Bihar School of Yoga


The Bihar School of Yoga is a modern school of yoga founded by Satyananda Saraswati in Munger, Bihar, India, in 1963. An Institute of Yogic Studies was created in 1994.

History

The Bihar School of Yoga was established in 1963 at Munger, in the Indian state of Bihar, by Satyananda Saraswati. By the late 1960s, it had expanded to become an international organisation and by the mid-1970s comprised 54 ashrams in various countries.
An institute of Yogic studies was created in 1994.
The school publishes Yoga Magazine. The school teaches traditional yoga in a modern style, for example making use of software apps to distribute knowledge of mantra yoga, hatha yoga, jnana yoga and raja yoga.

Campus

The primary Bihar School of Yoga campus is called Ganga Darshan. It includes residential facilities for guests and students.

Sexual abuse allegations in Australian ashram

The international organisation included 16 ashrams in Australia by the mid-1970s, of which three were operated by sannyasins who had been initiated. In 2016, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse found that "The Bihar School of Yoga’s response did not properly prioritise the welfare of survivors over the interests of the ‘brand’ of Satyananda yoga."

Awards

The Prime Minister conferred the National Yoga Award 2019 on the Bihar School of Yoga for outstanding contributions to the promotion and development of yoga.