Swati and Rajiv Chanchani founded the Yog-Ganga Centre for Yoga Studies in June 1988 under the guidance of Yogacharya B.K.S. Iyengar. The centre’s aims are fivefold:
To promote the study of yoga philosophy and practice in the tradition of the revered sage Patanjali and as elucidated by Yogacharya B.K.S. Iyengar, Geeta S. Iyengar, and Prashant S. Iyengar.
To learn yoga within the broader fabric of Indian culture especially through art, architecture, dance, language, literature and music.
To situate yoga as a subject that is in harmony with nature, and to endorse action that leads to protection of the earth’s environment.
To advance public health and community well being through the study of yoga and Ayurveda.
To create a space where like-minded people can gather to discuss and advance all the above.
The Yog-Ganga Centre was initially based in Mussoorie, which is in the lower Himalayas. In 2002 the centre was shifted to a quiet, forested locality of neighboring Dehradun.
This centre comprises of a specially designed building constructed of brick and locally mined limestone. This building encloses a 1500 sq.ft. well equipped yoga hall, a library, a venue for lectures and demonstrations, a reception and other spaces. A small amphitheater, well-landscaped gardens on terraced slopes abounding in fruit trees, shrubs, medicinal plans, and flowers make the situation idyllic for the reflection, study and the practice of Yoga. Eighty species of birds, monkeys, deer, pine martens, mongooses, and other wildlife frequent the gardens.
