Yoga in Modern India: The body between science and philosophy

Yoga has come to be an Icon of Indian culture and civilization, and it is widely regarded as being timeless and unchanging. Based on extensive ethnographic research and an analysis of both ancient and modern texts, Yoga in modern India challenges this popular view by examining the history of yoga, focusing on its emergence in modern India and its dramatically changing form and significance in the twentieth century. Joseph Alter argues that yogaês transformation into a popular activity idolized for its health value is based on modern ideas about science and medicine.

Review(s)

–This is the first time Indian Modern Yoga has received such sustained, in depth treatment by a reputable and well informed scholar. Much of the book is quite accessible to the general reader and many of Alterês more theoretical and analytical interpretat

About the Author(s)

Joseph S. Alter is professor or Anthropology and Research Professor at the University Center for International Studies, University of Pittsburgh. He is the author of The Wrestlerês Body, Knowing Dill Dass and Gandhiês Body