Isha Foundation is a

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

, spiritual organisation founded in 1992 near

Coimbatore Coimbatore, also spelt as Koyamputhur (), sometimes shortened as Kovai (), is one of the major metropolitan cities in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyyal River and surrounded by the Western Ghats. Coimbat ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

, by

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev Sadhguru (born Jagadish Vasudev, 3 September 1957) is the founder and head of the Isha Foundation, based in Coimbatore, India. The foundation, established in 1992, operates an ashram and yoga centre that carries out educational and spiritual ...

. It hosts the Isha Yoga Centre, which offers

yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...

programs under the name Isha Yoga. The foundation is run "almost entirely" by volunteers. The word ''isha'' means "the formless divine".

Isha Yoga

The Yoga Centre, founded at Isha Foundation in 1994, offers yoga programmes under the name Isha Yoga. This customised system of yoga combines postural yoga with chanting, breathing ('' prāṇāyāma'') and meditation. It does not belong to a lineage ('' paramparā''), and its practitioners believe it to be based on the founding guru's unique insight. Yoga classes for business leaders are intended to "introduce a sense of compassion and inclusiveness" to economics. A yoga course for the Indian national hockey team was conducted in 1996. Isha Foundation began conducting yoga programs in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

in 1997 and, in 1998, yoga classes for life-term prisoners in Tamil Nadu

prisons A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correct ...

Activities

The foundation organises gatherings ('' sathsangs'') with Vasudev in the Indian states of

and

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO 15919, ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reor ...

, where he delivers discourses, leads meditations, and conducts question-answer sessions. It organises annual pilgrimages (''

yatra ( sa, यात्रा, 'journey', 'procession'), in Indian-origin religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, generally means a pilgrimage to holy places such as confluences of sacred rivers, sacred mountains, places associated ...

s'') to

Mount Kailash Mount Kailash (also Kailasa; ''Kangrinboqê'' or ''Gang Rinpoche''; Tibetan: གངས་རིན་པོ་ཆེ; ; sa, कैलास, ), is a mountain in the Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It has an altitude of ...

and the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...

. The Kailash- Manasarovar pilgrimage led by Vasudev is among the largest groups to visit Kailash, with 514 pilgrims making the journey in 2010. The trip cost up to Rs per person in 2021, with cheaper options available in which devotees receive limited interaction with Vasudev. The centre hosts an annual seven-day-long music and dance festival culminating in the all-night celebration of

Maha Shivaratri Maha Shivaratri (IAST: Mahāśivarātri) is a Hindu festival celebrated annually in honour of the god Shiva. The name also refers to the night when Shiva performs the heavenly dance called Tandava. In every month of the luni-solar Hindu c ...

, a major Hindu festival honouring

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one o ...

. The foundation sells various products such as yoga mats, personal care products and accessories. Its US chapter reported revenues of $25m in 2020, with the premium programmes being the largest source. The “business leadership” insights program, in particular, was priced at $6500 per person.

Social and environmental initiatives

Project GreenHands

Project GreenHands (PGH) was established in 2004 as an environmental organisation. Its activity is largely focused on

. It received the Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar, the

Government of India The Government of India ( ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

's environmental award, in 2010. Its activities include

agroforestry Agroforestry is a land use management system in which trees or shrubs are grown around or among crops or pastureland. Trees produce a wide range of useful and marketable products from fruits/nuts, medicines, wood products, etc. This intentional ...

, plant nurseries in schools, and tree-planting in urban centres such as

Tiruchirappalli Tiruchirappalli () ( formerly Trichinopoly in English), also called Tiruchi or Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with be ...

and Tiruppur.

Action for Rural Rejuvenation

Action for Rural Rejuvenation is a health and community-oriented program focusing on rural Tamil Nadu. It was established in 2003, and as of 2010, operated in 4,200 villages with a population of seven million. Action for Rural Rejuvenation hosts the annual Gramotsavam sports festival in Tamil Nadu, promoting sports as a part of daily life in rural communities to improve mental and physical well-being. In recognition of this effort, Isha received India's National Sports Promotion Award in the Sport for Development category in 2018.

Isha Vidhya

Isha Vidhya, an education initiative, aims to raise education and literacy in rural India by providing quality English-language-based, computer-aided education for children. There are seven Isha Vidhya Schools, with around 3000 students. In 2010, the

Life Insurance Corporation of India Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is an Indian central public sector undertaking headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Finance, Government of India. The Life Insurance Corporation ...

Golden Jubilee Foundation provided a grant for construction at an Isha Vidhya School in

. In March 2022, the initiative onboarded Byju's to provide digital learning tools to underprivileged children in Tamil Nadu and

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

Rally for Rivers

Rally for Rivers was a month-long, nationwide campaign launched by Isha Foundation in 2017 to address the scarcity of water across rivers in

and instill awareness about protecting rivers. Vasudev launched the campaign on 3 September from Isha Yoga Centre, Coimbatore. On 3 October, a river revitalisation draft proposal was presented by Vasudev to

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (IAST: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and their chosen Council of Ministers, despite the president of India being the nominal head of the ...

