The Yoga Tradition of the Mysore Palace
On the book's cover, a man performs Natarajasana in front of a temple | |
| Author | Norman Sjoman |
|---|---|
| Subject | History of yoga as exercise |
| Publisher | Abhinav Publications |
Publication date | 1996 |
| Pages | 124 |
The Yoga Tradition of the Mysore Palace is a 1996 non-fiction book by the independent scholar Norman Sjoman about the origins of modern yoga as exercise. It is based on his study of the Sritattvanidhi, a 19th-century nine-volume compendium created for the then Maharaja of Mysore sometime between 1811 and 1868. The ninth volume, Kautuka nidhi, describes and illustrates 122 asanas performed as a physical activity.
The book was broadly welcomed by scholars as opening up the study of the origins of modern yoga other than in ancient texts. In particular, Joseph Alter went on to investigate some of the early practices of modern yoga and its connections with Hindu nationalism, while Mark Singleton built on Sjoman's work to investigate the origins of yoga as exercise in European physical culture.