Indian yoga guru Swami Ramdev practises yoga on Little Cumbrae off the west coast of Scotland. Photograph: Andy Buchanan/AFP/Getty Images
A tiny, treeless island in the Firth of Clyde has become an unlikely place of pilgrimage , as hundreds of people flocked to see a controversial yoga master who says he wants to heal the planet's population of illness.
The 700 rocky acres of Little Cumbrae, known as Wee Cumbrae to locals, were best known for their birdlife until a millionaire couple bought the uninhabited island in July, planning to turn it into a yoga retreat based around the principles of Swami Ramdev Ji.
The guru, whose followers number tens of millions in his home country of India, attended the official opening of the retreat, dressed in woodblock sandals and flowing orange robes that contrasted sharply with the leaden Scottish skies.
Ramdev has a rock star following in India, having founded a trust in the mid-90s to promote yoga and ayurvedic healing. But he is a controversial figure, attracting criticism over his claims to rid the world of illness, and more recently over comments describing homosexuals as "sick people".
He told the gathering of journalists, bemused locals and pilgrims, 350 of whom had travelled from India, that claims that his breathing techniques could cure cancer and Aids did not come from him but rather from his followers.
"Yoga is the universal and scientific philosophy of self-realisation and healing. Our personal life should also be full of austerity and self-control and a complete sense of denunciation."
Asked if his methods could cure cancer, however, Ramdev was reluctant to answer directly and reverted to his native Hindi
Sam and Sunita Poddar bought the island for £2m in July, after building up a fortune through their Glasgow-based care home business Lambhill Court Ltd. They plan to turn the island into a five-star yoga retreat with doctors trained in ayurvedic medicine, which combines herbs, massage and yoga.
Sunita Poddar, 49, said she started following Ramdev's principles after suffering from health complications that required her to take 14 tablets a day. She said Ramdev's breathing techniques, called Pranayam, enabled her to lose weight and stop taking medication.
One pilgrim, who had flown from his home in India, taken a train from London and then caught a boat in Largs, described Ramdev as "just about as big as the Beatles" in his own country.
Asked what he thought of the island, he said: "It is very strange, the water is so black here."
source: guardian
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