Who is Bikram Choudhury?

Bikram Choudhury is the founder of the worldwide Yoga College of India. Born in Calcutta India, Bikram began studying yoga at the age of four with his guru Bishnu Ghosh, brother of Paramahansa Yogananda (Autobiography of a Yogi, founder of the Self Realization Fellowship in Los Angeles). Bikram practiced Yoga four to six hours a day with six thousand other students at Ghosh's College of Physical Education in Calcutta. At the age of thirteen, he won the National India Yoga contest and was undefeated for three years. At the request of his guru, he withdrew from competition and gave yoga demonstrations instead. This earned him the title of ‘Yoga-raj’, he is the youngest ever to earn such a title.

As a young man he became a top cyclist, marathon runner and international weight lifter. At the age of seventeen, Bikram severely injured his knee in a weightlifting accident and was told by doctors he would never walk again. Not accepting their pronouncement, he had himself carried back to Bishnu Ghosh's school, for he knew that if anyone could help to heal his knee, it was his teacher. His guru put him through a slow and careful therapy program that totally rehabilitated his knee within six months. Ghosh was a celebrated physical culturist and the first to scientifically document Yoga's ability to cure chronic physical ailments and heal the body.

Bikram was asked by Ghosh to start several Yoga schools in India. There Bikram came into his own. The schools were so successful that at Bishnu's request Bikram traveled to Japan and opened two more. Under the guidance of his guru, Bikram worked for three years with doctors and scientists at Tokyo University Hospital and developed his unique Hatha yoga program. He has since brought his curative methods of Yoga therapy around the world.

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