28 Facts About Shri Yogendra

Manibhai Haribhai Desai, known as Yogendra was an Indian yoga guru, author, poet, researcher and was one of the important figures in the modern revival of Hatha Yoga, both in India and United States.

Shri Yogendra was the founder of The Yoga Institute, the oldest organized yoga centre in the world, established in 1918.

Shri Yogendra is often referred as the Father of Modern Yoga Renaissance.

Shri Yogendra was one of the figures responsible for reviving the practice of asanas and making yoga accessible to people other than renunciates.

Shri Yogendra authored several books on yoga and started the journal Yoga in 1933.

Shri Yogendra was a poet, writing under the pen name 'Mastamani'.

Shri Yogendra was born as Manibhai Desai in an Anavil Brahmin family on 18 November 1897 in a village near Surat, Gujarat.

Shri Yogendra was affectionately called Mogha in his childhood.

Shri Yogendra's father Haribhai Jivanji Desai was a school teacher.

Shri Yogendra's mother died when he was three years old.

At the age of eighteen in 1916, after distinguishing himself in the Amalsad English School, Shri Yogendra attended St Xavier's College in Bombay.

Shri Yogendra felt homesick and fell into depression and lost his interest in studies.

At the urging of his roommate, On 26 August 1916, Shri Yogendra visited the Dharamshala of Paramahamsa Madhavadasaji at Madhav Baug, regardless of his robust suspicion of sannyasis and sadhus.

Shri Yogendra received special attention and it was clear that he was being educated and groomed to be Madhavadasaji's successor.

Shri Yogendra learned Yoga, much of the teaching being on the practical and pragmatic use of Yoga and its application in sickness and suffering.

On 25 November 1918, Shri Yogendra established The Yoga Institute at the residence of Dadabhai Naoroji at Versova Beach in Bombay.

Shri Yogendra began the process of "domesticating" hatha yoga, seeking scientific evidence for yoga's health benefits.

In US, among the people Shri Yogendra met was Benedict Lust, one of the founders of naturopathic medicine.

Shri Yogendra stayed there working with a number of Avant-garde doctors such as John Harvey Kellogg and Benedict Lust.

Shri Yogendra went back to India less than 5 years later, proceeding to go back to the USA, however thwarted through the restrictive immigration legislation of 1924.

In 1921, Shri Yogendra conducted X-Ray studies on Sutra Neti kriyas, a yogic technique to clean the nasal cavity.

Shri Yogendra conducted research on Prana with Surendranath Dasgupta, an orientalist and philosopher in 1924.

Shri Yogendra authored his first book named Prabhubhakti, published by Diamond Jubilee Printing Press in Ahmadabad.

Yagnik, a Gujarati critic wrote in an article, Poetic Versatility of Shri Yogendra, published in 1979,.

Shri Yogendra translated Ravindranath Tagore's Gitanjali from Bengali to Gujarati; it was published in 1918, with Tagore's permission.

Shri Yogendra was inspired and influenced by the works of Rabindranath Tagore.

Shri Yogendra published many books on yoga, and they have often been reprinted.

Shri Yogendra died on 25 September 1989 at the age of 91 in Mumbai.