Presenter: Junbo Sim (HK Research Professor, HUFS, IIS)

The diverse types of modern yoga that have been popularized in the world were born from the fusion of 19th-century Indian yoga, Western mysticism, and sports culture. This colloquium discusses several components of modern yoga such as the situation of 19c Indian yoga and the Indian nationalist movement that influenced the birth of modern yoga at the time, the mysticism of Theosophical Society, and the rise of Western sports. Also, it examines the roles of the Indian pioneers of modern yoga in the 1920s and 30s, such as Kuvalayananda of Kaivalyadhama and Shri Yogendra who established the Yoga Institute. Through this colloquium, we will have an opportunity to understand the cultural changes that occurred in the fusion of Hindu and Western elements at the time of modern yoga’s birth.