The Hindu : Kerala News : Yoga puts Thelliyoor on tourism map

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Yoga puts Thelliyoor on tourism map

Photo: Leju Kamal

More takers: A training session at a yoga centre at Thelliyoor —

Thelliyoor, a remote village that houses the centuries-old Bhagavathy temple in Pathanamthitta, is getting popular as a rural tourism centre.

The number of yoga enthusiasts from across the globe visiting the place is on the rise in the past two years.

Sindhu V.Nair, who runs the Thulasidalam School of Yoga Pada, a cultural centre attached to the Sree Ramashram Charitable Society, said 75 foreigners had attended yoga sessions at the centre, besides 150 other visitors, in the past one year.

Schroedeir Lynda, a middle-aged company executive from Sweden, said it was the Internet that opened the doors of yoga for her. She has been at Thelliyoor for the past four weeks learning the ‘yogasana’.

Peter Doherty and his wife, Christine, from Ireland, Ruby Gangadharan from Mumbai and Khusmita Biyal from Pune came to know of Thelliyoor through the Internet.

“Here in India, we feel that yoga is not a religion. Yoga is not only a lifestyle but also a philosophy of life that gives strength to your mental character,” said Mr. Doherty.

Ms Sindhu V.Nair says: “My interest is not at all commercial, but promotion of the ‘yogasana’ which I have inherited through lineage, without confusing it with religion.”

She says her role is that of a guide and she gives guidance on asanas prescribed in the Ashtanga Yoga to those who approach her.

“Yoga is only a medium for bringing people to a higher level of living, a purer way of thinking. It has certain scientific techniques which individuals can understand, whether they are devotional or intellectual and which they can practise,” she adds.

Radhakrishnan Kuttoor

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