Who is HR Nagendra? Here's all you need to know about PM Modi's yoga guru

Baba Ramdev, who despite his popularity, lost out to Bengaluru-based yoga therapist HR Nagendra in becoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s very own yoga consultant.

Modi, who noticed Arvind Kejriwal suffering from a cough, at an event in New Delhi, had advised Kejriwal to then consult HR Nagendra, reported IndiaTv .

Modi and Nagendra’s relationship goes back 10 years, when Modi had gone to visit Nagendra’s uncle HV Sheshadri, an RSS leader in Karnataka.

Nagendra, the president of the charitable trust Vyasa (Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana) in Tamil Nadu, has been guiding the yoga center in Nimhans for more than 15 years now.

After receiving his doctorate in mechanical engineering from IISc, Bangalore, he served as faculty in the mechanical engineering department of the institution. He also served as a consultant at Havard University and was a part of the visiting staff at Imperial College, London.

Apart from strong academic qualifications, Nagendra has published 30 books on yoga, co-authored 50 research papers, guided close to 150 dissertations and has presented 60 papers on yoga therapy in major conferences all around the world.

He was awarded the ‘Yoga Shree’ from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in 1997.

Recently, based on the recommendations of a panel headed by Nagendra, HRD Minister Smriti Irani declared the setting up of new and improved yoga departments for the upcoming academic year at six central universities, as reported by The Indian Express.