List of Indian Yoga Gurus, Sages, Saints and Spiritual Leaders

Top Indian Yoga Gurus

B.K. S. Iyengar

B.K. S. Iyengar is also known as Guruji worldwide and is one of the world’s leading Yoga personalities and popularises yoga globally. B.K. S. Iyengar’s teaching style is unique and different from others, known as ‘Iyengar Yoga’. He was considered the ‘King of Yogasana’ and practised yoga through props. He has authored some of the best publications in Yoga, such as ‘Light on Yoga’, ‘Light on Pranayama’, ‘Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali’, ‘Patanjali Yoga Sutra Paricay’, and many more. He was the recipient of the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awards. In a survey by Times Magazine in 2004, Iyengar was named one of the 100 most Influential People in the World.
Website: http://www.bksiyengar.com/

Sri K. Pattabhi Jois

Sri Krishna Pattabhi Jois was born on 26 July 1915. If somebody discusses Ashtanga Yoga, all of a sudden, the attention goes to Sri Krishna Pattabhi Jois, who commands this piece of yoga. He established the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in Mysore and was the disciple of S.T. Krishnamacharya, and his Yogic philosophy revolves around his Guru.

Website: http://kpjayi.org/

Swami Kuvalayananda

Swami Kuvalayananda is one of the great yoga sages of India. Swami Kuvalayananda was one of the great yoga masters known in India and abroad. During his initial days, he was influenced by Sri Aurobindo. He studies the deep relation between Yoga and the health of individuals and society. To propagate yoga to a large extent, Swami Kuvalayananda established the Kaivalyadhama Institute of Yoga at Lonavala, Pune.

Swami Sivananda Saraswati-Yoga of Synthesis

Swami Sivananda Saraswati is one of the spiritual gurus who spread the deep knowledge of Yoga across India. Swami Sivananda Saraswati founded the Divine Life Society at Rishikesh to disseminate spiritual knowledge. His philosophy is based upon the Yoga of Synthesis. He was the author of more than 200 books on Yoga.

Swami Chidananda Saraswati

Swami Chidananda Saraswati is one of the essential spiritual sages of India. He was born in 1916 in Tamil Nadu. Chidananda Saraswati was the president of Divine Life Society, Rishikesh. His philosophy of Yoga is based upon Yoga of Synthesis.

Swami Satyananda Saraswati

Swami Satyananda Saraswati was born on 24^th December 1923 in Almorah, Uttarakhand. He was a great Indian Yoga guru and yoga teacher. His memorable work is the foundation of ‘The Bihar School of Yoga’ and ‘The International Yoga Fellowship’, proving Satyananda’s devotion and dedication to Yoga. He wrote as many as 80 books, including Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha.  The Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha book is one of the masterpieces in yoga and has been translated into many languages worldwide.

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was born on January 12, 1918, and is famous across the globe for this style of yoga teaching. He is known worldwide because of his unique entity, which is known as ‘Transcendental Meditation Techniques’. More than 5 million people across the globe were trained in ‘Transcendental Meditation.

Paramahansa Yogananda

Paramahansa Yogananda is one of the leading yoga gurus who introduced meditation and Kriya Yoga across the globe, including the Western world. He authored an essential book named ‘Autography of a Yogi’. In his other book, The Self-Realisation Fellowship Lessons, Paramahansa Yogananda stressed the realisation of God through Yogic practices.

Top Indian spiritual leaders

Maharishi Patanjali

Maharishi Patanjali is the ‘father of Yoga’ and compiled 195 Yoga Sutras foundation of yoga. The commentary on these sutras is called Bhasya. The essence of Patanjali’s thought is the eightfold path of Yoga (Ashtanga Yoga) that focuses on healthy living through Yoga. The prominent defender of Patanjali Yoga sutras in the present time is B.K. S. Iyengar.

