#kaivalyadham

[aparajitar]

Everyday renewed- Floral arrangement at Kaivalyadhama Yoga Centre, Lonavla, India

[bhastrika]

Tiwariji, Swami Digambarji, and Sri Page (left) during Kaivalyadham's Golden Jubilee in 1974. Swami Digambarji was the first secretary of Kaivalyadham, from 1924 to 1942. He is remembered for his deep study of the spiritual aspects of yoga. His disciple and successor is Swami Maheshananda, the present chairman of Kaivalyadham.

Sri Page was a freedom fighter, social worker, and politician.

[bhastrika]

Between the founding of Kaivalyadham in 1924 and India’s independence in 1947, Swami Kuvalyananda worked tirelessly to advance yogic studies. His work quickly became recognized by India’s leaders. In the late 1920s Mahatma Gandhi summoned Swamiji to treat him for certain ailments and to advise on exercise and diet. Swamiji spent several days near Bangalore with Gandhi, and afterward kept up a regular correspondence with him.

Jawaharlal Nehru came to visit (1958) with his daughter, Indira Gandhi. Researchers in the United States and Eastern Europe also took notice early on.

[bhastrika]

B.K.S. Iyengar did a demonstration for Swami Kuvalyananda at Kaivalyadham. (Photo is not dated, but Tiwariji guesses it was sometime in the 1950s.)

[bhastrika]

By the 1960s Kaivalyadham was well established as a premier center for yoga. With global renown, world leaders and high-ranking government officials sometimes came to visit, like the 14th Dalai Lama. While this photo is not dated, I'm guessing he visited sometime after he was exiled from Tibet (March 1959) and before Swami Kuvalyananda’s death (April 1966), as another photo shows Swamiji and the Dalai Lama together.

(Another tipoff: the John Lennon glasses.)