This iconic photo of Iyengar taken by a humble, powerful woman

This is perhaps one of the most widely used photographs of Guruji. It was taken in 1987 on top of the Pali Highway on O’ahu. It overlooks the windward side of the island toward Kane’ohe. I drive by this spot every day on my morning commute and always think of Guruji when I pass it.

The photo was taken by Penney Sing, who is a dedicated Iyengar student at the Intermediate Junior I level. She has always been a rock in the Iyengar community here on O’ahu. I was fortunate to see her a day after Guruji’s passing. I gave her a big hug as we were coming out of a workshop with senior teacher Laurie Blakeney. She expressed sadness, but was grateful that Laurie kept the theme of the class light in spite of the gravity of the week.

Penney and her iconic photo at Iyengar Yoga Honolulu

She said that she “gave this photo to the world” and has not received any type of payment or proper recognition for this iconic photo. Sadly, in a commemorative book for Iyengar, the photo appears without any credit to who took it. You could not replicate this photo at this spot today as the Pali Highway is now littered with traffic. She said that Guruji jumped over the wall to a dangerous spot and struck this pose. As you can tell it is very windy on the Pali at all times.

This photo was released today which appears to be from the same roll. It is nothing short of miraculous. She gave me permission to publish the photo on my blog.