James Mallinson

Reader in Indology and Yoga Studies at SOAS University of London, and Principal Investigator for the Haṭha Yoga Project, Dr. Mallinson is probably the world’s leading expert on the tradition of haṭha yoga, holds a doctorate from Oxford University, and has published several books and articles, including the recent Roots of Yoga.

Jim portrait

Dr Mallinson is Reader in Indology and Yoga Studies at SOAS University of London and Principal Investigator for the Haṭha Yoga Project, and probably the world’s leading expert on the tradition of haṭha yoga. He holds a doctorate from Oxford University, and has published several books and articles. After completing his doctoral studies at Oxford, Dr. Mallinson worked as a principal translator for the Clay Sanskrit Library, for which he produced five volumes of translations of Sanskrit poetry. He has also published translations of two haṭha yoga texts, the Gheraṇḍa Saṃhitā (2004) and Śiva Saṃhitā (2007) for YogaVidya.com. In addition to these books Dr. Mallinson has published numerous articles, book chapters and encyclopedia articles. Roots of Yoga, a reader of translations of texts on yoga introduced and edited by Dr. Mallinson and Dr. Mark Singleton, was published in the Penguin Classics series in January 2017.

Dr. Mallinson’s primary research method is philology, in particular the study of manuscripts of Sanskrit texts on yoga, which he complements with ethnographic data drawn from extensive fieldwork with Indian ascetics and the study of art historical sources. In recognition of his long association with the Rāmānandī Indian ascetic saṃpradāya, in 2013 the order honoured him with the title of mahant, an event recorded in the Smithsonian Channel’s television documentary “West Meets East”:https://www.youtube.com/watch?... class="caps">SXBc. His work on art historical depictions of yogis led to his being invited to be a consultant and catalogue author for the 2013 exhibition ‘Yoga: The Art of Transformation at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C.

Dr Mallinson is Reader in Indology and Yoga Studies at SOAS University of London and Principal Investigator for the Haṭha Yoga Project, and probably the world’s leading expert on the tradition of haṭha yoga. He holds a doctorate from Oxford University, and has published several books and articles. After completing his doctoral studies at Oxford, Dr. Mallinson worked as a principal translator for the Clay Sanskrit Library, for which he produced five volumes of translations of Sanskrit poetry. He has also published translations of two haṭha yoga texts, the Gheraṇḍa Saṃhitā (2004) and Śiva Saṃhitā (2007) for YogaVidya.com. In addition to these books Dr. Mallinson has published numerous articles, book chapters and encyclopedia articles. Roots of Yoga, a reader of translations of texts on yoga introduced and edited by Dr. Mallinson and Dr. Mark Singleton, was published in the Penguin Classics series in January 2017.

Dr. Mallinson’s primary research method is philology, in particular the study of manuscripts of Sanskrit texts on yoga, which he complements with ethnographic data drawn from extensive fieldwork with Indian ascetics and the study of art historical sources. In recognition of his long association with the Rāmānandī Indian ascetic saṃpradāya, in 2013 the order honoured him with the title of mahant, an event recorded in the Smithsonian Channel’s television documentary “West Meets East”:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iX-F9-SXBc. His work on art historical depictions of yogis led to his being invited to be a consultant and catalogue author for the 2013 exhibition ‘Yoga: The Art of Transformation at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C.