Yoga as a practice has been followed in India since times immemorial and is believed to have originated in India. Rishis in ancient India practiced it as a spiritual discipline to keep themselves fit and healthy.As migration of people starting happening globally due to business, education, employment and trade over the past five to six decades, this tradition got exported to the developed countries from an emerging market like India. Thus Yoga can be termed as a case of “Reverse Innovation.
Today a developed country like the United States of America is among the biggest markets for Yoga apart from many other developed nations. In view of the all-round health benefits of Yoga on the human body, 21st June has been declared as the”International Yoga Day” by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). This paper focuses on the relevance of Yoga as a spiritual practice and its gradual evolution into a business case of reverse innovation.
Introduction
21″ June 2015 has been observed as the international day of Yoga all over the world. It is am atter of great pride for Indian that this ancient tradition has been honored and practiced by people all over the world.
The Republic of India (Bhärat Ganaräjya) popularly known as India, is a leading developing country in South Asia, which is home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilization and a region of historic trade routes and vast empires. Historically the Indian subcontinent was knowns for its commercial and cultural wealth. Ancient four religions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism—originated here, whereas Zoroastrianism and the Abrahamic religions Of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam arrived in the 1st millennium CE. During early I e century, India brought under the administration of the British East India Company and gradually administered directly by the United Kingdom after the Indian Rebellion of 1857.
India became an independent nation in 1947 after a struggle for independence that was marked by non-violent resistance led by Mahatma Gandhi. These historical events helped in shaping the region’s diverse culture.
Hinduism is the dominant religion, or way of life, in South Asia, most notably in India and Nepal. It is “a family of religious cultures”, which includes a broad range of philosophies and traditions. That is bound by shared concepts, recognizable rituals,cosmology, shared textual resources, pilgrimage to sacred sites and the questioning of authority. It includes Shaivism, Vaishnavism and Shaktism among Other denominations. Hinduism is the world’s third largest religion, after Christianity and Islam, with approximately one billion followers.
It has been called the “oldest religion” (Sanätana Dharma) in the world, “the eternal law” or the”eternal way” beyond human origins. Western scholars regard Hinduism as a fusion or synthesis Of various Indian cultures and traditions, with diverse roots and no single founder. It prescribes the eternal duties, such as honesty, refraining from injuring living beings (ahimsa), patience,forbearance, self-restraint, compassion, among others.