Sun Salutations Tribute

HOW OLD ARE SUN SALUTATIONS?

 

Sun Salutatuons (Namaskars) were first described around 1500 BCE in the Rig Veda, the oldest collection of sacred Hindu scriptures, , as a ritual prostration to the dawn, with mantras, offerings of flowers and rice, and libations of water. Surya Namaskara is not mentioned in the revered "The Yoga Sutras".

 

One of the earliest texts that mentioned the flow of Surya Namaskar is the Yoga Makaranda by Shri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya. Yoga Makaranda was Krishnamacharya's first book on the topic of Yoga, published in 1934. This was one of the first books to present the practice of yoga poses in a sequential manner (Vinyasa-krama), a method unknown at that time to the general public.