Calcutta popularised the idea of muscular nationalism through yoga in the modern era. Bishnu Charan Ghosh & his exponents were greatly behind this project. The idea of Bengalis not being a physically strong race is flawed as the community has a rich history of physical culture.+
Bishnu Charan Ghosh is referred to as the father of physical culture in India. He popularised the idea of hatha yoga, when yoga was a lesser known concept in the west. He made yoga accessible to people by setting up the College of Physical Education (now Ghosh's Yoga College).
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His brother was the famous yogi Paramahansa Yogananda. His students include Monotosh Roy, Buddha Bose, Bikram Choudhary (Yoga), & female students like Reba Rakshit, Labanya Palit.
He along with KC Sengupta published 'Muscle Control and Barbell Exercise', an authority in P.Ed.
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He along with KC Sengupta published 'Muscle Control and Barbell Exercise', an authority in P.Ed.
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Monotosh Roy went on to become India & Asia's 1st Mr. Universe. He became the founding member of Asian Body Building Federation & established Roy Yoga Centers all over Bengal. His son Moloy Roy (bodybuilder from Joy Baba Felunath) became Mr. India 8 times and Mr. Asia 3 times.
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Another interesting student of BCG, Buddha Bose, half Bengali and half English, who later became his son in law, developed and documented the advanced system of asanas and later published it as "84 Asanas".
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Coming to Reba Rakshit, one of the earliest and most successful women of Yoga, went on the become one of the most sought after circus performers of her time. Not a lot is known about her, but her most famous stunts include elephants and cars plodding over her body.
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Finally Labanya Palit, another bright student of BCG, primarily an yoga practitioner and teacher, published 'Shariram Adyam' that taught and explained 40 yoga postures with detailed instructions.
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There are many other popular exponents whom I have failed to mention here due to paucity of time & knowledge. The bottomline is Bengalis as a community are highly accomplished not only in soft subjects like literature, humanities & arts but also physical culture & body building.+
The senseless branding of Bengalis as pot bellied and lazy, and our men as effeminate in nature was a part of the British propaganda, now carried forward by Bengali haters in independent India. Time we look at our history.
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