Bellur Krishnamachar Sundaraja Iyengar was born on December 14, 1918 to a poor family in Bellur, India. He was a sickly child, debilitated by malaria, typhoid, and tuberculosis. 

When he was nine years old, his father arranged for his sister to be married to renowned yoga guru T. Krishnamacharya. Krishnamacharya told Iyengar that because of his poor health, if he didn’t do yoga he would die. This proved to be sufficient incentive for him to begin studying with his brother-in-law at Krishnamacharya’s Yogashala in Mysore. 

Yoga improved Iyengar’s health, and his practice progressed such that he was sent to Pune to teach. He felt very insecure, being less well-educated and much younger than many of his pupils. Nevertheless, he studied everything he could get his hands on and maintained a demanding schedule of practice and teaching.

In 1943, his brother persuaded him to marry. Iyengar had been reluctant as he had so little time or money, but he acquiesced. He was determined to show that a householder could practice yoga as well as a renunciate and that yoga was suitable for everyone. His wife, Ramamani, for whom the Iyengar Yoga Institute in Pune is named, became his dedicated partner in family life and yoga. The Iyengars had six children, three of whom became yoga teachers. Ramamani died  on January 28, 1973.

Through the 1940’s and ‘50’s, Iyengar’s teaching opportunities slowly began to increase. In 1948, he began teaching famed philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti, a relationship that lasted twenty years.

His fortunes changed in 1952 when he taught the world-renowned violinist Yehudi Menuhin how to overcome his insomnia and fatigue. Menuhin benefited so much from his ongoing lessons with Mr. Iyengar, that he invited him to travel to the West, where he gave lecture-demonstrations in Switzerland, England, and France. In1956, he came to the United States to teach. Iyengar was realizing his dream to bring yoga to the world.

In 1966, his dream took a huge leap when Mr. Iyengar published his first book, Light on Yoga. It became an international best-seller. Regarded by many as the bible of yoga, Light on Yoga had been translated into 23 languages and sold over three million copies. It was followed by 13 other books, covering pranayama and aspects of yoga philosophy.

In 1975, Guruji opened the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute in Pune where he lived and taught yoga to tens of thousands of students until his death on August 20, 2014. Official Iyengar Yoga Associations exist worldwide to honor and disseminate his teachings to his millions of students.