5 Places To Enjoy Yoga in India

India is a dream destination for many yogis, but with so many ashrams and courses, how do you choose wisely? From the hardcore to the boutique, we select 5 of the best places to practise yoga.As with many things in India today, yoga doesn’t necessarily come cheap but all of these are very good value given the quality of teaching on offer. Be advised that customer service in India isn’t always the best, and some of the more traditional places might prove hard to contact. But be patient, persevere, switch to “Indian-time” and, if you must, see it as the first step in letting go of your ego.

* Bihar School of Yoga, Munger, Bihar

At the sprawling Bihar School, yoga is a lifestyle not a practice, and karma yoga is given precedence over asana. So alongside classes expect hours of seva (service) – including gardening, kitchen work and toilet cleaning – supplemented by cold showers and a simple diet.

* Purple Valley, Assagao, Goa

If you’re a modern yogi craving India plus detox juices and fast Wi-Fi, with access to the world’s best Ashtanga teachers (John Scott, Petri Raisanen, Alexander Medin), Goa’s Purple Valley is your place. Despite its hardcore reputation, beginners are not only welcome but encouraged, making it a great place to kick-start your Ashtanga training, with Mysore-style self-practice in the morning and special classes in the afternoons, including philosophy, yogic living, kirtans and pranayama.

* Kaivalyadhama Ashram, Lonavala, Maharashtra

Set within 180 acres of parkland at Lonavala, a hill-station between Mumbai and Pune, this ashram, designed as a yogic research centre when it opened in 1924, is the kind of place you can spend days, months or even years immersed in its myriad programmes. The ashram’s school offers diplomas and fully accredited degrees for yoga teachers, along with shorter courses for both beginners and advanced students, while the health centre – where Gandhi was an early patient after a breakdown in 1927 – has week-long packages that include yoga with a focus on either relaxation, naturopathy or Ayurveda. You’ll stay within the leafy, old-fashioned campus, at the health centre or in the rooms of the main hall, some of which are air-conditioned. The diet throughout is organic Indian vegetarian.

* Mysore Krishnamachar Yoga Shala, Mysore, Karnataka

BNS Iyengar, who has taught quietly in his Mysore shala for the last 38 years, was one of the original students of “super-guru” Krishnamacharya, the teacher of the famous BKS Iyengar and Pattabhi Jois, founders of Iyengar and Ashtanga yoga respectively.

* Himalayan Iyengar Yoga Centre, Dharamkot, Himachal Pradesh & Arambol, Goa

An old student of BKS Iyengar, Sharat Arora became well-known in yoga circles for his serious and dedicated approach to the tradition. His school, the Himalayan Iyengar Yoga Centre (HIYC), spends summers in Dharamkot, a picturesque Himalayan village above the Tibetan refugee settlement of Mcleodganj, and winters in Arambol, the former hippy beach town in the far north of Goa.