The college was inaugurated in June 2015, just before the first International Yoga Day, by VK Singh, India’s Minister of State for External Affairs. The college began offering free courses in November, and now has over 60 full-time students on its rolls.
The college, the first of its kind in India is located in Kunming and based in the Yunnan Minzu University. Deputy director of the college, Lu Fang explained that interest is developing rapidly in the community. “Several companies and government offices invited our teachers to teach yoga during celebrations such as the International Women’s Day,” he said. “They not only learn yoga positions, but also sutras, philosophy, culture and dining habits from the Indian tutors.”
Han Mingxue, who works at the college as a teacher explained that she herself learnt from Indian teachers because she wanted a deeper understanding of yoga. Velusamy Subbulakshmi, who trained at India’s Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram, is another teacher at the college. She explained that Chinese students pick up yoga quite fast, thanks to their exposure to Chinese Tai Chi and shadowboxing.
The Indian government is working to increase revenues in the tourism sector, and yoga and spirituality are big drivers of growth. The yoga college is part of many initiatives from the Indian government. It was opened after India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping signed twenty four agreements when they met in 2015. One of the agreements was to open the college, for which India will provide two teachers every year. “Yoga has become the most popular form of cultural exchange between China and India,” said Ding Shaoxiang, vice governor of Yunnan Province.
