On January 19, 1975, the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute opened its doors to the people of Pune. Known to be the heart and soul of Iyengar yoga, it is dedicated to yogacharya BKS Iyengar’s wife. There are three floors in the building, dedicated to mind, body and soul. There are eight columns to denote the eight limbs of Ashtanga yoga – yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana and samadhi.

It also has a library with a generous collection (over 8,000 volumes) of books on various subjects including yoga, Ayurveda and philosophy. The busts of Smt Ramamani and Guruji have been placed in the premises; Guruji’s bust was chiselled by the Queen Mother of Belgium, in celebration of having performed Sirsasana at the age of 81.