The Real History of Hatha Yoga from an Akhara Monk: From Shankaracharya’s Akharas to Instagramic Yoga Teachers by Vasyl Vernyhora

Description

This book presents an overview of the entire history of Hatha Yoga – from the time of Shankaracharya’s martial akharas and the earliest texts describing physical exercises (later associated with Hatha Yoga) to the period of its formation and formalization during the Vijayanagara Empire, and finally to the modern yoga teachers and their gymnastic interpretations of what is often claimed to be “that very ancient Indian mystical yoga,” as well as to today’s glamorous Instagram influencers.

Offering an unbiased perspective, the book explores the history and essence of Hatha Yoga through the lens of a Ukrainian author who, in 2004, received individual sannyasa diksha from Somnath Giriji.

The cover features a photograph of the Shankaracharya monument in Kedarnath, depicted as a barrier symbolized by a brick wall, with Shankaracharya’s marble hand holding a bamboo staff (danda) to which an axe blade is tied. The monument represents Shankaracharya’s efforts to establish a Himalayan network of Hindu mathas and monasteries with armed groups of monks, organized to prevent Buddhist monk-preachers from descending from the Himalayan regions into the Indian plains.

The photograph was taken by the author in June 2007 during one of his visits to Kedarnath. This Shankaracharya monument, located in the upper part of the town, was completely destroyed by a mudslide on the morning of June 17, 2013. The disaster also demolished a small temple dedicated to Shankaracharya nearby, destroyed most of the local buildings, and damaged the main Kedarnath temple housing the jyotirlinga. At that time, the town had a population of about 700 residents and an even larger number of pilgrims.

In November 2021, a new monument to Shankaracharya was inaugurated in Kedarnath, roughly at the same site. The new statue depicts him seated in a pose resembling siddhasana. In this version, the danda (staff) appears thinner, and the axe blade smaller and curved resembling two strips of cloth fluttering in the wind, perhaps designed to evoke fewer associations with weaponry.