Manibhai Haribhai Desai, known as Yogendra was an Indian yoga guru, author, poet, researcher and was one of the important figures in the modern revival of Hatha Yoga, both in India and United States. He was the founder of The Yoga Institute, the oldest organized yoga center in the world, established in 1918. He is often referred as the Father of Modern Yoga Renaissance. He was one of the figures responsible for reviving the practice of asanas and making yoga accessible to people other than renunciates.
The Oglethorpe University has preserved three of his books in the Crypt of Civilization.
Yogendra innovated modern methods to teach Yoga, initiating research in Yoga, particularly in the field of the Yoga therapy. He authored several books on yoga and started the journal Yoga in 1933. He was also a poet, writing under the nom de plume 'Mastamani'. He translated Rabindranath Tagore's Gitanjali into Gujarati.