Sri Aurobindo

Sri Aurobindo Ghose was a great yogi and philosopher. Sri Aurobindo penned more than 68 books on spirituality. Out of these publications, his best one is ‘The Life Divine’, which focuses on theoretical aspects of Yoga; another is ‘Synthesis of Yoga’, which throws light on practical facets of Yoga. Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry, is an excellent seat of spiritual practice. Auroville, or Aurobindo Ashram, is known worldwide for universal brotherhood.

Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda was a great socio-spiritual leader and an exponent of Yoga. Swami Vivekananda’s contribution to promoting and developing Yoga in the Western world is worthwhile. He stressed how negative thoughts arise out of physiological, psychological, and emotional balance through Yoga. He had done good work on Raja Yoga, Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, and Jnana Yoga.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is a world-famous spiritual leader who founded the Art of Living Foundation. The main focus of the Art of Living Foundation is to ease stress and social problems. He gave lectures on the art of living worldwide, including the USA, Europe, and other countries. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was born on 13^th May 1956 in Tamil Nadu.

Modern Indian Yoga Gurus

Swami Ramdev-Patanjali Yogpeeth

A large part of Yoga awareness among ordinary men, nationally and internationally, went to Baba Ramdev. Ramdev specialises in different forms of pranayama and can cure many diseases and ailments, including weight loss and lifestyle-related disorders. Baba Ramdev pranayama modules are pretty popular as yoga for weight loss. Baba Ramdev greatly influences practising Yoga at home by watching Yoga programs on TV. It is being practised all over the country, especially in rural areas. Baba Ramdev was born in Haryana in 1965 and made Haridwar Patanjali Yogpeeth a centre of Yoga awareness. The spiritual guru is also making various medicines and products related to Ayurveda.

He was influenced by Aurobindo Ghosh’s booklet, Yogik Sadhna. Ramdev’s morning Yoga slot on Aastha TV made Yoga a household name in India.

Many celebrities and politicians in India and abroad attended his Yoga programs. He has taught yoga in the British Parliament, the USA, Japan, and the United Nations. Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Yogpeeth has acquired a Scottish Isnad for 2 million pounds for an overseas yoga base and expansion. Due to Ramdev, Harvard University launched Yoga and Ayurveda in its curriculum.

Baba Ramdev has mastery over Pranayamas such as Bhastrika Pranayama, Kapalbhati, Bahaya, Anulom-Vilom, Bhramri, etc. This is a little about the biography of Ramdev.

He has been in the news due to his political aspirations. Recently, the Uttarakhand government has registered 81 cases against him.

Bikram Choudhury-Bikram Yoga

Bikram Choudhury is one of the most popular yoga fitness gurus. Bikram Choudhary is known worldwide for his unique form of Yoga, which is Bikram Yoga. He was born in Kolkata in 1946. There was an interesting story associated with Bikram Chaudhary. Once, the Yoga guru was having a knee injury. Many doctors, including those from Europe, gave hope of recovery and claimed he would never walk again. His guru, Bishnu Ghose, cured his knee injury through the power of Yoga.  Bikram Yoga, or Hot Yoga, is famous all over the world. Bikram Yoga is a training module of 26 postures at a high temperature of 105 ⁰F that gradually increased to 130 ⁰F over nine weeks. This Hot Yoga maintained humidity at 50% and was practised in a room. This form of Yoga provides overall benefits to the entire body.

Bharat Thakur-Artistic Yoga

Bharat Thakur is the leading international known spiritual leader. Bharat Thakur is the founder of Artistic Yoga and conducts Yoga workshops worldwide. Bharat Thakur has written many books on Yoga. His authority on Artistic Yoga focuses on the human being through physical and spiritual domains. The main areas of artistic yoga are asana, pranayama, bandha, kriya, shatkarma, mudra, and meditation.

Suneel Singh

Suneel Singh is a modern Yoga guru who taught yoga philosophy through contemporary perspectives. Suneel Singh has mastery over asanas and has high body flexibility. He is known for unique treatment modalities such as Zodiac Sign, Hasya Yoga and Yoga Chi.  Yoga Chi has similarities to meditation. He is media-friendly, and many TV channels are telecasting his yoga programs.