Vishnudevananda Saraswati | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Kuttan Nair 31 December 1927 |
| Died | 9 November 1993 (aged 65) |
| Occupation(s) | Yoga guru, peace activist |
Vishnudevananda Saraswati (31 December 1927 – 9 November 1993, birth name Kuttan Nair) was an Indian yoga guru known for his teaching of asanas, a disciple of Sivananda Saraswati, and founder of the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres and Ashrams (ISYVC). He established the Sivananda Yoga Teachers' Training Course, possibly the first yoga teacher training programs in the West. His books The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga (1960) and Meditation and Mantras (1978) established him as an authority on Hatha and Raja yoga. Vishnudevananda was a peace activist who rode in several "peace flights" over places of conflict, including the Berlin Wall prior to German reunification.
In 2007, his long-serving assistant, Julie Salter, reported sexual abuse against her by the guru; she published details of her experiences in 2019, leading at least 3 other women to report their experiences of similar abuse by Vishnudevananda.