Bellur Krishnamachar Sundararaja Iyengar was born on the 14 December 1918 in Bellur, India. As a child he struggled with malaria, tuberculosis, typhoid fever, and general malnutrition. In 1934, his brother-in-law, the yogi Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, asked Iyengar to come to Mysore, to improve his health through yoga practice. There, Iyengar learned asana practice, which steadily improved his health. This was a turning point in his life. In 1937, Krishnamacharya sent Iyengar to Pune at the age of eighteen to spread the teaching of yoga.

Iyengar decided to settle in Pune and devoted himself to practicing and teaching yoga. During these years Iyengar’s name gradually became known throughout India and in 1952 he was invited to meet the violinist Yehudi Menuhin in Bombay. This meeting was a significant milestone in his life since it established the connection with the West. In 1953 Menuhin invited Iyengar to Switzerland and from then on, Iyengar visited the west regularly.

BKS Iyengar is the author of Light on Yoga (published in 1966) which has been describe as the bible of modern yoga. It has been translated into more than 17 languages and sold more than 3 million copies. BKS Iyengar authored 14 books.

On 20 August 2014 BKS Iyengar left his body in his town Pune, India.