1977 The 3rd Anniversary of the Institute.
Iyengar going around Hanuman, the monkey god of
breath and meditation. Geeta prays and the guests
provide the responses.
Dressed in our finery for the
Institute’s Anniversary.
08:30 Meeting begins
•questions from students
•Light breakfast
•Discussion on Yoga by
Gurujee
•12:00 Lunch and replaying of
tapes of a B.B.C. Interview
•16:00 Tea
•17:00 Opening of R.I.M.Y.I.
Library
•17:15 Veena recital by Smt
Lakshmi Biligiri
•18:30 yoga film of Gurujee
Gurujee’s talk and sayings •Yoga builds up the intellect and
freedom and joins them together.
It humbles the intellect in
controlling the physical body.
•Yoga and gymnastics
Gymnastics is thoughtless
movement, not knowing what is
or what is coming. It does not
demand intellectual knowledge.
There is motion only.
30-01-1977 The ‘Taj Express’
05:30 Got up
06:00 Breakfast
06:30 Coach to train station
07:30 train for the 204Km journey from Delhi.
Fatepur Sikri is a
deserted sandstone city
because there is no
water in the vicinity. It
was built by Akbar after
a seer had told him he
would have a son, so
he built he city as
thanks and praise.