Olympian gymnast Dipa Karmakar has made Produnova, the “vault of death”, almost a household word in India, which is no stranger to poses and postures for all seasons.

What if a yoga specialist comes face to face with a Produnova practitioner? Chances are they will have many notes to share. 

The Telegraph asked three senior yogis of the Bihar School of Yoga in Munger about the Produnova vault and the most difficult asanas. One of them is Yogi Mahesh, at present yoga teacher at the Kendriya Vidyalaya INS Chilka (Odisha), while the two others spoke on condition that they would not be named.

The three yogis echoed more or less the same views on the Produnova: This is a risky manoeuvre. The loss of even a moment’s concentration can cause serious injuries to the performer’s head, spinal cord and other organs. A bad landing, or even a moment’s lapse in concentration or a small error while executing it, could result in paralysis and even death.
But, they added, similar risky postures are not uncommon in yoga, which has influenced modern gymnastics moves.
All three yogis were unanimous in saying that Astavakrasana and Padma Sirsasana are the most difficult and most dangerous yoga poses. 

“Astavakrasana and Padma Sirsasana are no less difficult to perform (than the Produnova vault),” said Yogi Mahesh. “But we won’t deny credit to Dipa Karmakar. She has achieved a phenomenal feat, which is in a way equivalent to what yogis want the people to achieve.” 

He added: “Also, the yoga performer is not in competition to score over others. If you have learnt to do yoga postures like Astavakrasana or Padma Sirsasana, you will do it, otherwise, you will not. There is no pressure on you to do it unlike in an Olympics event where you are supposed to beat others to get a medal.”

PADMA SIRSASANA

According to the yogis, it is the advanced stage of the pose of standing upside down. The performer is required to maintain his balance through the head placed on the earth. While doing the Padma Sirsasana, or the lotus pose in headstand, the performer with the support of his head and two hands raises his legs 90 degrees in the air. Then he removes the support of his hands and shapes his legs in Padmasana pose in the air.

Only accomplished yogis who have first mastered Sirsasana or the classical headstand pose can perform the Nirlamba Padma Sirsasana. Even a slight loss of balance can break the performer’s spinal cord, besides injuring his head and face. Loss of balance could also cause brain haemorrhage and even death. For a trained yogi, it takes two to six months to master it. Others should not attempt it without the guidance and approval of a yoga guru. 

A gymnast who can balance on the parallel bars on the ground  would have had to undergo training in Sirsasana.

ASTAVAKRASANA

This pose is named after Astavakra, an ancient sage and King Janaka’s guru. When he was born, all eight parts of his body were crooked, hence the name. Legend has it that Astavakra performed this pose to correct his bodily deformities.
“It is difficult in the sense that the performer has to balance his body in the air on one palm. The performer has only a palm to support his body suspended in the air against the gravitational pull. He can’t swing or make any movement... the only action he does is breathing normally.

“In case he loses his balance, his wrist might break. There are chances of injury in the hip region, too. It takes at least two months and full devotion for a trained yogi to attain perfection in Astavakrasana. Many other pranayamas and asanas should precede the learning of Astavakrasana. But a common man lacking in devotion can’t learn it in his lifetime,” Yogi Mahesh said.

DOCTORS’ WORD

Sports medics and orthopaedic surgeons caution that both yoga postures — Astavakrasana and Nirlamba (self-supported) Padma Sirsasana — come with high risk of significant injuries to anyone who is untrained or who attempts to do them inappropriately.

“Sirsasana is a particularly dangerous posture — the human body is designed to stand on its feet, not on the head,” said Parag Sancheti, an orthopaedic surgeon and president of the Indian Association of Sports Medicine. “The forces imposed by this posture on the cervical spine put it at risk of serious damage,” said Sancheti. The surgeon recalled two instances where a patient who developed paralysis of two limbs and another who lost the use of all four limbs because of cervical spine damage after they independently attempted the Sirsasana.

The Astavakrasana posture places unusually strong force on the wrist and shoulder joints. “When not done appropriately, this posture could lead to dislocation of the wrist or shoulder joints,” Sancheti said.

Yoga specialists said Sirsasana was not intended for beginners. “For otherwise healthy individuals who have no underlying medical disorders, Sirsasana should not be difficult to do, but it has to be learnt very carefully and this can take anywhere from several days to several weeks,” said B. Ishwar Basavaraddi, director of the Morarji Desai Institute of Yoga, New Delhi.
Basavaraddi said he would not recommend Astavakrasana to lay persons. “There is no need for this posture,” he said.

Nalin Verma and GS Mudur