JOIN USThe Scottish island that is becoming a yoga retreat
The guru, whose daily TV programme attracts more than 20 million viewers, will attend a ceremony on the island this month to mark the beginning of its transformation. Little Cumbrae will soon be renamed Peace Island, becoming a haven for the followers of a man who once claimed that yoga can cure HIV.
Ramdev won’t be the island’s first religious coloniser. A nun known as Saint Veya set up a religious sanctuary on Little Cumbrae in the seventh century, the ruins of which can still be seen today. Whether she too claimed that her breathing exercises could cure cancer is sadly unknown.
The caretakers of the island’s smattering of houses have been urged to keep an open mind about the change. As well as these dwellings, many of which are empty, the island’s 684 acres are home to bronze and iron-age remains, with evidence of Gaelic, Danish, Norse and British occupants over the centuries. We can only guess as to what future archaeologists will make of a site combining Gaelic burial mounds with a thousand worn yoga mats.
The Guardian