T

he newly established Indonesian Yoga Association (AYI) will work to promote awareness about yoga despite a recent fatwa (edict) issued by the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) banning its practice.

Newly elected AYI chairwoman, Anak Agung Ayu Shri Sri Wariyani, a 43-year-old entrepreneur and yoga enthusiast, said the association would first and foremost concentrate on uniting yoga centers all around the country to ease communication among training masters.

"We will be the center for all the yoga branches and hopefully help the masters communicate our vision and mission to the masses," Shri said at the Bali-India Foundation office in Denpasar on Friday.

The association was created Thursday as part of the ongoing International Bali-India Yoga Festival, which will continue until Tuesday. The festival not only focuses on yoga techniques but also other various aspects of life from arts and peace to health and beauty.

The organizer, the Bali-India Foundation, also aims to make Bali a spiritual tourism destination for a range of activities, including yoga.

The MUI banned yoga on the grounds it would corrupt the Islamic faith because it contained some elements of Hinduism such as chanting.

In response to the ban, Wariyani said yoga would not corrupt any faith as it was separate from Hinduism or Buddhism, the two religions it is most commonly associated with.

"I look at yoga itself, which is neither a religious movement nor a political one. It's universal," she said.

"Yoga comes from a Sanskrit word meaning to unite, that is the unification of the self, to know ones self, and then uniting ourselves with our common characteristics: that we are god's creation."

Wariyani said the association plans to cooperate with leaders from many religions and would "hit the street" in order to promote the benefits of yoga.

AYI is Indonesia's first yoga association. It currently has 20 members from Bali, Java and Lombok, mostly yoga masters at their respective yoga centers.