During one of his visits to Mumbai in the sixties, Swami Satyananda met a Parsi lady, Mani
Umrolia, and her mother. They became his most staunch devotees. He inducted them into yoga, and made
their home at Churchgate his Centre in Mumbai. Mani soon established a reputation as a dedicated yoga
teacher, and was appointed Acharya of the Bihar School of Yoga and its representative in Mumbai. Most
of the practitioners who follow the BSY in Mumbai do so because of her, or at first remove, through one
of her students.
Throughout the seventies, Swamiji’s frequent lectures and yoga workshop were arranged by
Mani and a band of enthusiastic disciples and sadhaks.
In 1981, the Mumbai chapter of the BSY was established in Santacruz, at the premises generously
loaned by Shri Himmatbhai Khira. Two sannyasin yoga teachers were deputed from Munger to conduct
classes. The ashram functioned until 1984.
In 1985, the Satyananda Yoga Centre was officially registered as a charitable society, with the
aim of furthering the cause of yoga in Mumbai, under the direction of the Bihar School of Yoga.
Today the Satyananda Yoga Centre is acknowledged as one of Mumbai’s well-established yoga
societies, with its influence growing yearly. |
