Institution
Kaivalyadhama
The world's oldest scientific yoga research institute, founded in 1924 in Lonavla, India
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About
Kaivalyadhama, in Lonavla, India, calls itself the oldest scientific yoga research institute in the world, and a century of work backs the claim: founded in 1924 by Swami Kuvalayananda, it marked its centenary celebrations in 2023-2024 with a hundred-year logo across its site.
The institute runs on several arms at once: a scientific research department that has studied yoga's effects since the 1920s, a yoga-therapy health care centre with weekly programs (yoga and ayurveda, naturopathy, weight management, pain management, cancer care, digital detox), a full education college whose offerings run from certificate and teacher training to PG diplomas, B.A. and M.A. Yogashastra degrees and a Ph.D., and an ashram campus with branches across India (Pune, Mumbai, Delhi, Bhopal, Rajkot) and international affiliates in the USA, China and Japan.
Swami Kuvalayananda's founding specialty, the scientific study of pranayama and hatha yoga technique, remains the institute's spine. It publishes research, newsletters and teaching materials, and hosts workshops and retreats on its campus. Kaivalyadhama is where yoga met the laboratory first, and it is still running. The institution's stated mission: To promote the scientific study and practice of yoga.
Mission
To promote the scientific study and practice of yoga.
History
Kaivalyadhama was founded in 1924 by Swami Kuvalayananda in Lonavla, India as the first institution to apply scientific research to yoga, and it now runs a research department, a yoga-therapy hospital, a college with degree and Ph.D. programs, and an ashram campus.