His name is synonymous with one of the world’s most widely practiced disciplines, and yoga guru B.K.S. Iyengar is being celebrated accordingly with a Google Doodle on what would have been his 97th birthday.
The interactive doodle shows the renowned master in various yoga poses within Google’s logo and is meant to characterize the “tremendous control and discipline, which he exercised in ways not limited to confoundingly long headstands,” the company said.
Widely credited with introducing the West to the ancient Indian tradition — primarily through his tutelage of famous violinist Yehudi Menuhin — Iyengar was included in TIME’s list of the world’s 100 most influential people in 2004. He continued to practice and teach “Iyengar Yoga,” as it came to be known, well into his 80s and almost right until his death in 2014.
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Write to Rishi Iyengar at rishi.iyengar@timeasia.com