In Memory of Bishnu Ghosh

Sunday, 9 July 2006

The yoga studio is closed today in honor of Bikram's guru Bishnu Ghosh. Read the following taken from the Yoga Expo website...

The Year 2003 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Bishnu Charan Ghosh, one of the greatest and most influential yoga masters of the past century, guru of Bikram Choudhury. Ghosh, born in Lahore, India in 1903, was a celebrated physical culturist and the first to scientifically document Yoga's ability to cure chronic physical ailments and heal the body. Beginning in the 1920's, he developed a school of Yoga that provides a unique blend of spiritual inspiration and a highly disciplined physical regimen.

Ghosh came from an extraordinary family. He was initiated into the field of yogic exercise and physical education by his guru and older brother, Paramahansa Yogananda, the world renowned Yogi and spiritual master. Yogananda founded the Self Realization Fellowship Center and his book, "Autobiography of a Yogi", continues to be one of the best known and influential works of our time.

Bishnu Ghosh was also a scholar and a lawyer who was very active in India's struggles for independence from Great Britain. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (India's first Prime Minister after it became an independent nation) and Bishnu Charan Ghosh in 1938.

Ghosh developed a Yoga regimen that provides a unique blend of spiritual inspiration and highly disciplined physical exercise. His view of the human body as the temple of a living God has been a major force in the renaissance of Hatha Yoga in the West. In 1923, at the young age of 20, he founded the first Ghosh College of Physical Education in Calcutta and his fame quickly spread throughout India. Other schools were opened, first in India, and then in locations around the world.

In 1939, Ghosh came to the United States to educate people on the subject of yoga by giving demonstrations of amazing yoga feats. He lectured at Columbia University in New York, generating a great deal of interest in the field, and was widely acknowledged and respected in the academic community.

In 1968 he went to Japan with his troupe and traveled all over the country giving lectures and yogic demonstrations. Ghosh's were the first yoga exhibitions to be televised outside of India, and were seen and loved by millions of Japanese. He passed away in 1970. His legacy is being continued by his son, Biswanath Ghosh, the current director of the Ghosh College in Calcutta.

His students and disciples have gained worldwide recognition as yoga teachers and have won many titles, including the 'Mr. Universe' competition. One of them, Bikram Choudhury, has carried the message of the curative powers and benefits of yoga, and the possibility of a disease-free long life, around the world. He has trained thousands of teachers and has over 500 affiliated schools.