Kapala Kurantaka Yoga

with traditional illustrations

Honourable title, Kapala Kurantaka, Braund, Stephen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8099-3038 and Vidal Cal, Irene (2020) Kapala Kurantaka Yoga. Kapala Kurantaka: With traditional illustrations . Traditional Yoga Publishing, Hyderabad. ISBN pending (In Press)

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Abstract / Summary

The first publication of the recently discovered Fourteenth Century seminal yogic text. The Kapala Kurantaka was the first book to describe the famous yoga postures knows asanas. Written in Hindi and Sanskit and including a full English translation, the book has been edited by project manager Steve Braund, and illustrated by Falmouth MA Authorial Illustration alumni Irene Vidal Cal. It also includes a reproduction of the original manuscript.

Item Type:	Book
Additional Information:	Kapala Kurantaka Yoga The central aim of this research is to preserve the earliest and rarest examples of traditional yogic teachings. Kapala Kurantaka along with the Hatha Yoga Pradipika are the two earliest books to describe the physical postures of yoga, the ‘asanas.’ Traditional Yoga India (https://traditionalyoga.co.in/), the organisation of renowned Indian scientist and yoga master Dr. A L V Kumar, seeks to bring together the various limbs of yoga, providing new insight into contemporary practices which have become fragmented, and to ensure their preservation. Working with Dr. Kumar, and involving numerous visits to India over the last five years, my role has been overall project manager and editor, responsible for coordination of the research findings and book publication, including working as commissioning art director. The project brings to publication, for the first time in recent history, an illustrated version of Kapala Kurantaka with English and Telugu translations alongside the original Sanskrit text, with new illustrations based closely on the earliest surviving drawings. The book includes a reproduction of the original manuscript (text only), thought to be 14th Century. Our research initially sourced a copy at Kaivalyadhama Yoga Institute, Lonavla, where a manuscript dating about 40-50 years, copied from the original, is preserved. However, this manuscript only discusses 107 asanas and concludes abruptly. Rigorous inquiry, over a further five years, contacting numerous libraries and institutes, finally located the complete manuscript preserved by Indian Institute Bharat Itihas Samshodhak Mandal, Pune, under the name ‘Asanyog’. The authorities were apprehensive about scanning the text lest the manuscript would further worsen as it was worm-infested and brittle. But we managed to convince the authorities about the urgency and need for preserving the text and scanned it. The present complete text contains 112 asanas and additional shatkriyas, ashtakumbhakas and dasamudras.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	traditional yoga text and illustrations
ISBN:	pending
Subjects:	Education
Courses by Department:	The Falmouth School of Art
Related URLs:	www.traditionalyoga.in
Depositing User:	Steve Braund
Date Deposited:	14 Oct 2019 12:05
Last Modified:	08 Aug 2024 08:48
URI:	https://repository.falmouth.ac.uk/id/eprint/3466

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