Tiny Scots isle opens as world yoga centre

Published on Sunday 27 September 2009 22:55

HUNDREDS of people journeyed to a tiny, uninhabited island on Scotland's west coast yesterday to celebrate its blessing as a yoga colony.

It was the first time Little Cumbrae has been open to the public, and attracted about 700 visitors and dignitaries from nearby communities and around the globe.

The island, known locally as Wee Cumbrae, was bought in July by Glasgow business couple Sam and Sunita Poddar for 2.5 million with the intention of setting up the yoga retreat.

Yesterday, it welcomed its first guests, including yoga guru Swami Ramdev Ji, who has an estimated 80 million followers worldwide for his brand of yoga known as Patanjali Yog. The controversial teacher has claimed he can cure cancer and that homosexuals are "sick people", and was the star of the "open day" on the island.

Fans of Ramdev were said to be "overwhelmed" at the chance to meet him on the 684-acre island just off the west coast at Largs. Visitors were ferried back and forth to what is aimed to be the first five-star "Pranayam Yog and Ayurved" medicine retreat outside India.

Organisers said more than 200 people journeyed from India for the chance to meet Ramdev and joined church leaders, academics and healthcare professionals from Scotland, China, Canada, South Africa and Europe.

Sunita Poddar said that, subject to planning permission, the island will have a centre to cater for around 200 people eating or praying, with some possible accommodation. She insisted there would be no huge expansion and they did not want "to touch the nature and the island's beauty", which they call Shanti Dwipam – Sanskrit for Peace Island.

The 49-year-old said: "Our aim is to make Wee Cumbrae a worldwide destination with something for the whole family to enjoy.

"Whether it is experiencing the rejuvenating and healing powers of Yog Pranayam and Ayurved, exploring the magnificent history of the island, enjoying the many walking trails, or experiencing the many gifts of nature this beautiful island has to offer, we want to make Wee Cumbrae accessible for everyone."

Ms Poddar, who is the international co-ordinator and a trustee of the UK Patanjali Yog Peeth Trust, said she hoped Swami Ramdev would visit twice a year, once the centre is up and running. She and her husband own six private nursing homes in Glasgow with a turnover in excess of 7m.

She said Ramdev's yoga was her "saviour" in helping her lose five stone and throw away the 12 tablets she was taking a day for ailments such as hypertension and high blood pressure.

Ramdev, a guru swathed in saffron robes with long, flowing locks and a long beard, claims to have been paralysed as a child and to have cured himself through the power of yoga.

SCEPTICISM OVER 'CANCER CURE'

SWAMI Ramdev Ji co-founded the Patanjali Yog Peeth Trust to promote the brand of yoga and holistic healing in his native India called Ayurved.

He claims his methods, which involve breathing techniques known as Pranayam, can cure cancer, fight Aids and treat illnesses from diabetes to swine flu.

Although his devotees claim Mr Ramdev's methods work, others are not so sure.

The Indian Medical Association has challenged him to allow clinical trials of the methods that he claims cure cancer, while others in India accuse him of acting like a celebrity, raking in the money of others and living off the profits.

He has an estimated 80 million followers.