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...

. The states of

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (, ) is a landlocked state in Central India. It is the ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the seventeenth most populous. It borders seven states – Uttar Pradesh to the north, Madhya Prad ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi Language, Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also Romanization, romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the I ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the second-most populous state in India and the second-most populous country subdi ...

and

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

signed memorandums of understanding with Isha Foundation to plant trees along river banks. The Niti Aayog and the Ministry of Water Resources constituted committees to study the draft policy proposal. Under the name Rally for Rivers, a Cauvery calling campaign was organised which would last over a decade. The project mainly focuses on

river Kaveri The Kaveri (also known as Cauvery, the anglicized name) is one of the major Indian rivers flowing through the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The Kaveri river rises at Talakaveri in the Brahmagiri range in the Western Ghats, Kodagu d ...

. In November, at a conference in Germany, the executive director of the

United Nations Environment Programme The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on ...

, Erik Solheim, discussed Rally for Rivers with Vasudev, and how environmental programs around the world could emulate its success. Rally for Rivers has been criticised by environmentalists who allege that it was trying to solve a complex problem with a "shallow solution".

Cauvery Calling

The Cauvery Calling project aims to support farmers in planting an estimated 2.4 billion trees through

, thereby covering one third of Cauvery basin with trees as a means of conserving it. The project has received acclaim from politicians and members of the movie industry, yet environmentalists and public intellectuals have alleged that it presents a simplistic view of river conservation, sidestepping social issues and ignoring the potential harm to tributaries and wildlife habitats. A public interest litigation has also been filed in the

Karnataka High Court Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnata ...

questioning the legality of the fundraising practices for the initiative, and the usage of government owned land for a private purpose without supporting study. In January 2020, the High Court ruled that the foundation needed to disclose details of its fundraising practices relating to the initiative.

Save Soil

The Save Soil movement is an international effort to raise awareness about soil health. As part of the campaign, Vasudev completed a 100-day, 30,000 km journey from

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

to southern

to meet with government officials, international organizations, and interested members of the public. The United Nations’ Convention to Combat Desertification and the World Food Programme have partnered with the organization to address soil degradation and the associated impacts. Countries, such as

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estima ...

, and states in

, such as

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern ...

and

, have signed a memorandum of understanding with Save Soil. In conjunction with these efforts, the foundation has hosted walkathons for Save Soil in cities across

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

. Critics have noted that the initiative lacks sufficient engagement with public and private institutions.

Ashram

Isha Foundation's headquarters are located in an

ashram An ashram ( sa, आश्रम, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery in Indian religions. Etymology The Sanskrit noun is a thematic nominal derivative from the root 'toil' (<

Velliangiri Mountains, adjacent to the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, some forty kilometres from the city of

in the state of

South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union terr ...

. The foundation's construction activities at Isha Yoga Centre in Coimbatore are alleged to have violated rules and regulations on several occasions. Environmental activists and the local indigenous community have fought against the expansion of the ashram.

Adiyogi Shiva statue

Vasudev designed the 112-foot Adiyogi Shiva statue at the Isha Yoga Centre. It was inaugurated on

Mahashivaratri Maha Shivaratri ( IAST: Mahāśivarātri) is a Hindu festival celebrated annually in honour of the god Shiva. The name also refers to the night when Shiva performs the heavenly dance called Tandava. In every month of the luni-solar Hindu ...

, 24 February 2017, by the

. The statue depicts

as the first yogi or Adiyogi, and first Guru or Adi Guru, who offered yoga to humanity. It was built by the Isha Foundation using 20,000 individual iron plates supplied by the Steel Authority of India and weighs around 500 tonnes (490 long tons; 550 short tons). It has been recognised as the "Largest Bust Sculpture" by

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

. A consecrated

Shivalinga A lingam ( sa, लिङ्ग , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva in Shaivism. It is typically the primary ''murti'' or devotional ...

, Yogeshwar Linga, is at its base.

Controversies and reception

In 2016, a couple claimed that their two adult daughters were held captive at the centre. The foundation denied the allegation and released a statement by the women asserting they were staying there voluntarily. The case was dismissed in court. Another woman alleged that her adult son was being held captive. A report by '' Newslaundry'' alleges Isha Foundation's structures in Ikkarai Boluvampatti,

, are built without proper permission from the Hill Area Conservation Authority (HACA), meaning the structures are illegally built.

References

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

* {{Coimbatore district Yoga organizations Spiritual retreats Non-profit organisations based in India Community-building organizations Recipients of the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar